TED

Football has always been a dramatic sport. From the roar of the crowd, to the smell of fresh grass, to the role of the players, the NFL and football in general likes to envision itself as a drama. This is easily seen in NFL Films and the videos they make. They never use hip hop or pop music, instead they only use classical, composed music giving a dramatic tone to all their videos. It all serves a greater purpose of glorifying a sport that is so ugly. While the glorification is great for us, the audience, we have never stepped back and thought about what that glorification has done to the players on the field. They pay the ultimate price. Yes. They do get paid handsomely to entertain us every Sunday, but what good is that money if you can’t enjoy it? What good is that money when suicide is the only thing you can think about? In a perfect world, these players wouldn’t play football. But we don’t live in a perfect world and so football lives on. But just because we cant end the destruction in the sport does not mean we should stand by idly. The changes that have been made are already doing wonders. The rule changes and research done into concussions are already making big changes in the way everyone approaches the game. Kickoffs are shorter reducing the risk of concussions seeing as how injuries occur more often on kickoffs than any other play. The research done has helped grow awareness for this problem and convinced former players suffering to stand up and speak to their younger peers. All of these changes are important and vital. But the biggest change has yet to come. We need to change the dominant tough guy culture of football and that starts with the players. Ultimately the change we want lies in the hands of the players. Players need to be protected from themselves but it is hard to do that when the culture in place enables them to go play hurt.