Covid-19 makes for strange bedfellows. It is usually taboo to mix college and pro games on the same day.
However, this gives me an opportunity to compare the two:
1. The NFL is a business; college football has soul.
2. NFL players are assigned to teams in a draft; college players have freedom of choice, often choosing their dream school.
3. The NFL season drags on forever; the college season is shorter. This means that every game in college is so much more meaningful. An early September loss can knock you out of a chance for a NC. Individual games mean more in college football than in any other sport.
4. The NFL has ever expanding teams to qualify in endless playoffs; whereas, in college, only 4 teams qualify for the CFP. The stakes are so much higher and the road is much narrower.
5. The NFL uses college football as their minor leagues, free of charge. MLB can only envy that cushy setup.
6. The NFL has been around for 100 years; college football for 151 years. Tradition! Incredible tradition has been built up in that time: Army-Navy; regional rivalries like OSU-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Oklahoma; mascots; cheerleaders; marching bands; the passion; the Notre Dame mystique: The Four Horsemen, win one for The Gipper; The Notre Dame Victory March; movies like Knute Rockne All-American and Rudy.
The NFL can't hold a candle to college football.
So today, I will not be watching one down of NFL football, but I will be watching the greatest sport ever created, college football, and cheering on my beloved Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!
They're on NFL Network, although Denver bumped the ACC Championship for the Broncos on ABC.
I prefer college football overall, but the NFL owns this country. And college football is every bit the business the NFL is, anyone who disagrees isn't paying attention.