¶ … productions absolutely change the way that the author of this response looks at the league. The league and its leaders (which would obviously include Tagliabue and Goodell) certainly knew about the dangers of football including the risks of things like concussions, dementia (including early-onset dementia) and CTE. That being said, to completely lay this at the feet of the NFL is less than fair. Anyone with an active brain stem should know that colliding with other bodies and the turf in such a violent and sustained way.
It is nearly (but not quite) akin to those that abuse alcohol or cigarettes and then they get incredulous when their liver or lungs start to shut down or develop cancer. Further, the question has to become is there a way to prevent this trauma outright and the answer is probably "no" short of ending the league and its games entirely. In the end, football may have to be treated like combat sports (e.g. UFC, boxing, etc.) whereby all players who enter the league must sign a hold harmless waiver that absolves the league of any responsibility because the player is voluntarily choosing to take the risk. Even if that were to happen (unlikely), the ethics involved in effectively turning football players into a lesser form of gladiators that are disposable and just pieces of meat that batter themselves senseless for our enjoyment are tawdry to say the least.
Question Two
The author of this report does believe the authors were a bit one-sided. They did play fair on many...
However, it is noted above and should be repeated that these players are playing of their own choice and volition and any reasonable person should know and understand that playing contact sports can be harmful. The sportscaster aspersion is pretty out of line, though. There are sportscasters in every sport and this includes combat sports, non-combat sports, contact sports and non-contact sports. The arguments being made about the NFL and college football could be made about rugby and boxing, just to name two, and that is really not happening. The fact that the NFL is being singled out is a little peculiar.
Just to single out boxing, many more people have probably died in the boxing ring (or shortly thereafter) than have died on the field. The literal objective of boxing is to punch your opponent until they fall over and cannot get up. There is an element of that in football but that is far from being the object of the game. MMA organizations (e.g. UFC, Bellator, etc.) are even worse since those sports include other offensive methods beyond boxing including submissions, chokes, kicks (including to the head), elbows and so forth. In short, the two big flaws with people glomming onto and attacking the NFL is that they are not the only sport that should be scrutinized if the NFL is deemed to be culpable and the sportscasters are just doing their job. The NFL, in the eyes of many, is the real American pastime nowadays ... even more than baseball. Even so, there are sportscasters in all sports. If the NFL…
