Berl Falbaum
This column will be described as un-American. I expect accusations of being a communist, and anticipate other unprintable attacks.
So be it…
Now that the football season is well underway, did you know:
Seven football players in their teens died just in August directly or indirectly from football injuries.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research has reported that there were 16 deaths of young football players in 2023.
The reaction in the country? None. Where are the headlines? Where is the outrage? How can we accept such a death toll in favor of Friday Night Lights and Saturday and Sunday games?
It is inexplicably and condemnable that we continue to cheer enthusiastically what can only be described as “organized mayhem” on a field.
Don’t take my word for it. The legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, observed when someone described football as a contact sport: “Football isn’t a contact sport. It is a hitting sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” Then he added: “Football is a sport for madmen.”
At least Lombardi was candid about the sport. No, “All sports have risks. Players learn sportsmanship. Learn to be a team player.” I am sure you have heard it all.
Or consider the following from Bob Costas, the former NBC sports announcer now working for Turner Sports. Costas, who I consider the most intellectual and articulate of sports analysts, has characterized football as “inherently violent and unsafe” and “unacceptably brutal.”
Notice the adjective “unacceptably.” We have not only accepted the unacceptable but we have embraced it enthusiastically.
When, on occasion, I watch a game with my grandchildren, I continually wonder how players get up from the turf following each play after receiving bone-crushing tackles from 300-plus-pound behemoths who bench press 400-500 pounds without breathing hard.
Much is written about making the sport safer by reducing injuries with improved helmets and other equipment, and better training.
But you can’t make the game safe when 22 men -- 11 on a side -- hurl and smash their bodies at each other, sometimes at full speed. You cannot expect a player, running through the line made up of a ton of muscle, to escape serious consequences, if not immediately, then later in life.
It can never be “safe” when these muscle men are trained to hit opponents as hard as possible to stop a runner or clear a path for their own offensive backfield.
It can’t be made safer, not when one of the major objectives of the game is to cause players to fumble by hammering them as hard as possible, and make him think twice about the next time he has the ball. From little league to the majors, players are taught to hit and hit harder.
There are special drills that teach players how to inflict “punishment”, and the Internet posts, with admiration, the hardest hits in football history. They are listed as “must see.”
When a player delivers an especially pulverizing tackle, he often stands above his “victim,” pounding his chest while he receives high-fives from teammates, congratulations from coaches and fans go wild.
Violence is an integral part -- I am tempted to say the primary component -- of the game. It is the major attraction.
In January 2023, the country briefly reflected on the dangers of the game when Damar Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed during a game. Fortunately, he recovered.
But public concern quickly abated with a quick, uninterrupted return to business-as-usual.
Ultimately, of course, it is a matter of money. Football is a multi-billion-dollar businesses.
The University of Michigan, for example, earns $75 million from its football program. It is the third most profitable program in college football.
Jim Harbaugh, U-M’s former football coach, earned a whopping $7.5 million annually while his boss, the U-M president, received an annual salary of just under $1 million. That tells us whom the university values more.
They exploit the bodies of talented athletes to fill their coffers and increase salaries. And winning football games does that.
The pros are rewarded with million-dollar contracts and high school players are wooed with generous scholarships. Of course, the adoration of fans is also an aphrodisiac for the ego.
In many cases, university coaches “bend,” if not break, recruiting rules to attract the best football talent that will assure a winning season -- and greater profits. That’s like getting approval for a patent in industry.
As I wrote in a previous column on this subject, for those who deny that violence is the attraction, I have a recommendation for making the game safe.
Under my plan you can still enjoy all of football’s athleticism -- the passing, running, catching, kicking, etc. -- but the serious injuries now suffered by players would be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated.
Make it touch football. When my wife read this column in draft form, she asked: “Are you really going to go public with this? Think of the family.” Then I saw her make sure the front door was locked.
In recent years, five states have introduced legislation to ban youth tackle football. None is expected to pass given intense political pressure from special interest groups.
OK, I am a sour-puss, a kill-joy, a Neanderthal, if not a communist.
So, let’s talk to the parents of those who died playing football and/or to players, active or retired, who are suffering from dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE, a neurodegenerative brain disease), or are dealing with a variety of serious spinal injuries, mangled knees or are drug addicts given constant use of pain killers.
A friend who knew a very famous retired professional quarterback told me the former player slept strapped on a board at a 45-degree angle, to deal with the unrelenting pain.
I met a man while undergoing rehabilitation myself for some back problems, who could barely walk. Why? He told me he was a retired linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.
Given the reaction I expect, I am wearing sunglasses, a wig, and a fake nose and mustache.
