Michigan Thursday: Football A Game at Risk

We all love football, you wouldn't be on this site right now if you didn't.   We love the athleticism of the players, game strategy and to be fair the contact.   It's a great watch.  I'm sure you feel similar to myself when I say there isn't too many better things in life then walking to the big house on a 72 degree day to watch the Wolverines play a rival.  The air is electric and there is a smell of grills working overtime at each tailgate.   Your walk is a little faster and your heart is beating a bit quicker.   The faster you get to your seat, the faster you get to be apart of 110,000 strong cheering for the same team.   It's like walking into Disney World for the first time as a child.   It's a magical feeling. 

If you have been reading this site for years, you know one of the things that concerns me in this sport is concussion and overall brain trauma players can receive from playing this game.  It scares me for many reasons, including the future of football at all levels.   We got another slap in the face on what this game can do to you long term when "allegedly" Junior Seau took a gun and put it to his chest yesterday.   It's another chilling reminder of something all football fans try to forget, the effects this game has on it's players long term health.

We see former players on TV doing color commentary and they look fine.   They seem to be in control and don't have any problems.  The problem is, that is a small percentage of players that are not struggling and are successful after football.  Most former players have some type of health concerns and most don't mind if their knees are shot or they can't raise their hand over their heads.  Most former NFL players would give up two good knees for the shot to play football again.  It's just how they are wired and they understood their knees probably wouldn't work well after football.

That is all fine and good if we are talking about a knee or a shoulder.  When we start talking about a players head or brain the seriousness changes.   When we start playing football at 8 years old, nobody expects their life expectancy to be another 35 years.  It just doesn't compute or make any sense.

I believe Junior shot himself in the chest for two purposes, clearly he wanted to end his life but the second reason was so his brain could be analyzed for a disease called CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy which is a brain condition from constant contact or a number of concussions.   It's also commonly known as being "punch drunk" because a number of former boxers have this condition.  Many doctors give this example: it's like have a 90 year olds brain at the age of 40. 

We are starting to see a number of football players that die before their time with this condition, including former Bengals WR Chris Henry.   The scary part is Chris didn't have any reported concussions in College or Professional football.  Many researches now believe CTE can be caused by the constant contact football players go through in a game or practice over the years. 

This disease is the #1 threat to this great game right now.  The game we all love to watch.   The NFL is cracking down on safety on the field because they are getting sued left and right by former players who are in trouble physically and financially.   Can you imagine doing something you love doing and being told at 30 years old that your time is up and you can't do it any longer?  Add on top of that not being able to physically walk or that you fall into a deep depression for a reason you can't identify.

This threat is real and it's not going to get any better. Remember back in the day when players tackled the proper way?  With us now being in the "Sports Center era" of just highlights of big hits and leading with the helmet, this condition will only get worse.   It's time to really understand what this game can do to it's players in future years.  This is not just an NFL problem, players in college football have it and even players in high school.  

Today, please reflect on this great game and the happiness it has brought to you but also reflect what it can do to a high school, college or professional football player.   Today, think about Junior Seau a great football player and one of the toughest guys to ever strap on a helmet, who is dead at the age of 43.  Now think about Junior being your son, years from now.