OT: Junior Seau suffered CTE, is football too dangerous?
So CTE is chronic brain damage and can be caused by repeated blows to the head as small as what a typical OL or DLinmen go through on every play. I ask this because the typical argument is that these guys are getting paid millions of dollars and are making a decision. I have two problems with this argument: 1) This sort of damage is accumulated over a lifetime, plenty of youth football players could easily be permanently damaging their brains with no real knowledge of the dangers and we probably never hear about their health issues. 2) Football is borderline exploitive. The number of professional football players from disadvantaged backgrounds is disproportianetly high. For a lot of these players something like football is the only way out of a bad neighberhood. The choice between a potentially short life in poverty where statistics say there is a greater than 50% you are going to be dead or in jail by 50 or football where you could damage your brain for life by 35 does not seem like a legitimate choice.
I'm not sure how I feel about football right now but I know the billions of dollars it generates is going to keep players futrue health low on the priority list. The board seemed kind of slow and I thought this could be a legitimate discussion. If people don't think so I apologize.
January 11th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^
How about we just mandate that noone can tie their shoelaces?
January 11th, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^
about some relevant technology. http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/11/mc10-reebok-checklight-hands-on/?ncid=webmail1
January 11th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
is a challenging subject to evaluate. On one hand, there are important lessons that football teaches, in my opinion, better than any sport (work ethic, sacrifice, teamwork, commitment), but on the other hand there exists the violence and sometimes misplaced masculinity the game promotes.
Technology, science, healthcare and improved education are important components in the fight to raise awareness of the very real dangers of CTE. However, the less talked about fight that must take place is on the culture of invincibility absorbed by players and appreciated by fans. This culture makes it difficult for current and former players to admit that they're hurt or ask for help from fear of losing their place in the game.
My dad, former Michigan RB Rob Lytle, had CTE and a body pieced together by pins, screws and scars as a result of his dedication to football. Despite the pain, all he ever wanted after he retired was for one more play on any playing field. It hurt me to see how much he missed playing the game. If given the chance to do everything over again, knowing the risks involved, he would have made the same choices and played.
Football is violent, aggressive and dangerous. In turn, the men who play it must be violent, aggressive and dangerous on the field. My wish is that former players grow able to admit their physical and emotional struggles after leaving the game.
I wrote more on this subject on my site: kellylytle.com/2013/01/11/my-wish-for-football/
January 11th, 2013 at 7:00 PM ^
I dropped 500 MGoPoints in your account, so you should be able to post original content here; from glancing at your blog that would be appreciated if you ever get the urge.
In the upper left corner of your screen there is now a tab that says "create content". Hovering over that gives you two options: diary and board post. A diary would be similar to what you write on your site (an original piece >200 words), while a board topic could be, for example, a link to your site and a brief description or discussion questions.
Hope you enjoy your time here, and I enjoyed what I saw of your writing.