Damage Control
by Sarah Stockton
Pigskin won’t bruise and tackle dummies
are more compliant but it’s game on woman,
he’s jacked up and ready to start/
when he moves on her like a wall of steel defenders
and special teamers, she recognizes the trap
but he’s blanketed by fame so he takes his shot/
breaking free he’s raging toward the red zone
her voice a broken whistle shrieking
in his headset/ he moves the chains
that bind him by slamming into his target
for the highlight reel cameras cut to/
the bros in the control booth as they nod and agree-
she shoulda called a timeout cause
it doesn’t take a play-by-play to explain
the outcome of this call but there’s confusion
on the field and in the stands
so let me break it down lady
he made a rookie mistake, c’mon coach, waive
the penalty/ we’ve got a schedule to keep
hey ref re-set the clock, play on
here in the home of the brave.
are more compliant but it’s game on woman,
he’s jacked up and ready to start/
when he moves on her like a wall of steel defenders
and special teamers, she recognizes the trap
but he’s blanketed by fame so he takes his shot/
breaking free he’s raging toward the red zone
her voice a broken whistle shrieking
in his headset/ he moves the chains
that bind him by slamming into his target
for the highlight reel cameras cut to/
the bros in the control booth as they nod and agree-
she shoulda called a timeout cause
it doesn’t take a play-by-play to explain
the outcome of this call but there’s confusion
on the field and in the stands
so let me break it down lady
he made a rookie mistake, c’mon coach, waive
the penalty/ we’ve got a schedule to keep
hey ref re-set the clock, play on
here in the home of the brave.
Commentary
Sarah on "Damage Control":
I watched football games on TV as a young girl so I could hang out with my grandfather, and now I'm more of a fan of the game than most people I know. The NFL mirrors our country in many ways, both good and bad. My disillusionment with the sport increases every year, for many reasons: CTE; the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick; the militaristic patriotism; rampant homophobia, sexism, and racism, for starters. As a domestic violence survivor, I'm appalled by how off-the-field domestic violence is still treated as a shrugged-away consequence of violent men engaged in a violent sport, even after the Ray Rice tape emerged, which was supposed to be "a game-changer". Writing Damage Control didn't solve my moral dilemma of loving football while hating the NFL, but it did help me grapple with my denial.
I watched football games on TV as a young girl so I could hang out with my grandfather, and now I'm more of a fan of the game than most people I know. The NFL mirrors our country in many ways, both good and bad. My disillusionment with the sport increases every year, for many reasons: CTE; the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick; the militaristic patriotism; rampant homophobia, sexism, and racism, for starters. As a domestic violence survivor, I'm appalled by how off-the-field domestic violence is still treated as a shrugged-away consequence of violent men engaged in a violent sport, even after the Ray Rice tape emerged, which was supposed to be "a game-changer". Writing Damage Control didn't solve my moral dilemma of loving football while hating the NFL, but it did help me grapple with my denial.
Biography
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Sarah Stockton is a poet and editor. She lives between the Olympic Mountains and the Salish Sea, in the Pacific Northwest. Tweets and Insta @sarahpoetica
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