NFL Preseason: Brain Injuries and the NFL's Nanny Regulations

Recently, former Chicago Bear and Notre Dame football player Dave Duerson committed suicide, blaming his depression on the long-term effects of concussions and brain injuries stemming from football. 

Only months after Duerson's suicide, former NFLer and Michigan Wolverine Corwin Brown assaulted his wife and shot himself in the stomach.  Immediately, the media began discussing head injuries as a reason for Brown's actions.  How should we view this serious issue?

The science behind the brain injury issue states that former NFL players who had multiple concussions were 20 percent more likely than their counterparts to be depressed later in life.  Additionally, they were 19 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than the rest of the population. 

Without going into an incredibly in-depth analysis of the science, the discussion will assume that brain injuries cause long term detrimental effects for those who incur them, as briefly illustrated.  There is no debating the studies.

The NFL has taken it upon itself to institute numerous rules and regulations to protect its players from these brain injuries after receiving Congressional pressure, among other calls for changes. 

To address the issue, the league fines players who hit quarterbacks or other players when they are "vulnerable."  Officials penalize players for helmet-to-helmet contact.  And the NFL has gone so far as to move kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line to create more touchbacks, avoiding devastating collisions that occur when defenders tackle the kick returner. 

The rules have been enacted much to the disdain of players like Steeler James Harrison, who simply wants to play the game he's played since grade school.

It may seem controversial, but the NFL's stance is completely and utterly wrong.  Yes, injuries occur and players should be protected, but at some point, the game stops being football.  Football already exists outside the bounds of society, as the players act in ways that are normally categorized as illegal. 

Football is a gladiator sport that appeals to our primal senses.  This is why fans watch the game.  Violent collisions are as important to the average football fan as the strategy of the game.  Stealing one of the core pieces of the game from fans and players, alike, fundamentally changes the game.  Without devastating impacts, America may as well join the rest of the world and adopt soccer as its national sport.

Rather than being a Nanny organization, the NFL should completely rethink the way it chooses to address injuries.  It should focus on the actual injuries that occur, the equipment standards it uses and holding players accountable for failing to their jobs.  What do I mean?

First, the NFL should put policies in place that disallow a concussed player from re-entering the game.  Arguably, this already exists, so this isn't a profound statement.  The NFL could be more protective of player health, however.  At the same time, the NFL should allow more players to exist on team rosters at positions that historically incur these types of injuries.

Second, the NFL should invest more in the development of equipment that can withstand the impacts of today's bigger and stronger players.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Right now, however, the NFL doesn't have the same urgency to develop new equipment, because it can simply change the rules of the game. 

Helmets that dull helmet-to-helmet impacts by making the outside of helmets more malleable would distribute devastating vibrations.  Additionally, developers could make different helmets for different positions, depending on the nature of the usual impacts at each position.

Finally, the NFL should fine the players who put their teammates in positions of vulnerability.  When a defensive end absolutely destroys a quarterback, it shouldn't be the defensive end who is punished.  It should be the offensive lineman who failed to do his job and block for his quarterback. 

When a safety punishes a wide receiver whose quarterback floated a pass across the middle, the quarterback should be fined for placing his teammate in danger.  The NFL has its punishments backwards, punishing the players who are doing the jobs they were hired to do.

Ultimately, if an NFL player doesn't want to play the game according to the way it was originally meant to be played with all the violence that attracts fans to the sport, he can always walk away from the game.  This is a blood sport.  People pay for the violence.  When the NFL bends over so far backwards to avoid injuries so as to completely change the face of the game, fans should jump ship and watch college football or accept soccer as our new past time. 

There are plenty of us who would risk our long-term health to play for the millions of dollars these players receive.  Those millions would be enough for anyone to create a legacy for his children and grandchildren.  If an NFL athlete doesn't like the consequences of playing the game, he can join the rest of us in trying to find jobs that pay us a few thousand dollars in this God forsaken economy.

I'll admit that I'm angry I can no longer watch the NFL like I did as a kid.  I'm unhappy that I can't go to a game without being more unhappy with the NFL's policies than I am with the opposing team.  As soon as I see a great hit, I know it's going to be followed with a flag.  It's unfortunate and unforgiveable. 

Play the game the way it was meant to be played or get off the field.  Until then, you can find me watching football on Saturdays and doing something outdoors on Sundays.