Football season has begun. OK, not real excited about it, but I can watch it. I prefer baseball and even with that I am what you would call a casual fan. Just not terribly into sports I guess. At any rate, at some point during all the pre-game hoopla there was some discussion about the safety of the game. It was mentioned that some studies indicate there could be long term effects from playing this game. Brain damage and a host of neurological diseases. Several retired players have filed a lawsuit alleging the NFL didn't inform them of this possible damage and didn't do enough to protect them.
Let's look at this in a different light. The majority of these players are college graduates. I think that is a fair statement. And these graduates didn't figure having other 250 to 300 pound professional athletes continuously slamming into you could cause permanent damage. They figure someone should have told them. And being issued various pads and a crash helmet wasn't an indicator of possible injury. More should have done to protect them. Like what, exactly ? Go to playing flag football ?
Look it is a sad and tragic thing that they should suffer bad effects later in life. We all agree on that. It is just that I get annoyed when professional athletes or professionals of any kind want to feign such ignorance. If I choose to drive racing cars whose fault is it if I crash ? When I get injured whose fault is that ? It just seems to me they don't mind demanding six figure salaries when playing the game. They certainly don't seem concerned about their future health then. A lot of regular every day workers in this country suffer long term effects from their occupation. The occupational health and safety administration is there to protect them. And if you have ever dealt with them you know how that can be. Might be a safer approach but less effective in terms of results. People make choices about that every day. Doesn't mean I should try to sue the employer.
Let's look at this in a different light. The majority of these players are college graduates. I think that is a fair statement. And these graduates didn't figure having other 250 to 300 pound professional athletes continuously slamming into you could cause permanent damage. They figure someone should have told them. And being issued various pads and a crash helmet wasn't an indicator of possible injury. More should have done to protect them. Like what, exactly ? Go to playing flag football ?
Look it is a sad and tragic thing that they should suffer bad effects later in life. We all agree on that. It is just that I get annoyed when professional athletes or professionals of any kind want to feign such ignorance. If I choose to drive racing cars whose fault is it if I crash ? When I get injured whose fault is that ? It just seems to me they don't mind demanding six figure salaries when playing the game. They certainly don't seem concerned about their future health then. A lot of regular every day workers in this country suffer long term effects from their occupation. The occupational health and safety administration is there to protect them. And if you have ever dealt with them you know how that can be. Might be a safer approach but less effective in terms of results. People make choices about that every day. Doesn't mean I should try to sue the employer.
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