Darrell Davis: No neutral zone on D-Day

Two days before the 75th anniversary of D-Day, think about the war terminology prevalent in football.

Linemen “battle” in the “trenches.” “Blitzing” and “bombs” proliferate passing downs. Looking at an upcoming game, coaches, players and commentators used to say the teams were “going to war.” If it was an important game, it was “do or die.”

There’s a “neutral zone.” Teams get “blown away.”

Football is not like war. Football is a vicious game that, on occasion, has claimed a life. The only other similarity between war and football is this: One side wins, one side loses.

Media have recently tried to reduce the number of war metaphors being used to describe football. There’s nothing wrong with praising the courage of football players, but let’s not diminish the real life-and-death battles faced by soldiers, particularly the 155,000 Allied troops, including 14,000 Canadians, who landed on the shores of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and turned the tide of the Second World War.

These distorted football terms should at least help remind us about those soldiers.