Our parents’ generation grew up in an era when boxing reigned supreme. Muhammad Ali was the most dominant and polarizing athlete on the planet. But, something changed.
Ali developed Parkinson’s disease, lost the ability to use his vivacious vocabulary, and can now barely walk. Those things might have occurred naturally, but I’m of the opinion that they were developed, and in the very least spurred, by the sheer number of blows Ali took to the head.
People look at boxing differently now. It’s viewed as a barbaric “poor man’s sport,” as Mike Tyson recently referred to it.
Now, football rules our generation and the NFL dominates headlines year-round. Sadly, though, I think football is inching closer and closer to the edge of the cliff that boxing fell off of.
More and more parents aren’t allowing their children to play football. The NFL is being stormed by concussion lawsuits. Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon told the Chicago Tribune in 2010 that he struggles with short-term memory loss and that “there are a lot of times when I walk into a room and forget why I walked in there.”
That’s bad, but what happened to Junior Seau is worse. He killed himself on May 2, 2012. He did it by shooting himself in the chest, and not the head, presumably to preserve his brain for tests. His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL. Many believe his suicide was related to concussions suffered while playing football.
In a recent ESPN The Magazine article entitled “His Game, His Rules,” Don Van Natta Jr. wrote that a Hall of Fame player close to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the commissioner’s biggest fear is a player dying on the field. It’s happened only once before, when Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes died of a heart attack late in a game on Oct. 24, 1971.
Reportedly, Goodell has told friends privately that he thinks it could happen again if the game’s culture doesn’t change. That’s scary.
Goodell painted himself into a corner during the lockout. It appears as if he’s nearly entirely on the owners’ side. If he’s worried about someone dying during play, he needs to reevaluate his position and be completely transparent with everyone involved in the game. No more 18-game season talks, or anything of that nature.
The culture of football is frightening. I love the sport, but like Kurt Warner, I wouldn’t let my kids play it. Big hits are idolized and the rules being put in place for safety are often criticized for being “soft,” but does anyone want to see Seau’s tragedy happen again?
Boxing’s cliff is approaching on the gridiron highway, and the muscle car that is football needs to get its brakes checked.
jm296009ohiou.edu
