Session: Globalized NFL: Boundaries, Flows, Politics #2
NFL ‘Tochito’ in Mexico: safety, health and the masculine warrior
Since the late 1990’s the National Football League (NFL) has promoted in Mexico ‘NFL Tochito’, a coed noncontact flag football tournament that target children and teenagers. The idea that flag football can serve as a stepping-stone for American football has been generally accepted. NFL Tochito represents another form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative used by the NFL with the goal to globalize its brand and reach local communities. Moreover, this non-contact version of football is drawing attention as an alternative form to the dangers of head trauma caused by football. However, this non-contact element also represents a crack in the hegemonic masculine status constructed in football where the masculine vitality is displayed in the tackles and the body is sacrificed for sporting glory. Benson (2017) argues that the NFL’s CSR initiatives involving harm reduction reforms, public relations and philanthropy are intended to invoke corporate care, soft masculinity, and women’s health, among others. In this study, in-depth interviews were used to examine coaches, players’ and parents’ perspectives about their perceived notion of safety and health over a masculine warrior narrative. We used thematic analysis to analyze the interviews. Results were discussed using the sensitizing concept of hegemonic masculinities (Connell, 2005).