Football Has Always Been a Battleground in the Culture War
The NFL has become increasingly central to how America perceives itself, which means that sport and politics can never be divorced.
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Getty; The Atlantic When Good Pain Turns Into Bad Pain
Lauren Fleshman’s memoir, Good for a Girl, recalls her life as a runner—and the culture she says the sport needs to change.
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The Atlantic; Bryan M. Bennett / Getty ‘You Get to See Violence’
The radio host Garrett Bush discusses the country’s tortured relationship with football, and what the NFL could do to treat players better.
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Amy Kaplan / Icon Sportswire / Getty The Sports Scandal Almost Nobody Is Talking About
UFC’s Dana White faces almost no consequences for publicly slapping his wife.
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Getty; The Atlantic 17 Readers Weigh the Risks in Sports
“A life of risks not taken is not a life worth living,” one writes.
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Getty I Saw Horrific Things When I Played in the NFL
Half of football is enduring pain. The other half is inflicting it.
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Ben Stanstall / Afp / Getty; Megan Briggs … Damar Hamlin’s Tragedy, Anti-vaxxers’ Gold
Opportunists used the cardiac arrest of an NFL player to promote deadly disinformation.
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Getty; The Atlantic The Inflated Risk of Vaccine-Induced Cardiac Arrest
Damar Hamlin’s collapse on Monday Night Football calls attention to a medical myth that will not die.
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Patrick Smith / Getty Are Sports Worth the Risks?
Plus: A clue to life on Mars
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Michael Allio / Icon Sportswire / Getty The Dark Pageant of the NFL
If football is about to undergo some hint of a reckoning, it will be only partial.
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Ben Hickey What It’s Like to Retire in Your Early 20s
Some former college athletes face the existential crisis of a career ending at a young age.
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Rodrigo Abd / AP Photos: Argentina’s World Cup Victory Celebration
Images from Buenos Aires, where so many fans came out to cheer for their champions that they had to cancel the parade midway through
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Joel Rogers / Getty Against Skiing
This beloved winter pastime is not for everyone. And especially not for me.
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Chris Brunskill / Fantasista / Getty The Lionel Messi Guide to Living
Like any great artist, the aging soccer phenom showed a youth-obsessed world the potential glory of a late-style triumph.
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Richard Heathcote / Getty The Qatar World Cup Is History
The tournament lent itself to moments of drama that also fit into broader historical narratives.
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Fabrice Coffrini / Getty Qatar Won
For its hosts, this World Cup has already delivered on its PR potential.
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Juan Mabromata / AFP / Getty The Joy of Morocco
The Moroccan team may have lost its semifinal World Cup game, but it still made history.
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Julien Mattia / Anadolu Agency / Getty The Ultimate Postcolonial Derby
Morocco and France meet in a historic showdown with deep significance for fans of both teams.
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Matthew Childs / Reuters Photos: Fans of the 2022 World Cup
Images of die-hard supporters as they ride emotional roller coasters, watching their teams leave it all on the field
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Foto Olimpik / … Another Way to Watch the World Cup
A choreographer explains why soccer is a dance.
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Jean Catuffe / Getty Images The Absurd Talent of Kylian Mbappé
The French star player has already proved that he’s one of the best in the history of the game.