—————
Berl Falbaum is a long-time political journalist and author of several books.
So be it…
Now that the football season is well underway, did you know:
Seven football players in their teens died just in August directly or indirectly from football injuries.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research has reported that there were 16 deaths of young football players in 2023.
The reaction in the country? None. Where are the headlines? Where is the outrage? How can we accept such a death toll in favor of Friday Night Lights and Saturday and Sunday games?
It is inexplicably and condemnable that we continue to cheer enthusiastically what can only be described as “organized mayhem” on a field.
Don’t take my word for it. The legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, observed when someone described football as a contact sport: “Football isn’t a contact sport. It is a hitting sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” Then he added: “Football is a sport for madmen.”
At least Lombardi was candid about the sport. No, “All sports have risks. Players learn sportsmanship. Learn to be a team player.” I am sure you have heard it all.
Or consider the following from Bob Costas, the former NBC sports announcer now working for Turner Sports. Costas, who I consider the most intellectual and articulate of sports analysts, has characterized football as “inherently violent and unsafe” and “unacceptably brutal.”
Notice the adjective “unacceptably.” We have not only accepted the unacceptable but we have embraced it enthusiastically.
When, on occasion, I watch a game with my grandchildren, I continually wonder how players get up from the turf following each play after receiving bone-crushing tackles from 300-plus-pound behemoths who bench press 400-500 pounds without breathing hard.
Much is written about making the sport safer by reducing injuries with improved helmets and other equipment, and better training.
But you can’t make the game safe when 22 men -- 11 on a side -- hurl and smash their bodies at each other, sometimes at full speed. You cannot expect a player, running through the line made up of a ton of muscle, to escape serious consequences, if not immediately, then later in life.
It can never be “safe” when these muscle men are trained to hit opponents as hard as possible to stop a runner or clear a path for their own offensive backfield.
It can’t be made safer, not when one of the major objectives of the game is to cause players to fumble by hammering them as hard as possible, and make him think twice about the next time he has the ball. From little league to the majors, players are taught to hit and hit harder.
There are special drills that teach players how to inflict “punishment”, and the Internet posts, with admiration, the hardest hits in football history. They are listed as “must see.”
When a player delivers an especially pulverizing tackle, he often stands above his “victim,” pounding his chest while he receives high-fives from teammates, congratulations from coaches and fans go wild.
Violence is an integral part -- I am tempted to say the primary component -- of the game. It is the major attraction.
In January 2023, the country briefly reflected on the dangers of the game when Damar Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed during a game. Fortunately, he recovered.
But public concern quickly abated with a quick, uninterrupted return to business-as-usual.
Ultimately, of course, it is a matter of money. Football is a multi-billion-dollar businesses.
The University of Michigan, for example, earns $75 million from its football program. It is the third most profitable program in college football.
Jim Harbaugh, U-M’s former football coach, earned a whopping $7.5 million annually while his boss, the U-M president, received an annual salary of just under $1 million. That tells us whom the university values more.
They exploit the bodies of talented athletes to fill their coffers and increase salaries. And winning football games does that.
The pros are rewarded with million-dollar contracts and high school players are wooed with generous scholarships. Of course, the adoration of fans is also an aphrodisiac for the ego.
In many cases, university coaches “bend,” if not break, recruiting rules to attract the best football talent that will assure a winning season -- and greater profits. That’s like getting approval for a patent in industry.
As I wrote in a previous column on this subject, for those who deny that violence is the attraction, I have a recommendation for making the game safe.
Under my plan you can still enjoy all of football’s athleticism -- the passing, running, catching, kicking, etc. -- but the serious injuries now suffered by players would be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated.
Make it touch football. When my wife read this column in draft form, she asked: “Are you really going to go public with this? Think of the family.” Then I saw her make sure the front door was locked.
In recent years, five states have introduced legislation to ban youth tackle football. None is expected to pass given intense political pressure from special interest groups.
OK, I am a sour-puss, a kill-joy, a Neanderthal, if not a communist.
So, let’s talk to the parents of those who died playing football and/or to players, active or retired, who are suffering from dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE, a neurodegenerative brain disease), or are dealing with a variety of serious spinal injuries, mangled knees or are drug addicts given constant use of pain killers.
A friend who knew a very famous retired professional quarterback told me the former player slept strapped on a board at a 45-degree angle, to deal with the unrelenting pain.
I met a man while undergoing rehabilitation myself for some back problems, who could barely walk. Why? He told me he was a retired linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.
Given the reaction I expect, I am wearing sunglasses, a wig, and a fake nose and mustache.
—————
Berl Falbaum is a long-time political journalist and author of several books.
