Should Football Be Fundamentally Changed to Make It Safer? >
The NFL Can't Make Football Safer
Despite all the attention, there's very little the NFL can do to actually make football safer
February 1, 2013
About Dave Zirin:
Dave Zirin is an American political sportswriter who is currently the sports editor for The Nation and author of Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down, among other books.
The NFL is facing a crisis rooted in the fact that, despite their efforts to hide the truth from our lying eyes, we all now know too much. Fans and players are now more aware than ever before that playing the game can lead to catastrophic brain injuries. Early onset-Alzheimer's, dementia, and ALS can be seen as possible by-products of the sport. Suicides of former players are now a feature of the sports page.
An even bigger problem is that despite all the rule changes, the heavier fines, and the attention, there is actually very little that the NFL can do to make the sport much safer. The problem is that tackle football is like a cigarette: You can have one with a bigger filter or less tar but the stubborn truth is that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette, just as there is no such thing as a safe football game. The future of the sport will probably be that it will be less popular as casual fans drift away repulsed by the violence, much as they drifted away from boxing once we all saw the deterioration in real-time of heroes like Muhammad Ali. That means fewer viewers, less money, but also a smaller talent pool.
[See a collection of political cartoons on healthcare.]
This past year, three dynamic rookies, Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, and Russell Wilson, all come from solid middle class homes. In the future, these are exactly the kind of young people whose parents will steer them away from the sport. In the past year, one million fewer children signed up for youth tackle football in the United States. The future of the sport is grim, and the more we learn, the less safe if will be perceived to be.
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- Other Arguments
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#23010
No — Players must understand the hazards of the game, and safety must be prioritized
GREG MURPHY, Former NFL Player
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#32112
No — We must promote healthy habits off the football field to ensure player safety
GARY FOSTER, Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education
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#42416
Yes — Players and the NFL are starting to make football safer, but a lot more must be done
COREY LOUCHIEY, NFL Players’ Association New York and New Jersey Chapter President
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#51916
No — Football doesn't need to be altered, but brain resilience must be built
SANDRA BOND CHAPMAN, Chief Director of the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas
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#61616
Yes — We must change NFL culture, so that the focus is on outscoring your opponent, not destroying him
GEORGE VISGER, Former NFL Player and Founder of The Visger Group
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