Z Train
As many of you have probably heard, the medical journal JAMA reported a study where over 99% of 202 examined brains from deceased former NFL players contained the symptoms of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or, as we know it, CTE. In other breaking news from science, the ocean is salty and bears shit in the woods.
There should be little to no reaction other than maybe a “Yeah, of course.” Are you telling me that if you repeatedly slam your head into other grown men for a decade, your brain will start to deteriorate over time? Sound the hot take alarm. Brain injuries are really serious. Sound it again. After seeing some of the NFL’s star players and personalities have serious bouts with depression and suicidal tendencies, like Jim McMahon and the late Junior Seau, you can’t help but make the obvious link to their football careers as, at the very least, a large portion of the cause. McMahon is even suffering from early onset dementia, diagnosed as a 54 year old. And now, it looks like over 99% of former NFLers died with the same symptoms, albeit less serious, but anything is serious regarding the health of the brain. What’s despicable is the track record of the NFL when it comes to concussions and player safety in general, manifested by the statement they released today as the news broke:
“…there are still many unanswered questions relating to the cause, incidence and prevalence of long-term effects of head trauma such as CTE” “In 2016, the NFL pledged tons of money to this problem so everyone would think we’re the good guys, please stop talking about it so we can make more money.” (Paraphrased) Basically, the NFL is just saying “well it’s not our fault, we’re trying, please shut up.” Maybe you think I’m taking the response out of context, but my interpretation is only proven by the wax sculpture that is Roger Goodell’s comments on CTE over the last few years. The owners’ puppet continues to deny the links between football, concussions and CTE, citing that the science behind it still has a lot of holes and questions, which is exactly the stance that they’re taking in the statement above. The NFL being in the “CTE-denier” camp is wild to me. Do they really think that the science won’t be conclusive after a few more years of intense study by some of the country’s brightest neuroscientists? Can anyone honestly say they’d lay down a sizable wager that football is not the largest contributor, if not the direct cause, to CTE? First, before you think I’m some snowflake who hates sports, let me say that I love football. It’s my favorite sport to watch and I grew up playing it, but I had to quit in high school after I blew out my knee and had to make the personal decision that the sport was too dangerous. After a recent second ACL injury to the same knee, I’m still reaping the consequences, yet I still love the sport, and I’m not sure I wouldn’t play it again. All football players are absolutely accountable for their safety, they know the risks. If you’ve seen that Bears 30-for-30 (everyone has, go watch it if you haven’t), most would go back and do it again. I’m just thankful it was my knee and not my head. The problem is not with the sport, but with the governing administration, also known as the NFL, who can’t seem to get their prerogative straight. While they’re obviously on board with the PR hype train that is concussion prevention, every rule that Goodell and his administration float around or put in place make little sense. How many times have we heard announcer’s bring up how a player is under “concussion protocol”, spewing the propaganda from the NFL that they are doing something about the problem, only to have that player shortly return, clearly concussed: Case Keenum for the Rams a few years ago (link here), Matt Moore getting KO’d last year, and Cam Newton’s entire season, seemingly stemming from Deion Jones blasting him on the goalline. Any person with a set of eyes and a TV could tell that any of these three guys were not themselves, yet no one from the NFL front office bothered to call and tell the team to remove the player from the field? It seems to me like an organization where “Safety is #1” would be sure to publicly interfere to keep that image intact, but, there was money to be made, so they looked the other way.
Another issue with safety is the NFL’s clear refusal to develop any sort of process to properly address dirty players. Vontaze Burfict and Ndamukong Suh are the culprits that immediately come up, but what do a one- to three-game suspension and a $10,000 fine (paid to the NFL no less) mean in the long run when they can end someone’s season, while doing serious damage to someone else’s health? See the Burfict’s hit on Antonio Brown (concussed, miss the conference championship), the leg stomp by Suh, Burfict twisting the Panthers on the ground, or Suh Triple H’ing any QB he comes across. I don’t have all of the answers, but something better has to be done to better deter any of football’s pseudovillains to injure players with dirty hits rather than a couple of games and a week’s pay. It’s clear that the NFL has zero clue how long a suspension should be (see Ray Rice and Tom Brady), and Goodell is too afraid to hand down a big suspension in case the owners get mad at him. I’ll brainstorm some ideas and call you up, Roger.
In the same breath, Goodell refuses to change any of the overtime/tie rules that sap the sport’s electricity and undermine the competitiveness, citing players’ health as his primary concern. While that almost makes sense, the other two biggest changes floating around are relocating the Jaguars to London, and lengthening the regular season to 18 games, completely contradicting any argument for health. Could you imagine the wear and tear on the NFL player’s body while additionally undergoing repeated international flights, combined with the mental stress that comes with it? Or any additional damage done after playing 2 more games of the most physically taxing sport we have? While I would love two more weeks of football (don’t get me started on the London BS though), this is an absolutely absurd notion of unmasked greed. What’s disgusting is the hypocrisy of Goodell and the owners, preaching safety and “pledging money to research” while firmly driving the money machine at the expense of that same safety and blatantly denying and refusing responsibility for any long term health effects. Just pick a side Roger. You can’t preach concussion safety AND deny CTE. You can’t be worried about player’s health in an OT game AND let them wander back out onto the field after a clear concussion. Either deny CTE, do away with all rules, and give Burfict a bonus every time he murders a wide receiver, or put your administration on the path to a safer future for the NFL and get on the right side of history.
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