You know that moment the sports world has long dreaded?
Last night, it finally came.
Today, we know that a Bills DB named Damar Hamilin collapsed after a big, highlight reel hit in a game against Cincinnati. He never got up. Traumatized players on both sides could not continue. Game called due to near death tragedy. Hamlin remains in critical condition, the sports word praying for him. But here's a dirty little secret: Prayers won't be enough.
Look, this is no time for me to self-righteously sermonize about the violence in pro football, which grows every year as players become bigger, stronger, faster and - it seems - angrier. Sam Huff - the goliath of my youth - weighed 225. Today, linemen commonly push 330. Every play from scrimmage features massive bodies seemingly shot at each other from cannons. Before last night, the league's most pressing safety concern was the number of concussions for Tua Tagovailoa, a Miami quarterback. (And it remains a serious matter.) Today, it's about life and death.
At some point, the world must demand a safer game, even if the quality of pass routes isn't quite as crisp.
It could start with real grass. The NFL claims its studies show equal injury rates on natural and artificial surfaces. (Does anyone belief NFL studies?) The players union says otherwise. Last I looked, no owner was ever pancaked to the turf in a game.
Artificial turf is supposed to give players better traction, so they can hit each other harder. But that's not why it's used in 16 NFL stadiums. It's used because it costs the owners less to maintain. That's all. The bottom line. It's cheaper.
Well, folks, a guy may have just died on national TV. In fairness, the fake turf in Cincy last night might not have had anything to do with Hamlin's injury. We'll never know. But I cannot understand how billionaires wanting to save a few more thin dimes can trump a safety issue. Are they all, at their core, Elon Musk, telling employees to bring their own toilet paper?
Today, the pundits and personalities will dust off their best sepulchral tones, offering thoughts and prayers to all. The players need more.
Widen the field. Institure weight limits by position. Eliminate the three point stance.
ReplyDeleteTurn the whole league into flag football. No tackling. Just grabbing the little piece of synthetic fibers as the guy runs by.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a game of skill, retain some physicality through blocking, jostling for passes, and that kind of stuff. But it wouldn't be the completely brutal spectacle it is now.
I'm sure nobody would watch. I doubt that would sate fan bloodlust.
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ReplyDeleteEl Duque, I couldn't agree with you more. The current game is vastly different than it was when we were in our teenage and college years some fifty years ago. As you mentioned, the players were not as strong or fast as they are today. Back then, sure, a few of your favorite team's players would get injured with some gone for the season. But today, the game has morphed into a war of attrition with a high number of casualties. Protection has not kept up with massive growth and speed of the players.
ReplyDeleteBut there's another angle that you alluded to when you mentioned the owners switching to artificial turf because it is cheaper to maintain. Specifically, the owners value players like generals value privates in the army. Nothing more than battle fodder to be economically replaced by another. That mentality is the very reason why until recently contracts were not guaranteed either in whole or part....just year-to-year. Basically, the owners don't give a damn about their worker drones. And the ironic part is that because a higher percentage of contracts are now ensured, particularly skilled positions such as quarterback, the league has gone overboard to protect those players from being hit to the point of absurdity and as a result, the quality of play has been diminished. It's not that they care about the health of the QB. Just the fact that they have to be paid even if they're physically unable to fulfill the contract length.
The NFL is parsimonious to a fault even though they have more money than a Saudi Emir or Sultan. That's why the game has the worst officiating, by far, of any major sport. Instead of emulating other major sports where they develop and train officials paying them a full-time salary while officiating at lower levels and pick from the best, the NFL still relies mostly on very part-time officials who are usually middle-aged and engaged in other professions or are retired and have some modest amount of experience in high school or college games. These refs and officials are too old, too slow and too few to always be in the right place to make proper calls. But the owners couldn't care less.
If it wasn't for gambling, football would have gone the way of Boxing years ago. Everyone says how slow and plodding baseball is, have you watched a football game this year? It's 3-4 hrs of ineptitude. QBs suck, coaching sucks, but you can bet on pretty much every play. so viewership is off the charts. Eventually it will be all lower economic kids playing this game, because families with $$$ will steer their kids to the safer sports.
ReplyDeleteThere is no answer. No good one anyway.
ReplyDeleteTo look at it rationally is to appear cold. To look at it empathetically and seek greater protections to the point of changing the game is to deny the reality of the sport and the business that is sports.
What we saw yesterday was/is a tragedy.
Was it greed induced? Was it inevitable given the size, speed and strength of professional football players? Is it somehow different than when a boxer dies in the ring or a racecar driver on the track?
It seemed that much more tragic because of its uniqueness. It was unexpected. But doesn't its unexpectedness speak to its rarity?
Watching the events unfold last night... seeing the tears of the players, learning that they were the ones that wanted the game stopped, and that it was stopped, despite the "importance and playoff implications" showed me that there was still humanity in the sport.
That this wasn't some Rollerball thing. That we're not that far gone...yet.
Yes, lose the artificial turf. Don't hold rock concerts in stadiums during the season if you can't get fresh turf in time. Figure out how to have a separate set of grow lights in domed stadiums to keep the turf alive.
Yes, keep regulating equipment and what constitutes an illegal hit. (Which to my understanding this was not.) Toughen up on spearing.
Ultimately Football is a profession that comes with inherent risks. Of injury, long term concussion issues, and in last night's game - possible death.
There is no answer. No good one anyway.
