The season of disconnect is upon us.
The NFL returned Wednesday, and, for most of us, it's reason to rejoice. For the next six months, there will be games at least three days a week, including an entire day's worth on Sundays. Hours upon additional hours will be spent reveling in or complaining about our teams, real and fantasy alike.
Appointment viewing isn't the only reason the NFL has a hold on us. There is a communal aspect, too, one of the few common bonds that unites most Americans. No matter where you go or what situation you find yourself in during the NFL season, differences and awkwardness melt away at the mention of the hometown team, its quarterback or its coach.
Or, if you’re outside of Texas, the mutual delight of another miserable Dallas Cowboys season.
If there is such a thing as our national religion, the NFL is it.
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Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo is on leave from his broadcast job at CBS following his arrest over the summer.
Can't ignore football's long-term risks
Wonderful as we find it, though, enjoying football requires a disassociation. Dwell on the dangers of the game – the head trauma, the broken bones, the shredded ligaments – and no one would play it. Worry about the long-term consequences for the players – bodies that creak and groan as if they’re a decade or two older than they are, the memory lapses and personality changes that signal a damaged brain – and no one would watch it.
So we don't dwell. We bury our worry so it can't distract. The NFL's players accept the trade-off of playing the game they love at the highest level, with the riches and privileges it brings, for the nightmares it might exact in the future. We fans park ourselves on our couches or favorite bar stools and delude ourselves into thinking the players have made an informed decision to play and medical advances will, if not mitigate the horrors experienced by previous players, make them manageable.
That’s if we think about any of this at all. Which most of us, myself included, won’t. We love the game and how it makes us feel, and we don’t want these inconvenient truths to spoil it.
And yet, they're never far away.
At least 1 in 4 former NFL players examined after death had CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated hits to the head. New research says it's the pile-up of ordinary hits over a career that matters most, not just concussions, and it's not just an NFL problem. If you or your kid plays contact sports, does this cross your mind? https://san.com/?utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=social&utm_source=youtube&utm_content=owned Love what we're doing here? Support unbiased journalism by becoming a Straight Arrow subscriber: https://straightarrowne.ws/subscribe
Tony Romo, CTE study remind us of football's risks
J.J. Watt is joining Jim Nantz in the No. 1 NFL broadcast booth for CBS this season because Tony Romo is on leave following his arrest over the summer for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. An arrest, Romo said, that can be traced to the back injuries he suffered during his 14 years with the Cowboys.
"Multiple back surgeries ended my career earlier than I expected and left me with constant, debilitating pain," Romo said in a statement he posted on Instagram after his Sept. 1 no-contest plea to a civil offense.
"That pain led to a dependence on pain medication," Romo added, "and my efforts to get off those medications led to an overreliance on alcohol."
The day after Romo’s statement, researchers at Boston University released a study showing a majority of NFL players who underwent cognitive testing during their lifetimes and were diagnosed with CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) following their deaths showed “high impairment rates” on learning, memory, executive function and language while alive.
Though the study sample was small, just 33 players, the amount of impairment before death was sobering. Seventeen players had impaired learning and memory and 15 had impaired executive function.
"This is the largest study of its kind to directly link the amount of CTE pathology found at autopsy with objective cognitive testing during life," Anna Aaronson, lead author of the study, said in a statement. "These findings provide an important roadmap for recognizing CTE in living patients."
Which is why we can't allow ourselves to look away from the dangers inherent in our favorite sport.
The NFL shield logo is painted in the end zone before the Steelers hosted the New York Jets on Aug. 21 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Public pressure has led to NFL rules changes
Ignoring the obvious won't make those long-term injuries and impairments go way. But acknowledging football's inherent dangers and asking questions will keep pressure on the NFL to make rules changes and fund research that could help make the game safer.
It wasn’t that long ago the NFL was obstinate in denying trauma from the game was killing former players. Now, after the deaths of several high-profile players resulted in NFL officials being hauled before Congress and a growing public discomfort, the game is safer. Kickoffs have been moved back, there are limits on how much players can hit during practice, and independent neurologists make the call on whether a player can return to the game after head trauma.
The mood among fans has shifted, too. We no longer celebrate highlight reels of debilitating hits, wincing instead when we see those plays. We at least have discussions about when kids should start playing tackle football, and have embraced the growth in flag.
All of this came about because there was a collective acknowledgment of football's risks. Loving the game means wanting it to be better, not ignoring its flaws.
