Is Football as we know it OVER? Many talking heads saying “YES”
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Is Football as we know it over?
Some of the most influential names in the media are saying that the game of football as we know it is in it’s last days…
I’m talking tackle football… not “futbol”, or “soccer”.
In light of recent events, it’s a fair question-
Will massive changes be enough to save it, or is football as we know it over… for good?
Is Football as we know it over for good?
Concussions in football are happening more frequently than ever before. At all levels. That’s no secret. The NFL is now implementing new procedures to protect their players… (and their image)
But the whole issue just jumped to a whole new level with the recent tragic murder-suicide involving Kansas City player Jovan Belcher.
There’s also a study linking head trauma with long-term brain disease that have lead some of the media’s biggest names to predict the demise of a Sunday Fall tradition for millions of people.
Consider these comments begging the question, “Is Football as we know it over?”
Rush Limbaugh, who was a NFL analyst for ESPN for a brief time, said this,
I’m telling you right now, football as you know it is over. It’s only a matter of time. It’s finished. You start listening to the people talk about the negatives of the game. It creates aberrant behavior. There’s too much drinking. People are shooting people because of the concussions, it’s altering minds. It’s just becoming too dangerous and we as a society are becoming too bloodthirsty in wanting it. And I’m just telling you, I’m giving you a forecast, not tomorrow, I don’t know when, but it’s over. That’s the direction that we are trending.
Bob Costas, of the now infamous gun-control comments on Monday Night Football, was asked if he thought the league was at “crisis level”:
It’s so popular and so profitable, but it takes a tremendous toll on many of those who play it…
And it’s a legitimate question to ask whether, for some players at least, the toll that the game takes, brain trauma, medications that they may take, enhance performance or deal with pain, all those things. The culture of the league increases the likelihood of abhorrent behavior.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/football-as-you-know-it-is-over/#JCtPhz1O0udIMDkG.99
Here’s the article by FoxSports Writer Jason Whitlock that inspired Costas’ rant:
Here’s the half-time excerpt from Monday Night Football with Bob Costas-
Is football as we know it over… for real?
Time Magazine just reported that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has considered the elimination of kickoffs during football games in an attempt to cut down on neck injuries.
Former Monday Night Football analyst Dennis Miller is now suggesting a complete overhaul of the game.
Apparently, it’s not just the professional level that’s being targeted…
On Sunday, Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham suggested tackle football be banned for all players under the age of 14.
“Because of the way they’re built, players under 14 are sitting ducks when it comes to head trauma…”
Is football as we know it over… IMO?
First, this isn’t about gun control. While extremely tragic, what happened with the gun was just a symptom of the bigger issue – head trauma in sports.
2nd, facts are facts. Football in America is too big to be shut down.
It’s too popular. It’s too profitable. It provides too much funding for too many departments for too many universities and schools.
It would take an Act of God to shut it down before an Act of Congress would get any support.
Does more need to be done? Absolutely.
Is government intervention the answer?
Meh… judging from the way they balance their checkbook, I’m not a big fan of that idea…
But we do need to understand what’s happening to these young men.
And I’ll be honest… as a parent with 2 young boys, I’m going to follow this issue of head trauma very closely. The long-term health of my kids is far more important than a few “glory years”.
But having a father-in-law who’s coached football for 35 years, including our local high school team, I also don’t want to be paranoid and deprive my sons of all the good stuff that goes along with playing football.
Is football as we know it over? I hope not.
What say you?
Is football as we know it over?
