Is football close-captioned?
If it is, and if you really like the commentary (I can watch sports without it, thank you), maybe reading the commentary is the answer.
For sound -- and this really works -- try getting some of those really cheap "Best of" classical music samplers. We noticed that most of the selections are about the same length as football plays, and replays, and commercials. You have not lived until you have seen the slow-motion replay of a quarterback being sacked to the tune of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt.
Regards--
Mary Anne