Should Football Die?

 Since this is a rather serious post for me--I thought I'd preface it with a picture of the one athlete I'll always be a fan of. 

Let me preface this all by saying that I'm not a sports fan. Never have been, and I doubt I ever will be. If I were to pay money to attend any kind of sports event...it would be baseball. However, I recently came across this article in the December issue of Reader's Digest, and it reminded me of some ideas my Sports History professor had talked about in class. I recommend reading the article if you're interested in the subject, but the gist of it is that a professional sportswriter is swearing off watching football because, after years of being so close to the football world, he's seen way too much of what the hits that players take do to their lives in the long-term. In spite of all the padding and protection, football players often get serious injuries--and what specifically concerned that sportswriter--serious brain injuries that sometimes don't allow them to lead normal, healthy lives after they retire from the game.

I emailed the article to my old professor, because I knew he was a lifelong football fan, though in class he had talked about his outrageous theory that the days of American football are numbered due to our greater awareness of what the sport does to players' brains. I got a reply back from him saying that he'd made the exact same decision this fall: that he would not watch football anymore. I was surprised by this--you have to know that he's a major sports fan in general if he's going to teach a college course on the history of sports, and I knew that he genuinely loved 'his' football team--the one from his home state that he still rooted for, years after he'd moved away and lived in other states and countries. My prof said that a big part of the turning point for him was finding out that Jim McMahon, one of his most adored players from the 80s, was now in his early 50s and had dementia.

I find this very interesting. Football is on the TV of a good number of American homes every Thanksgiving Day. Superbowl Sunday is practically a national holiday. Now, for the first time I'm hearing about genuine fans of the game deciding that they can no longer support the football world, because of the tremendous toll football takes on athletes' brains.

 I'll be the first to admit that I haven't researched the subject. I don't know a wide variety of specific cases of professional players who  have been hurt by the game or exactly how concussions damage the body. I don't even know the names of any current football players. Like I said, I'm not a fan. But I find it very strange that American society and culture is most known for idolizing a sport that has the power to ruin the lives of its players. Athletes get hurt in every sport, I understand that. However, football really seems like the most widely popular sport where athlete's heads are specifically put in such extensive danger.

I've now come across two former fans of the game who chose to stop watching it because of what happens to football players. I wonder how many fans think about that issue. My professor phrased it well in his email to me:

"It hit me that I--and other football fans--are somehow complicit in the brain damage that these former players are now suffering. We had cheered for them when they were healthy. We can't just shrug our shoulders and feel a little sad that they are losing their minds 25 years later."

What do you think about the dilemma of football? Fans, non-fans, relatives of fans alike, I'd like to hear from you!