High school football is the epitome of the small-town American dream and students feel the need to associate themselves with those ideals. Football is an icon and remains a very popular part of student life; however, I personally believe that it is all over-hyped.

Every weekend my Instagram feed is full of “Friday Night Lights” posts from the football game the night before. Social media plays a huge role in advertising high school football not by buying ads, but by students displaying their photos of the event all over the internet. 

Speaking from experience, football games are overcrowded. The weather also seems to be too hot or too cold. On top of all that, the games are not interesting enough to spend time or any amount of money on. Now don’t get me wrong, I was raised on football. My family never fails to take me to as many college games as they can in a season. I do not hate football by any means, I am just not a die-hard fan. A die-hard fan would go to a game and enjoy it, possibly pay attention. That is far from me. 

I interviewed some students at the North Forsyth home football game on Friday, Oct. 25. Two freshmen Maddox Brock and Sarah Trusch said they went for the social environment and not the game itself. Trusch even admitted, “I don’t know how football works.”; proving her to not be a fan of the game, but still a representation of the student spectator population. 

Football is not all it is cracked up to be. The money and energy put into high school football is not necessary. Our school and many others should do a better job of shifting their focus to much more than the football team. Especially in the south, school money is flooded into football. Students deserve a well-funded art program or teachers deserve a higher pay. The hype should be shared.