Tommy Martin: You can be troubled by the NFL in Croke Park, but you can’t ignore it 

Last Sunday was a cultural takeover and it was loud.

TAKEOVER: The Pittsburgh Steelers take to the field at Croke Park. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

Whether you view last Sunday's first NFL regular season game on Irish soil as act of cultural imperialism or an entertaining stop off by the world’s greatest travelling circus depends on your perspective. Not all invaders wear jackboots, but at least they were only firing t-shirts.

Certainly, it was a takeover. By whatever feat of smoke, mirrors and very loud MOR rock music that the good people of the NFL managed it, Croke Park didn’t feel like Croke Park at all. Instead, you were transported to a middle American enormodrome on any given Sunday, the grey concrete slabs of GAA HQ obscured entirely from view by the sheer 4D noise of the occasion.