The information we've learned over the past decade has come in like a tsunami. Maybe there was a period of delay in which we had to wait for definitive data from the medical findings, but in retrospect, even that delay seems like the delay from legal wranglings of disclosure so that accountability could be clarified and a settlement could be negotiated. If you fully trust the details of that movie "Concussion" starring, Will Smith- who does a spectacular job as African doctor Bennet Omalu, the person credited for uncovering the impact of concussions on the human brain- the NFL has known about his findings for a very long time.
Now that we finally know more, we might be moving closer to progress on head trauma. Actually, we aren't really moving closer to anything relative to a remedy for concussions, just closer to accepting that people who get them and keep playing are somewhat crazed, before, during and after their trauma.
Let me explain that a little more clearly since we DO know for certain that the impact of so much head trauma are several potential forms of psychosis or psychotic issues including hallucinations, rage and more. What we don't know or haven't even discussed, is how might the trauma of concussions effect people who were predisposed to mental illness already? Is there any connection between this common childhood brain trauma (most all of us recall playing on after head hurting collisions) and the growth in recreational drug usage or mental illnesses like Alzheimer's? Maybe we'll discover a connection one day, but most likely we'll persist to insist on implementing and improving our concussion protocols that move on a sliding scale impacted heavily by the importance of the moment, or the player.
Even this "protocol" line of thinking only addresses the impact of trauma, not the craziness that likely causes concussion worthy collisions to begin with. As we speak, the unreasonably hefty contract of the former Bronco great Ryan Clady, has been absorbed by the New York Jets who unceremoniously lost their all time great offensive lineman, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, to sudden retirement. Aside from one trick play, Ferguson is a player who never missed a play during a span of 10 years. Since Ferguson is too young to have played against Deacon Jones, did he have the blessed benefit of never getting his bell rung while playing in the NFL, or was he and his streak simply too valuable for anyone to care about his rung bells when they got rung?
Was he thriving on an immense killer instinct or forced into a crazy corner of limited options? Ferguson's decision to rest his brain forever from the NFL speaks to the latter. He might have wished for a couple of breaks while playing long before watching the movie that clarified the impact of never resting the bell. Now he knows it was crazy to ignore the ringing, no matter how cool it and the streak appeared at the time. In reality, ironman streaks and smash mouth recognition should be the most frowned upon aspect of the game of football knowing what we know about concussions. The truth is that they are the reason we like football.
If you really think about it, there are some really crazy coaches and parents that breed the crazed killer instinct that is vital for most positions on a football field. Kids do head smashing drills in practice just to get used to the feeling of seeing stars and pressing on nonetheless. The idea that any football player would be asked to do anything less head smashing once game time begins is laughable.
What is also laughable is how blood thirsty we are for smash mouth football, even at 6 years old or younger. Since really small kids learn how to get up from the ground no matter what put them there, is it even a reasonable expectation that the National Football League can reduce the type of collisions that takes a lifetime to teach, and is exactly what makes us watch the game in the first place? What the NFL is actually hoping to accomplish is only a reduction of the type of smashing hits that destroy the human brain, a water encased soft muscle that NEVER was designed for the type of collisions that are normal at every level of football.
If you've seen the movie, you recall a scene where Dr. Omalu repeatedly describes animals- big horn sheep, woodpeckers, etc- that were made for head trauma with a God given, anatomical design that helps to minimize the impact of repeated collisions.For humans, the only remedy for an existing concussion is a rest from the trauma, and everything else that might overwork the damaged brain. Without a short term break, a traumatized brain experiences long term damage, including the potential for death. Death directly from the injury at times, but indirectly for some, as a result of going crazy from too many years of playing on with severe head trauma.
For all that is good about the discovery of Dr. Omalu, there is a significant area of bad that remains. The impact of his discovery, CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), can only be confirmed on the brain of a dead person. The only thing we know for the sake of the living is that rest can reduce the trauma to the brain, reducing the key symptoms as well. No one really understands brain scarring of this sort or what amount of trauma will send you over the edge of no return. How many people today unwittingly live with a short fuse towards friends and family alike as a direct result of doing exactly what adults asked of them- display that intense, concussion causing passion we all were asked to display during every high school sports other than swimming? By the way, this is the same passion that we just so happen to be infusing into the next generation of athletes of every sport too.
Like lead in the blood stream of Flint, Michigan children, there may be no real cure or remedy from the impact of even one concussion, much less repeated ones, especially given our blood thirst for brain crushing hits. Whether it is coaches and parents that don't care more about our kids to pull them during injury to the head, or the player that doesn't care about themselves more than they crave competition or keeping their jobs, so they lie, we have proven that this problem runs much much deeper than just a league who knew more details about concussions than they revealed.
The legal accountability stuff should be the most important part of this conversation because knowledge is power, and without the knowledge of concussions, injured brains worldwide had no power to make a wise decision. However fortunate (or not), the NFL had this information before any of us, and to that they owe- something. Based upon better information, we've seen several rich football players call their careers quits because they don't wish to risk further head trauma to a game that virtually insures they'll get it.
Yet, none of this is going to be enough bad publicity to impact the future of the league. This will only lessen the pool of gladiators to draw blood from. In the end, we won't care how big the overall pool really is that much. Youth football involvement is down sharply across the land, but even that won't change the nature of the game we love so much. If a third less kids are starting football, they'll only impact the 98% of college football players who never become pro's in the first place. Will it hurt the quality of play? When smashing and not tackling are the reason we watch, the quality of the game concern is already lost.
As a parent, I've imagined whether or not I would be comfortable allowing my son to play football if I were not fortunate enough to only have daughters who never imagined asking me to play. I personally longed to play football myself way back when my mother realized that it was too dangerous and I was much more suited for basketball with my skinny frame. I also have the type of temperament that concussions loved dearly. No way in heck was a severe headache going to stop me from competing in any sport, nor did it. Thanks to my mom's anti-football foresight, I probably have the ability to write about concussions today instead of losing that skill from having one too many of them and still playing on.
I know for certain that I could catch the ball better than Wes Welker, but again, I also have his same bell ringing nature that ended his career early. The truth of the matter is that every really great player who tells you the honest truth about their decision to play with head trauma will almost universally admit that they would do it again for the chance to compete.
We are so competition crazed that I,...... I mean, some men will beat little kids in a game of memory because competition made them do it. Even when we are lucky enough to find balance in our passion to compete versus our need to heal, coaches lose their sense of clarity when deciding whether or not to sit stars seeing stars. Some because their jobs are on the line, and others because they themselves were stars who played with stars.
What this comes down to is a need for each of us to really look inside of ourselves and say, do we really care about rich people's headaches's or any of their true problems? Don't we really consider their paycheck and the opportunity to earn it ourselves, all the justification for the risk? Would we keep tuning in to watch the, not as good, second and third string backups without even knowing their names at all?
When nearly every former great player guarantees us all that they would do it over and over again for the chance to compete in a game that we came to see them get hurt while doing, why do we worry or really care about this issue? If the NFL has to hire WWE wrestler's to fake the hits and fill the stands, they will do it.
Because the owners and the players, all of these rich guys are crazy, taking over Sunday's no less so that they can exploit blood thirsty American's who've darn near traded Jesus for football. God help us.
(When does preseason start again? #DB4L : )
No comments:
Post a Comment