Last night was horrifying. I've checked for updates at least a dozen times today hoping for word Damar Hamlin is awake, lucid and okay. Fans from both teams gathering outside the hospital in a prayer vigil suggests to me that those who love the sport and zealously support their team still recognize it is, at the end of the day, just a game. Watching players openly weeping and praying is not the norm in any sense.     But count me as one of the people who loves watching the NFL, despite its downsides. It is the league where many of the best athletes in the world play in a fast and immensely complicated game. There was a time when players did not know the risk of CTE. And it is despicable that the NFL actively attempted to conceal that info. But now these men realize they are taking significant long term physical risk playing. They are very well compensated for assuming that risk. I concede that immediate death is not something they bargained for, nor something fans tune in to see.  So I support every rule change that makes players safer. The league should invest more money in medical research and improving protective gear. I am excited for the Pro Bowl this year expressly because it is flag football. But where is the outcry for deaths in motorsports or for Army privates risking their lives for less than $26,000 per year? Is Kurt suggesting we should just end the NFL? Call me jaded, but in the end American capitalism will prevail and Sunday we'll be watching again.

Last night was horrifying. I've checked for updates at least a dozen times today hoping for word Damar Hamlin is awake, lucid and okay. Fans from both teams gathering outside the hospital in a prayer vigil suggests to me that those who love the sport and zealously support their team still recognize it is, at the end of the day, just a game. Watching players openly weeping and praying is not the norm in any sense.     But count me as one of the people who loves watching the NFL, despite its downsides. It is the league where many of the best athletes in the world play in a fast and immensely complicated game. There was a time when players did not know the risk of CTE. And it is despicable that the NFL actively attempted to conceal that info. But now these men realize they are taking significant long term physical risk playing. They are very well compensated for assuming that risk. I concede that immediate death is not something they bargained for, nor something fans tune in to see.  So I support every rule change that makes players safer. The league should invest more money in medical research and improving protective gear. I am excited for the Pro Bowl this year expressly because it is flag football. But where is the outcry for deaths in motorsports or for Army privates risking their lives for less than $26,000 per year? Is Kurt suggesting we should just end the NFL? Call me jaded, but in the end American capitalism will prevail and Sunday we'll be watching again.

user
no
assistant