TheGridironRepublic

A Hypothetical Essay By Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway’s Version of  “America Without Football”

A Metaphorical Losses

If Hemingway were asked “What would America be without football,” he would slam his drink down on the bar and give a bare-bones, slap in the face, pull no punches answer that might sound like this…

The Empty Field

There would be silence where there should be noise. The autumn afternoons would stretch out long and uneventful, the air crisp and wasted, with no sound of whistles or the rhythmic drumbeats of a marching band. 

Without football, the fields would remain empty, just patches of grass and dirt with no purpose, 

like a canvas without paint.

The boys would grow up differently, too. 

They would not know the sting of a tackle or the way the ground feels when you crash into it and rise again. There would be no huddles to teach them about brotherhood, no plays to show them the value of precision, no roaring crowds to make them feel, for a fleeting moment, like giants.

In small towns, where the lights on Friday night tell you everything you need to know about the place, 

there would be a hollow darkness instead. The people would have nothing to gather around, no reason to lean against fences or shout their lungs out in the stands. The town itself might shrink, its spirit dulled by the absence of something to believe in.

And what of the colleges? 

Notre Dame would just be a school, another place with old buildings and young students, without the Four Horsemen, without George Gipp, no Knute Rockne, or the echoes of victory. The traditions would be different, or perhaps they wouldn’t exist at all. Those Saturdays in the fall, with their rivalries and their passions, would be no different than any other day.

No Professional Teams?

The professional game would never have been born, and with it, the heroes who gave people something to cheer for when times were hard. There would be no Vince Lombardi to speak of winning and no Jim Brown to show what greatness looks like when it runs. Without football, America might lose something of its defiance, its grit, its ability to take a hit and keep going.

America Is Football

But perhaps the loss would run deeper. Football is more than a game, it’s the metaphor for life that Americans understand best. The drive toward the goal line, the perseverance in the face of setbacks, the team working as one—these are not just moments on the field; they are lessons for the world outside it. Without football, those lessons might still exist, but they would not be taught with the same clarity, the same force.

America without football would find other ways to fill the void, of course. It would have to. Maybe the energy would go into other sports or other pursuits, but it wouldn’t be the same. The game is woven into the fabric of the country, as much a part of it as the flag or the Fourth of July.

So, the fields would stay empty, and the autumn would lose its fire. The people would miss it, even if they never knew what it was they were missing. Because football isn’t just a game. It’s a way of being, a part of what makes America, America. And without it, the nation would still be here, but it would feel less alive, less itself.