IT sounded like a good idea – mount hidden cameras in the TV rooms of football-obsessed husbands and then let them (and us) see what a burden their football habits are on their families.

But, tragically it’s not. A good idea, I mean.

“Dateline” – the show whose cameras are usually catching pedophiles who’ve been trolling online – freed up a couple of video cams for Sunday night’s 7 p.m. “exposé” of football fans.

Maybe they should stick to catching creeps and perverts.

On the segment titled “Honey, You’re On Hidden Camera” correspondent Josh Mankiewicz leads a “sting” with five football wives – including Sue Vecchia from New Jersey – home of The New York Giants.

Anyway, the point was to catch the husbands on-camera refusing to pay attention to their wives while they were in the middle of a game.

Hello? Maybe nobody here grew up in football homes. Or even the United States.

I mean, seriously, in what land would uttering the phrase, “Honey, the diaper pail is stinking, can you take it out?” during a televised football game, not require the death penalty? Switzerland or something?

Another wife featured, Heidi Rice, writes a humor column for a local Colorado paper. She calls her football fanatic hubby “husband head.” Maybe that’s funny when you can’t go out for months at a time because you’ve been trapped in a giant snow storm – but her forced laughter made me want to do anything else – even watch football.

Now, not for nuthin’ but when I grew up, my father and brother watched so much football that I actually thought the cheering in the background of my life was for me!

My mom learned to plan family events around it. Sunday dinner with all the relatives? Sure – right after the game. Unless, of course, the Giants lost, and then everybody would loose their appetites.

Then I got married and became a football widow and future football divorcée.

Now I have a son-in-law, Kenny, who loves coming over on Sunday. I think his last name is “Jets,” but I’m not sure.

I know this because one Sunday I actually met him briefly when he came up to get more nachos. And let me tell you, he seemed very nice. But then he went back into the den and screamed some more. I’m sure I’d recognize him if he came out again, though.

In many ways football mania is better than what the Love Interest does to me during the USTA. The man ruptured a tendon in his foot just from jumping up from the couch.

So, “Dateline”? Sorry and no offense but watching men on TV watching sports on TV is not nearly as interesting as it must have sounded when you thought it up.