Heady Issues

On Monday, Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president for health and safety, acknowledged a connection between football and degenerative brain disorders. This was the first admission from a high-ranking NFL official that such a connection exists. It was such a significant event that the New York Times compared it to big tobacco's confession in 1997 that smoking causes cancer and heart disease. I didn't understand the significance of big tobacco's admission in 1997 and I don't understand the significance of the NFL's admission now. Why did we need Miller's, and by extension the NFL's, admission to make it so. The league's annual commitment of millions of dollars to the study of the brain and trauma to it was, at the very least, a pretty clear admission that the sport of football and the head don't always get along. Anyone with even a basic grasp of common sense knew that a life of football isn't conducive to a long, healthy life. Everyone knew that smoking caused cancer and heart disease long before 1997 and everyone knew that repeated blows to the head wasn't a good thing long before Miller's admission on Monday. Anyone that's ever heard an interview with a boxer, with a career of fights behind him, should have known that repeated blows to the head has a lasting impact. Even as a kid I knew that one couldn't just sleep off being "punch-drunk." Who cares if big tobacco or the NFL is too stupid, or irresponsible, to admit that their product has health issues? Miller's admission on Monday was simply stating the obvious.

I'm not making light of head trauma in football. It's such a serious issue. The problem that I have with all of it is this great need to assign blame for it. Especially when everyone involved with football is at fault. The NFL, colleges, high schools, youth leagues, coaches, administrators, parents, and players. Everyone wants to point to the NFL because they are at the top of the food chain. They have the money and the bright lights and they have a well documented history of taking horrible care of former players. Players have always been a consumable to league owners. Players only have value while they are performing on the field. If they can't perform there are others that will. There have always been more football players ready and willing to sacrifice their bodies for the glory of the game. The same tragedy takes place at each level of football. I've seen college and high school football players turned into insignificant bystanders simply because they twisted a knee or was knocked unconscious. A player, amateur or professional, is no longer a player when he's injured. The stage is simply bigger in the NFL.

Football players have been playing with concussions since the very first tackle. "He just had his bell rung." Throughout the game's history, coaches and players rarely put much thought into concussions. If you were conscious and could run you could play. The coaches thought that. The players thought that. Players never want to come off the field. They would hide concussions if it kept them on the field. Even with all that we know now about the dangers of repeated head trauma there are many players that will still play when they shouldn't. The thrill of the game, the fear of losing a starting spot, the fear of losing the glory are strong motivation to stay in the game at that moment. The future be damned. So often, that decision to play is on the player. And only the player. Many of the retired players suffering now would do the whole thing again. Maybe changing little. During the 60 minutes of football action, a football player rarely has a concern for his life at 45. That's on them. It's also on the coaches, officials, school and league administrators, and parents that should have the player's welfare higher on their list of priorities.

This isn't the first time that football has dealt with health concerns. The sport was nearly banned in the early 1900s. The high number of injuries, some of which resulted in death, forced many colleges to drop football. It's a violent game. That's part of it's great appeal. It's a violent game despite recent moves to make it less violent. Football will always have risks but every sport has risks. Football just has a few more. It's the awareness of those risks that will make this great game more safe. Despite Jeff Miller's all-important admission on Monday, football's decision-makers have long been aware of the game's head trauma issues. Proof of that awareness can be seen in the constant evolution of the helmet. The helmet is the most obvious visual difference between football in the 1920s and football in the 2000s. That's hardly enough and the suffering of retired players is proof of it. So much more needs to be done but assigning blame shouldn't be a concern. Greater awareness is a start. Better tackling techniques at all levels. Following effective procedures before a concussed player returns to a game or practice. Better and safer equipment. And how about actually caring for injured football players. They are too often and too easily forgotten.