And now - Let the Sabean chatter begin:
ReplyDelete100% with you here, Doug. Add it to Carl’s and Celerino’s worthy comments and I think we have it covered. But will the NFL invest in its players? The “stars”, yes - they see the worth they have in commercials, etc, in marketing the league, so they will be protected. The other 95%, I don’t expect to see a bunch of elderly right wing millionaires doing too much there. Curious to see how the league will handle the suspended game. Of course it is a secondary concern, but to the owners there’s money and precedent involved, so…
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece, Duque, and very good ideas from all.
ReplyDeleteAnother couple suggestions:
—Go back to two-way football, which would per force diminish the size of the players. (And also save the owners money, meaning it could actually happen.)
—Get back to a 14-game schedule. 17, with an extended playoffs, is just too much.
Anybody remember Chuck Hughes? I didn't remember the name, but I remembered that a Detroit Lion died on the field.
ReplyDeleteIt happened in 1971. He had just made the biggest catch of his limited four-year career. Suffered a massive heart attack, after a play that he was not in on. Turned out he had suffered a previous heart attack in the pre-season—but was cleared for action after 7 weeks. Crazy stuff.
I apologize for including the “right-wing” reference my above post. This a politics free blog, and it won’t happen again.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the Hughes incident happened Hoss, I was just a kid. It didn’t seem to be that big of a deal at the time. And you’re right, the longer the season, the more likely injuries will occur. There’s even been talk of an 18 game season, with the SB being moved to President’s Day weekend. More TV money, more advertising bucks…
I played FB in HS, and I still remember the “proper” tackling technique we were taught - lower your head and hit the opponent with your helmet right between the numbers. Dangerous for both! Our coach was a real SOB with more than a passing resemblance to the Sargent in Full Metal Jacket.
@ AA...Too bad Sabean has to work under Cashman rather than replace him. He's a much better talent evaluator than Cashman and probably more shrewd regarding trades.
ReplyDeleteSo, if he isn't here to replace Cashman, with no power, what does he offer the Yankees? It just seems to add another layer to the already Bloated Front Office.
Carl, he's Cashman's fall guy. He can blame his stupid moves on Sabean. Everyone needs a fall guy
ReplyDelete@ BTR...Of course, this is a sports blog! But I think it's safe to ask if Boone and Cashman are the Marjorie Taylor Greene and Louie Gohmert of MLB.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you recognize the colonel in FMJ that berates Matthew Modine for wearing both a peace sign button and the words "Born to Kill on his helmet. He is none other than Mr. Hamilton (Bruce Boa) from the great Fawlty Towers episode, Waldorf Salad.
@ Celerino ....That's what Chris Carter told Teddy Bridgewater in his rookie year: "Everyone needs to have a fall guy".
ReplyDeletehttps://www.si.com/nfl/video/2015/08/23/cris-carter-tells-nfl-rookies-have-fall-guy
On another subject, the Yanks signed Rafael Ortega to a minor league deal...another scrap heap player...
ReplyDelete$18 Billion.
ReplyDeleteThat is the NFL Revenue for 2022.
Players' safety will not get in the way of this money-making machine.
The league will not take serious steps if it puts revenue at risk.
Players' lives and safety are not worth it to these owners.
It is depressing to see the level of play deteriorate—and the fans basically not care. Pro football is more or less just a communal experience; nobody much cares about how good it is.
ReplyDeleteBTR999, I never played football in any organized league. My high school was too small for a football team.
ReplyDeleteBut just playing it sandlot, various elders taught us to tackle around the legs. Don't know if that's more effective or not, but it does seem less dangerous—at least when it comes to major head/body injuries.
Used to play "cream the ball carrier". Whoever had the ball was tackled by everyone else. He would then throw it in the air and someone else grabbed it and took off. Not sure how we never broke anything playing.
ReplyDeleteI much preferred two hand touch.
Football makes me sad today- that said - Carl - I think that bringing Sabean back into the fold makes us a stronger team. Plus it gives Cash an intellectual playmate. It should make us a better team. I’ll close with . . . Branford ROCKS!!!
ReplyDeleteHoss, the correct technique is definitely to tackle the ball carrier’s legs and then “wrap up”, that is wrap your arms around the ball carrier. You will at least slow the runner down and allow your teammates to catch up to the play and make the tackle if you fail to.
ReplyDeleteLeading with helmet is dangerous because your helmet becomes a weapon and you could break your own neck.
PS, my own football days ended courtesy of a broken collarbone mainly came by ill-fitting equipment during Thanksgiving d as y game in 1976.
Funny, I was just watching some footage from the 1970's. The game looked far more brutal than today's game. Less equipment, with rules that "encouraged" the really nasty, crushing hits. That is what the fans wanted to see. Everyone repeats the "bigger,faster, stronger mantra, but I have to wonder. Most/all of these players are jacked from 'roids, and some of these forty times are NFL hype. Also the rules have been changed so much that it's hardly the same game. Think that these track star side receivers would fair as well against the bump and run? Notice how the quarterback GOAT changes, since the middle seventies, every decade or so. NFW would Brady or any quarterback play into their forties with seventies era rules. Thankfully we don't see nearly the number of serious spinal cord injuries, thanks to rule changes and MRI screening, but for my money the game should be banned over a given time frame. The number of players starting, starting at the earliest levels through the pros that are crippled, paralyzed, and even die is shocking. Then the arthritis comes to stay... I grew up worshipping the game, it had me almost brainwashed. For a lot of reasons I very rarely watch a game, that kid collapsing like that reminds me why. Sorry for the ramble, I am pecking this out on a Kindle.... Well, don't worry, the NFL will push this latest "incident" out of news and memories with an efficiency that Elon Musk would envy, The Show must go on.
ReplyDelete