I challenge you to quote where he said "D&D is about combat". Find me that actual phrase, rather than your own paraphrasing of what he actually said.
Honestly, I think the difference is rather semantic. Primarily about combat is pretty much the same as being about combat. Since his post was pretty much just an agreement with mine, to the point where he used my example of dancing in football, I can say that I don't think it matters if it is just primarily or completely about combat. It is still about combat.
Are there other aspects to the game? For sure. Just like there are other aspects to football other than just scoring. You sometimes need to worry about the cost of jerseys and recruiting the right people to play on the team. Those are aspects of football and important. However, when most people think about football, it is primarily a game about a team attempting to get a ball across a line. You can have fun playing football without ever scoring a point. Heck, you can forfeit every game by never showing up and simply enjoy dressing up in jerseys and calling yourself a football team.
Are you doing it wrong? Well, I'm sure some hardcore football fans would say absolutely yes. Those who are less competitive or simply don't care that much would say that you can do whatever you want to do, it's your team. If you're having fun who is anyone else to tell you what to do?
Sometimes the best things come out of someone "doing it wrong". So, I don't think it matters whether he said someone was playing it wrong. People on this board are too worried about someone calling something wrongbadfun. Playing it wrong can be just as much fun as playing it the "correct" way. It just isn't the same game at all.
That's the real problem and the key to understanding half the disagreements on the board. D&D isn't one game. It's now 20 different games played 20 different ways. The core game, I agree IS about combat.