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Morality and Football

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cincibuck

cincibuck

You kids stay off my lawn!
OK, OK, before you bombard me with "wussification of football" responses; I am going to watch the Super Bowl. Beyond that I love me some Buckeye football. I love the opportunity to put some hate on Notre dame and the Dallas Cowboys, but there are times when I question my passion for the sport.

Thought provoking article in the New York Times magazine and though it is aimed at the NFL, I think there are questions in the article that could easily be focused on the college version, but the big issue remains what we are coming to understand about the game and concussions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/magazine/is-it-immoral-to-watch-the-super-bowl.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

Spoiler alert: The author says he will watch the Super Bowl too, despite his misgivings.
 
yeah fuck that guy just because he singled out Jack Tatum :biggrin:


Maybe it's just me - The Super Bowl is just another football game. I don't have the need to find some deeper meaning or try to infer some type of morality from a bunch of overpaid manchildren playing a game that my kids will play for free.
 
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For anyone who has ever played the game - we won't demonize it. I knew the risks, and still made the choice to play. Fact is, all of these players are making a handsome living playing a game. An important game, a football game- but a game none the less.

There are millions, I mean millions of people that would sacrifice health for the sake of doing something they're so passionate about while also being paid ridiculous sums of money. I am one of them.
 
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I remember seeing an interview with Darrius Heyward-Bey after he was concussed. The interviewer asked him straight up if he was concerned about his future and his health. He said no and that he was only worried about playing.

That's an idiotic opinion to have when talking about something as insignificant as football, but I doubt that opinion is rare around the league. While the NFL has lied through their teeth about brain injuries, getting information from non-league sources isn't difficult to do in 2014. It's all over the place. They choose to play anyway.

In the end, these guys aren't being forced to sacrifice themselves to entertain us. They do it for the money or because they can't or don't want to do anything else. There's no reason to feel morally responsible when their choice doesn't work out for them.
 
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I'll be watching the Super Bowl, too. No, not for the game. For the half-time show. How else can I be the first kid on my block to post a blog interpreting all the Illuminati symbology saturating the performance?
 
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Buckeneye said:
For anyone who has ever played the game - we won't demonize it. I knew the risks, and still made the choice to play. Fact is, all of these players are making a handsome living playing a game. An important game, a football game- but a game none the less.

There are millions, I mean millions of people that would sacrifice health for the sake of doing something they're so passionate about while also being paid ridiculous sums of money. I am one of them.
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The choice to play....this is the key phrase. We all make choices in life, good, bad, indifferent. Some folks just hate living with them after the fact. On an average an NFL player makes a $1 million a year. Put together a 4-5 year career (average is 6 for those making the opening day roster as a rookie) and you can do all right for yourself, better than most. If you were smart you got your college degree or most of the way too it.

If I quit watching the game, it will be because of the stupid ass changes Goodell is either making or made to this point....
 
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buckeyebri said:
If I quit watching the game, it will be because of the stupid ass changes Goodell is either making or made to this point....
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I watched a couple of Rugby games on TV while in Ireland over the holidays. Because of the pace of the game, you don't have the 6'6, 330, behemoths on the field, but the game is certainly hard-hitting; violent enough that I think American audiences would like the game were it not for the pull of history and the NFL's promotion skills. The guys play without much more than a simple helmet similar to what wrestlers use to prevent cauliflower ear, but the injuries don't seem to be anywhere near what you see in an American football game. Don't know if they've done any research, or kept any data on concussions. If Goodell could put a product together with the pace and hitting of rugby and the forward passing of football I think he could keep most viewers.
 
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Because the NFL essentially requires players to go to college first... it's hard to say they didn't have other opportunities to pursue a career outside the NFL.
But it would be interesting if there were an option for a lower paycheck w/lower risk. Perhaps CFL? I don't know how the health risks there compare though.
 
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buckeyebri said:
If I quit watching the game, it will be because of the stupid ass changes Goodell is either making or made to this point....
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Goodell doesn't make the changes. The Rules Committee - consisting of coaches, general managers and owners - make them. Goodell's job is to enforce them.
 
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