Why do we support such a violent sport?
Second quarter. New England down by six. Tom Brady throws a 23-yard completion to receiver Brandin Cooks. Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins levels Cooks after the catch and ultimately takes Cooks out of the game with a concussion.
But as quickly as the hit was delivered, the buzz surrounding the hit was overshadowed by Justin Timberlake’s halftime performance and the rest of the big game.
Jenkins’ hit on Cooks was legal, as are so many other brutal hits throughout the NFL season. But player safety consistently gets lost in the excitement that comes with watching football every Sunday.
The safety of the players, or lack thereof, seems to be the main problem with the NFL today. And with the impending return of the XFL, a football league that lasted one year back in the beginning of the century, the question becomes more prominent than ever: Why do we support such a violent sport?
The NFL, with all of its enforced rules on proper tackling, still churns out reports week after week of players being listed in the league’s concussion protocol. These concussions, as detailed through multiple C.T.E. studies, have been linked to the degenerative brain disease later on in life.
It’s a problem the NFL has tried to fix but, no matter what policies they implement, the brutality of the sport will prohibit football from ever becoming 100-percent safe.
Now, imagine a league that encourages this rough and tough playing style that the NFL has struggled to address confidently. That was the XFL in its one season back in 2001.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has reignited the league and is planning a return in 2020, and because of the media scrutiny of the NFL’s safety precautions, McMahon has promised a safer and more enjoyable alternate league for fans to watch.
But how can we trust what this billionaire is saying? We can’t.
Football will always be the most brutal team sport in the United States, and currently there is no way to really restructure the rules so that injuries can be avoided. There isn’t any new technology that will surely eliminate head injuries, either.
McMahon is hoping to cash in on the millions of viewers who watch football, but if the premise of the refurbished league is built around improved safety, then what product are we supporting here?
Player safety can’t be improved unless major changes are brought to the sport, so essentially what we have in the XFL is the NFL with fewer relatable franchises and less starpower.
It will be fun to watch for a little while, but ultimately the XFL will flop because it fails to deliver on its one promise. As for supporting such a violent sport, fans will still block out the scary hits for the dramatic storyline that comes with every game. They will cringe when a player is leveled and stretchered off the field, but 10 minutes later they will cheer after their team makes a big play.
It’s just the nature of the beast.
Jenkins’ hit on Cooks was legal, as are so many other brutal hits throughout the NFL season. But player safety consistently gets lost in the excitement that comes with watching football every Sunday.
The safety of the players, or lack thereof, seems to be the main problem with the NFL today. And with the impending return of the XFL, a football league that lasted one year back in the beginning of the century, the question becomes more prominent than ever: Why do we support such a violent sport?
The NFL, with all of its enforced rules on proper tackling, still churns out reports week after week of players being listed in the league’s concussion protocol. These concussions, as detailed through multiple C.T.E. studies, have been linked to the degenerative brain disease later on in life.
It’s a problem the NFL has tried to fix but, no matter what policies they implement, the brutality of the sport will prohibit football from ever becoming 100-percent safe.
Now, imagine a league that encourages this rough and tough playing style that the NFL has struggled to address confidently. That was the XFL in its one season back in 2001.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has reignited the league and is planning a return in 2020, and because of the media scrutiny of the NFL’s safety precautions, McMahon has promised a safer and more enjoyable alternate league for fans to watch.
But how can we trust what this billionaire is saying? We can’t.
Football will always be the most brutal team sport in the United States, and currently there is no way to really restructure the rules so that injuries can be avoided. There isn’t any new technology that will surely eliminate head injuries, either.
McMahon is hoping to cash in on the millions of viewers who watch football, but if the premise of the refurbished league is built around improved safety, then what product are we supporting here?
Player safety can’t be improved unless major changes are brought to the sport, so essentially what we have in the XFL is the NFL with fewer relatable franchises and less starpower.
It will be fun to watch for a little while, but ultimately the XFL will flop because it fails to deliver on its one promise. As for supporting such a violent sport, fans will still block out the scary hits for the dramatic storyline that comes with every game. They will cringe when a player is leveled and stretchered off the field, but 10 minutes later they will cheer after their team makes a big play.
It’s just the nature of the beast.
