Each fall America's attention turns to football and who'll win the Super Bowl and the college playoff championship. Often overlooked is the intense competition between America's insurance companies — Nationwide, GEICO, Aflac, Allstate, Liberty, State Farm and Progressive. If you watch football on television, you can't escape their commercials, many of which have football tie-ins.

Lately it seems like half the commercials shown during college football games, at least, are for insurance companies. Maybe they think the frequency of football injuries makes us think about insurance. Whatever, these companies apparently believe football games and their commercials are meant for each other.

As one who believes all insurance companies were created equal, I am not swayed by their commercials, except in a negative way. For example, I'd never heard of Liberty Insurance until I noticed the company's ads, starting with the grating musical refrain, "Liberty! Liberty! Liberty! ... Liberty!" that could be used as a torture device. Then came those equally annoying commercials featuring an emu and an agent played by an actor who somewhat resembles Bob Odenkirk's character from "Better Call Saul."

GEICO commercials also have a negative effect. Oh, its Gecko ads were cute the first few times they aired, but they wore out their welcome during the Clinton administration, its caveman commercials tanking shortly thereafter. The company can claim these commercials have made viewers aware of GEICO, and obviously they must be satisfied with the gecko because it is still around, but, to me, their commercials are more of a deterrent than inducement.

Likewise those featuring the Aflac duck. I look forward to a commercial in which Nick Saban and Deion Sanders attend the duck's funeral. The company gets its name from the initials in American Family Life Assurance Company, and I assume there has been some talk over the years about having an ad campaign featuring Ben or Casey Affleck. Or maybe the company should scrap Aflac and call itself American Family. Almost anything would be an improvement over Aflac.

There are many viewers, I'm sure, who are still entertained by Allstate's "mayhem" commercials with Dean Winters, a perfect choice for the role, but the idea behind the commercials is wearing thin, though the company's most obnoxious commercial is not about mayhem. It's the one about an idiot trying to impress his boss, a University of Georgia fan, with his Bulldog bark.

In general, State Farm's commercials that feature athletes (Patrick Mahomes, Aiden Hutchinson, JuJu Watkins, Caitlin Clark, etc.) have been fairly entertaining, and its Batman vs. (Jason) Bateman commercials are clever, but all of them have a certain novelty angle that wears out quickly, and by the end of football season these commercial may prove there's truth in the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt.".

Progressive Insurance has moved away from its superstore salespersons Flo (Stephanie Courtney) and Jamie (Jim Cashman) toward Dr. Rick (Bill Glass), who gives tips on how not to become just like your parents.

Flo had staying power, though her outfit made her look more like a meat packer than an insurance salesman. I found Jamie was annoying, so I don't miss him, while Dr. Rick's humorous message is for people much younger than I am.

All three actors are familiar faces. Stephanie Courtney appear in 31 episodes of "The Goldbergs," five episodes of "Mad Men," and single episodes of many TV series including "Major Crimes," "2 Broke Girls," "House" and "Everybody Loves Raymond." Hard to believe the actress is 54 years old.

Likewise, as Jamie, Jim Cashman looked to be in his 20s, but he's 50, and also has appeared in many TV shows, including episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and"Grey's Anatomy."

Bill Glass is a veteran character actor who has done a lot of work in television, including episodes of "Justified," "The Middle" and "St. Denis Medical."

Overall, I think Progressive and State Farm commercials go down easier than those for GEICO, Liberty, Aflac and Allstate, though my pick for the winner in this years Insurance Commercial Bowl is Nationwide for its ads featuring Peyton Manning, one of the most likable former football players to move into commercials and broadcasting. Reminds me a bit of Don Meredith. And my favorite single commercial is the one with Manning and Saquon "Stay Calm" Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles running back.

Of course, insurance company commercials aren't the only ones shown over and over and over during breaks in a football game.

Take the Buffalo Wild Wings commercials. Please. Obnoxious from the get-go, these commercials do succeed in driving the name of the product deep into the viewer's head. For that, the ad agency responsible for the commercials did a good job. The bad news: Because of these commercials, I wouldn't eat at Buffalo Wild Wings even if I were stranded where it was the only restaurant within a hundred miles.

I also took an instant dislike to the Lucid Gravity electric automobile for its commercial featuring Timothée Chalamet as a car thief. Maybe I'd feel differently if I knew why Chalamet is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, but I don't, and wouldn't recognize him if he showed up at my front door.

For several years Dr. Pepper has tied its fall commercials to the college football championship playoffs. Their "Fanville" commercials are the best example of those that play well during the first week of the season, then sour as the season goes on ... and on ... and on.

Another increasingly annoying commercial is the Capital One credit card pitch featuring actor Jeremy Brandt as Capital One Guy, making a career day appearance in a classroom where the young students are more interested in him than they are in baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and former astronaut Karen Wyberg. It was funny the first couple of times, but now I'd rather watch and listen to a dripping faucet.

What I'd like to see is a Capital One commercial that has someone answering the question, "What's in your wallet?" I looked in mine recently and found a receipt for gasoline purchased in 2017, an expired Jockey Store coupon and a baby picture of a daughter who recently celebrated her 45th birthday.