Freddy Jones performs National Anthem at Dallas Cowboys playoff game; should it be televised?
The National Anthem is of course one of the biggest gigs that any person in the entertainment world can get when you’re talking about NFL playoff football. These games regularly receive an enormous ratings share, and of course there are many people who do care about seeing this part of the pre-game presentation. It’s doesn’t quite matter if you are watching at home, or you are there in the stadium. It’s just that the importance of it seems to be weighed differently depending on where you are.
So why isn’t Fox showing the Anthem on every occasion? It’s an interesting question, since it was in part cut out during the Fox broadcast of the Dallas Cowboys versus the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. It may be a time or commercial issue, but there was still backlash on it Sunday. For those wondering, trumpeter Freddy Jones performed the Anthem yet again at the game, which is something that he’s done on numerous occasions, including the Thanksgiving Day game.
(There were rumors out there that “Girl Meets World” star Sabrina Carpenter was performing the Anthem, given that she was at the game this afternoon. She actually did perform the Anthem at a different Thanksgiving Day game, but not this one.)
Jones is great at his job performing the Anthem for some of these games, but there is something a tad hypocritical about how these performances are handled for broadcast. Let’s say, for example, that Kelly Clarkson was performing the Anthem today. Do you think that Fox would have shown the performance? We have to think so, since it’s a celebrity that will get them headlines. Therefore, networks at times weigh the importance of the Anthem based on who is singing it, and that’s pretty terrible, especially since it is the smaller artists who benefit the most from this attention, and they put just as much into it as anyone.
We’re not a sports site, so we’ll probably avoid any other coverage of the game unless something notable happens. What we want to know from you is this: Should the Anthem always be included in TV broadcasts, especially since so much of it has been made in the past year? Be sure to share in the comments! (Photo: Fox.)