A number of former National Football League players have come forward saying they wished they had never played football. Since the movie “Concussion” was released at the end of 2015 detailing the serious brain trauma possible from playing football, some have even said they will never allow their children to play.
Most recently, former IU player and retired Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle El came forward with a statement that if given the chance to go back, he would not play football due to the health implications it has caused him.
While I commend the players for speaking out, I fear the NFL won’t take the necessary actions to make football safer. I fear this because the NFL doesn’t have to: they produce one of the most enjoyable forms of entertainment in the country.
Who is going to hold them accountable? Not players, and most likely not fans.
The NFL needs to take action by changing the rules and regulations of the game to ensure safety and decrease the possibility of chronic conditions like this, especially when it comes to unnecessary roughness.
Now that these risks are public, players have the right to make their own decisions as to whether or not the rewards outweigh the risk.
But if there is any way we can avoid players suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease, shouldn’t we try it?
Not to mention the fact that the NFL was allegedly aware of the risks years ago, but chose to keep them secret to avoid controversy.
At the very least, someone should be facing consequences for that. Randle El made millions of dollars playing for the NFL, but that doesn’t mean we should accept that the sport led him to a lifetime of memory loss and physical impairments. Because something could have been done about it.
Making players aware of the serious health risks is a good start, but the battle is far from over.
If a player is continuously playing more rough than necessary, there needs to be stricter punishment.
We shouldn’t be cheering on a grown man for acting like a barbarian on national television because this isn’t socially acceptable in any other setting than sports.
It probably won’t be as “exciting”, but can you honestly say you believe entertainment value is more important than someone’s health?
Injury is expected if you want to be a professional athlete, but it shouldn’t mean giving up your health for the rest of your life.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much when it comes football.
But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find precautions we could be taking to prevent brain disease. And we should be doing so.
tatadams@indiana.edu
@TatianaDeWitt
