someone on twitter yesterday said it best, unless you a freak into fantasy football or gambling, or grew up in a city with a franchise & are a lifelong fan there isnt a reason to watch the NFL product anymore. too much rules tampering, game interruptions, bland personalities, and mediocre game play. if someone tries to step up & be an interesting entertaining person like Deon & Irvin did in the 80's & 90's they are slapped into place by the HOT TAKE sports media culture.
college football is to blame as well, there are games somewhere on Saturdays that are so crazy week after week. plus the HUNM spread systems everyone now uses, even Bama, have starved the NFL of quality pocket passing QB's. Peyton was an absolute useless armless lego neck at the end, but if he wanted he would have had 4 or 5 teams begging him to be their starter. college QB's look to the sideline, take the snap, hand it off/keep it/throw to designated spot in 2 seconds. zero learning about reading coverages or going through 1st/2nd/3rd/4th options.