Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

NFL Has to Consider More Than Just Money

Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL owners have proposed a plan to lengthen the regular season from 16 to 18 games and shorten the preseason from four to two games. The playoff system would be left intact.

If the proposal is accepted by the owners and the players association, the changes would be implemented starting in 2012.

One major sticking point in the effort to convince the players to lengthen the season is upping their average salary.

It seems as if a longer regular season would please fans, owners, players and essentially everyone in football, so why, you might ask, am I raining on everyone’s parade?

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some football. There’s nothing I’d like more than to have football all year-round. But despite my love for the game, and despite the fact that football players get to play a game that they love for monstrous sums of money, the equally monstrous hits that they take can inflict a serious toll on the life they lead after football.

any people argue that athletes are in better shape than anybody and that two extra games shouldn’t make a significant physical difference. Sure, two extra games doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you consider that the average star running back plays for about a decade – if they’re lucky – that comes out to 20 extra games that that player is participating in over his career. That’s a whole season and a quarter – a lot of extra wear and tear for a 10-year veteran.

According to a recent story in the The New York Times, a study from the year 2000 surveying 1,090 former NFL players discovered that more than 60 percent of players had experienced at least one concussion in their careers, while 26 percent had three or more concussions.

Another study done by the University of North Carolina in 2007 uncovered that out of the players with three concussions or more, 20.2 percent said they had been diagnosed with depression at some point following their retirement.

It gets worse. A study in 2009 conducted by the University of Michigan showed that Alzheimer’s disease as well as other similar, memory-related diseases were found at a rate 19 times higher in NFL players, ages 30 to 49, than in other men the same age.

It’s not as if the NFL isn’t doing anything to prevent these issues. The league has taken precautions to make football players aware of the risks that they take by playing the sport, including recently putting warning signs in lockers that describe the symptoms of concussions and the long-term risks a football career can pose for one’s health.

Additionally, the NFL is doing what it can to keep players who show signs of a concussions off the field. The major problem is that the league promotes the glory of playing through pain, which isn’t so glorious when you have a serious injury.

One of the best examples of the dangers of football is the life of Mike Webster, who had a 17-year NFL career and is widely considered the best center in football history. But like many football players, he suffered direct repercussions from his playing days during retirement. As a result of his lengthy career, which many doctors liken to the equivalent of suffering 25,000 car crashes, Webster suffered from a brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, as well as amnesia, dementia, depression and bone and muscle pain.

For years, he slept in his pickup truck as well as in train stations. When he sued the NFL in 1999 for full disability benefits, he was denied, and as a result went into serious debt. He distanced himself from family and friends and was divorced in early 2002. He died six months later at age 50. Only in 2005 was his estate granted full benefits.

odern-day players also suffer in retirement from injuries that occurred during their playing days. Former Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet, who suffered numerous concussions during his 11-year career, constantly has trouble remembering how to get places – even his own home.

Unfortunately, sometimes head trauma goes unnoticed. Former Bengals receiver Chris Henry died of blunt force trauma to the head after falling out of the back of a moving truck that was being driven by his fiancée. Only after his death did doctors find out that Henry suffered from the same brain disease Webster suffered from. Henry had never even been diagnosed with a concussion.

Thousands of players wake up every morning with blistering headaches, and some like Webster and Chrebet can’t live normal lives as a result. It’s nice to see that the NFL is finally taking action, but the league isn’t even close to where it should be on these matters.

The NFL is notoriously known as having the worst disability and pension plans in sports. Until these plans and equipment safety are improved, the NFL should not be allowed to pursue an 18-game schedule.

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