Editorial: Why football won’t change anytime soon

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In the news recently was the tragic death of a high school football player from Euclid, Ohio, Andre Jackson, who was injured during a game. While there are a multitude of factors that went into his tragic and untimely death, it seemed to add fuel to an already burning fire that outraged the community at the lack of safety for football players at any level.
This is not a new fight; various groups have been arguing against the lack of safety regulations for football players for years. It’s a battle that has worked its way through junior high, high school, college and professional leagues, and there have been small changes throughout this time. However, the majority of these complaints being made have not been addressed, and they won’t be any time soon.
The sad truth is that these deaths will continue to occur, and safety regulations will remain fairly standard in upcoming years. We as a society, especially here in the United States, thrive off of competition and violence. We are a culture so focused on sports and athleticism that, according to an article by SB Nation, the NFL made a whopping $7.24 billion in revenue in 2015. This means that the NFL made enough money in one year to fund 10 Pluto missions.
The argument against these concerns for players’ safety is that they are being paid and are aware of the risks. Football is a dangerous game, but if you’re making all of that money to play, then why does it matter?

But what’s the price tag on a human life? Apparently, it’s $7 billion.
We feel differently about this phenomenon when a high school student is affected rather than a professional player. It seems more tragic because we not only lose a football player, but we lose a child with the potential of a bright future, snuffed out before it can occur, all due to a game.
An article by Fox 8 Cleveland said that Jackson, who was only 17, was treated multiple times over three days in a hospital and was even released. However, he was readmitted Sunday evening, after being brought in by EMS, and died later that night.
His death, like many others, was said to be caused by his injuries inflicted during a game. While most problems seen with football players involve head or neck injuries, mostly concussions, Jackson suffered from peritonitis and a laceration of the small bowel, which was caused by blunt impact to the abdomen during the game, according to Fox 8 Cleveland.
Can you put a price tag on his life?
One of the main people fighting against the lack of safety in football is Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who examined the body of 50-year-old former Pittsburgh Steelers center, Mike Webster, according to the Wall Street Journal. The article states that Omalu found that there was significant evidence to say that Webster’s actions near the end of his life, his “steep mental decline, becoming violent, depressed and forgetful, and being pushed to increasingly desperate lengths to battle chronic pain” could be attributed to his time in the NFL.
Omalu published a paper about his findings, and, according to the same article, was then demanded to retract the paper by the chairman of the NFL, Elliot Pellman’s handpicked Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee, which claimed Omalu misinterpreted his own findings. The article commented that, while researching the identities of those on the committee, there was not one neuropathologist. Despite his extensive research and findings concerning the matter, they were sure that Omalu was wrong, so much so that they asked for a retraction.
This is proof that the NFL is continuously trying to fight against this idea that football is dangerous. According to their website, they have been making changes to the rules of the game for years, with a focus “to make the contests fairer, safer and more entertaining.” But is it possible to be both safe and entertaining?
It’s basic psychology that the three things that will attract a human being the fastest are sex, food and violence. So how does the NFL continue to make as much money as they do, and control an entire day of the week, if they are so focused on safety?
While some rules have been changed for the betterment of the players, such as making it illegal to grab someone’s face mask, it is still a slow process to get a rule change. According to the NFL website, most changes proposed are never adopted. The reality is that, while it appears that progress is being made, there is still a huge pushback from the NFL and other industries who make millions, and even billions, of dollars off of this game.
Football is a dangerous game and we all know it, yet as long as we as a society are obsessed with athleticism, and as long as the industry continues to gross billions of dollars yearly, nothing is going to change it.

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Editorial: Why football won’t change anytime soon