On (American) Football

It took a long time for me to come round to the game that the rest of the world calls American Football.  Like many folks who grow up in Britain, I had a thorough disdain for a sport which appeared to be organized around commercial breaks, involve industrial strength padding and boast "athletes" who weighed over 300lbs.  In a bar in Brooklyn, I distinctly remember one of my girlfriends  attempting to explain the rules of the game, and my inability to comprehend the significance of a first down.

How things have changed.  Monday night football is now appointment television in our house.  As indeed is College Gameday, and most of Saturday and Sunday afternoons, if the weather is lousy.  I suspect that some of my interest in the game was developed when I realized that guacamole and chips were an integral part of the viewing process.  And that beer and wine never go amiss when shooting the Brees.  But somewhere along the way, I have come to know the successes and frailties of Moss, Ochocinco, Brady, the Brothers Manning and all the rest. 

It is ironic, then, that just as I have grown to like the game, questions are being asked about whether right minded folk should be watching it at all. 

This, after all, is a season in which a Rutgers player was paralyzed from the neck down after a tackle.  And without much thought, I can name three NFL quarterbacks with injuries right now.  The 49ers Smith is out with a shoulder injury, which prevented him from playing in London ten days ago (although I was glad to see that he got to make the trip - bet that was an uncomfortable plane ride).  Tony Romo  has a broken collarbone, and any forlorn hope that the Cowboys had of playing the Super Bowl in their fancy new stadium was crushed on Sunday after a sorry 45-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers.  And Brett Favre, the 41 year old "grandpa" of the NFL, has been hobbling on to the field with two fractures in his left foot.  As Sokolove puts it, in the NYT article above, "We wince.  Then we put it out of our minds".

Of course injury is a factor in just about any sport you care to mention.  And in the NFL, at least, the compensation for running the risk is in the millions of dollars. But throwing money at the problem doesn't resolve the ethical issues which surround it, and the increasing alarm over the number of concussions occurring on a weekly basis by kids playing in college (never mind the pros) makes me wonder.  Is this really all that different from boxing, if the potential effect is long term neurological damage?  Muhammed Ali may have been the greatest, but he also serves as a tragic example of what can happen after sustained hits to the head.

The NFL has imposed extra discipline this season, to counter the wave of negative press and the real concern of fans.  For the moment, I'm trusting that the new measures will lead to a less concussion-prone game.  And my family will be glad to hear that Thanksgiving will involve the usual doses of Cowboys and Lions games along with the turkey and cranberry sauce.  But I'm thinking about this.  And if you haven't read that article I mentioned up front, then I urge you to do so.