The NFL draft is a ritualistic coping skill for fanatics
This past Thursday, April 23rd, marks the first time in the History of the NFL, that the draft was online. A significant part of the selection is the aesthetics. The analyst goes over potential picks depending on the number, which builds anticipation. The fans respond with cheers or boos if they approve of their team’s pick. But Let’s find out why the NFL draft is a coping skill for fanatics.
A study titled the psychology of rituals breaks down in-depth how and why rituals may be performed.
“Ritual actions do not produce a practical result on the external world—that is one of the reasons why we call them ritual. But to make this statement is not to say that ritual has no function . . .
it gives members of the social confidence, it dispels their anxieties, and it disciplines their social organizations. —George C. Homans, Anxiety and Ritual, 1941″
In general, NFL drafts give members of society, i.e., it’s fans and players confidence. While often dispelling anxieties by fans, teams drafting players by the position most needed. And it disciplines social organizations by initiating plays into the NFL realm.Â
Fans have anxiety about which player will be chosen to help their team potentially reach the super bowl. Players have an anxiety of where they’ll be selected. Not only the team but how high or low in the draft a player goes determines how much they’ll be paid as well.
It’s not just the selection of the draft that generates this anxiety but the presentation of it.
The draft being online shows how much sports depend on branding and aesthetics outside of the actual game. Some players are remembered for their colorful outfits throughout their entire careers if their great players. Some players are emotional as their names are called as they walk up to the podium to shake the commissioner’s hand for pictures.
In rituals, the most ordinary of actions and gestures become transformed into symbolic expressions; their meaning reinforced each time they are performed (Van Gennep, 1909).
Speaking of presentation, what ritualistic impact does the draft have for being live on t.v. or the internet.?
“The invariability of its performance is also linked to certain psychological elements that come with performing the ritual, typically enhancing its meaning”.
Being live is relevant as we all are self-conscious. No one wants to be remembered as the player who embarrassed themselves on during the draft. Furthermore, the importance of outfits players chooses shows the significance of the draft.
Also, A player can be traded multiple times throughout their career but is only drafted once. And this is why the NFL draft is a coping skill for fanatics.
Being drafted means you’ve been chosen out of thousands of players from one team. Players either sit at a table with family and loved ones or in the homes, waiting to be picked, never anywhere else. The family and players prepare by looking their best.
Preparing also in the form of self talks about their speeches right after being drafted. And how not to appear disappointed when a team you don’t want to play for selects you are probably common.
Teams have all have the same time limit to decide on a player. Once the time is over the commissioner announces the pick on t.v.. This happens for every team for at least the 1st round, which is why most people watch the draft for anyone.
While this all seems simple, a slight mispronunciation, or announcing the wrong name will throw off the entire ritual or selection. All of the above enhance the importance of the ritualistic NFL draft while creating anxiety.
Even announcing the right player but the wrong team would have the same effect as well. These are things we take for granted because the ritual of the draft is so sleek, exciting, dramatic, and traditionally held.
So we’ve covered the symbolism, presentation, and repetition of the ritualistic draft but what are the meaning and motivations?.
“The meaning inherent in a ritual is often acted out through overt symbolic expression (Turner, 1967). Unsurprisingly then, they are often associated with the idea of self-transcendence and sanctity, with strong links to religion and spiritualism”
Symbolic expression being taking a picture holding the jersey with the commissioner and going up shaking his hand, which every player drafted does. If you don’t think there strong links to religion and spiritualism, think again. When interviewed after being selected, players go on to thank God for being drafted. The idiosyncratic link between sports and religion can be seen here.
“The final element of ritual serves as the connecting piece between the physical and psychological features….rituals either lack overt instrumental purpose, or their constitutive actions themselves are not immediately causally linked to the stated goal of the ritual.
This “causal opaqueness” results in features that are impervious to rational hypothesis testing, often displaying features that appear arbitrary, characterized by unnecessary repetition.
Taking pictures, being live on t.v. And wearing beautiful suits is normal behavior during the NFL draft. Every player does it and doesn’t think twice about it. Most people are thinking about their players being drafted to their team rather than the cult of the NFL.
The goal of the ritual is to initiate players into the realm of the NFL. The lack of instrumental purpose is the goal of the draft. The draft isn’t about players being chosen. Instead, it’s about creating anticipation that is rarely fulfilled.
Players are so happy to be drafted; they’re not thinking about their contract, being underpaid, or holding out in the future. Players are so ecstatic to be chosen, while fans are worried if their team will improve with their selections.Â
When in reality, rarely does one player save a team or lead a team to the playoffs, especially a rookie. The goal of the draft is to provide hope for another season for fans to watch their team. NFL Combine footage of potential picks and college highlights give the illusion that their impact will be more immediate than it is. Â
If fans weren’t excited about the draft and realized it takes years for players to make a difference on a team. Only a handful of players in each draft are remembered. For the majority of them, their draft day is the defining moment of their career. An event that isn’t even a game.
The NFL siphons energy from the NCAA so NFL fans can anticipate another season. All year long, people watch college football, Heisman trophy presentation, and bowl games. The players who highlight the events from above generally standout at the draft and generate viewership.
The NFL has managed to create something that doesn’t exist but is alive and running in fans’ heads. The anticipation of this year being the year because of one player or filling the holes is but a dream. Again it’s amazing how normal sports become when fanaticism is removed. And this is why the NFL draft is a ritualistic coping skill for fanatics.
While rituals are performed by a select few those observing and in attendance feel that the ritual is bigger than any individual.
The actions are interpreted as a practice that is meaningful, providing context and connecting a person to something that is bigger than themselves—their ancestry, familial traditions, cultural and religious groups, nature, immortality, and more. The separation of ritual from other ordinary, more mundane behaviors affords it a special status (Bell, 1997; Berggren & Stutz, 2010).
Being inducted into the hall of fame and winning a championship meets all the criteria above. Just being in the league as a player does actually.. Each teams fans have their own traditions and culture. Players become immortalize on how successful they are on the field.
This unique quality of ritual means that the behaviors performed are inherently more valuable than other behaviors. This heightened value or meaning communicates a clear signal to oneself (self-signaling) or other people (social signaling) that something of significance has been done.
Clinical studies provide relatively strong support that rituals regulate negative emotions, because they demonstrate that rituals are more likely to emerge when performers experience an emotional deficit—that is, an emotional state that diverges from one’s desired state.
People with clinical disorders associated with anxiety, stress, or trauma often develop their own rituals, presumably as a coping mechanism to regain a sense of personal control (e.g., Rachman & Hodgson, 1980)
 Fanatics are worried about their team’s performance for the next season use the draft as a coping skill.
However, no one knows how good any of the picks will be. Some first picks or top 5 picks turn out as busts while those in the 5th and 6th rounds become pro bowlers.If no one knows how the players will turn out until they play, why is the draft such a big event?
In conclusion, With this streaming draft, I’ve noticed the more you remove fans from the sport, the more human the athletes appear. Competition is a storyline, a production, as much as it is a game played within 100 yards in a stadium.
The anticipation for new players, new jersey sales, the draft is an initiation ritual of preparing new players for the cult of athletic stardom.Â
Rituals are often celebrations that require everyone’s full attention. Furthermore, The NFL draft is held at the end of April every year, which is astrologically and seasonally springtime. A time for new beginnings, what better time to perform a ritual. And this is why the NFL draft is a ritualistic coping skill for fanatics.
Do you agree with our observation? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.