Lets call it entry 1 because lets be real, there will likely be more. I keep going back and forth on this one and still struggle with how to feel about the NFL.
My biggest problem is that why why WHY do all these fans (most of whom are parents) willingly and financially support an organization that provides such truly terrible role models for out kids? I mean, your ticket/paraphenalia/whatever purchase literally funds their salary. In most cases these are guys who love football- but some of them are abusers, dog fighters, drunk drivers, and sometimes worse. And people somehow continue to support the NFL playing these people. But all this is pretty obvious.
There's a lot of research coming about about the long term health risks that football players face. Multiple concussions leading to loss of IQ points, risk of depression, and higher incidence of suicide are some awful consequences to pay for your profession.
But these players love football! Its their passion! They are all adults, no one is coercing them, and they can weigh the risks and benefits for themselves. If they want to bash their head in week after week to earn their paycheck- that's just the American way. And this isn't flip- I do believe you have the right to earn money in a way that others may find unseemly or distasteful. Obviously those people are a minority when it comes to football, but it is a career that people have a right to choose.
But are young men truly choosing this for a career? I am not naive to what really happens to these players in college. My step-dad was one of them at Indiana University back in its hay-day. No one cared if he went to classes, much less picked classes that could encourage an education. No kidding- he actually took basket weaving. Maybe more than once. People wrote his papers. Teacher's fed them answers the day before to make sure they were prepped to pass the tests. They pulled some truly appalling pranks on campus that they don't seem to have ever gotten into any real trouble for. I'm sure if I went to a school with them, I would have hated them. And while this is annoying to other students, its really a disservice to these men. Lets not mince word- they are nothing more than profit makers for the school. As soon as they can't play football and sell tickets they loose all their academic support (having never learned the skills to make it on their own) and all financial assistance and are basically dumped on the curb and left to fend for themselves.
So all that sounds pretty bad. But lets take a step back to high school. Professional sports is a way to financial success and security that a lot of young black men might not have had otherwise. Black households are over 10 times less wealthy on average than whites. Incarceration rates are soaring while high school graduation is plummeting. In Baltimore there are hundreds of young men who don't expect to live past their 20s because the violence and drugs in their neighborhood are so bad. Escaping this for college, even if you're being used, might not be such a bad alternative.
So I think about what I would do if I was facing these two options for my son. I can try to encourage him to stay in school, stay away from drugs and gangs and violence, and hope that despite having hardly any role models he will choose to work hard over quick cash, to stay in and study rather than hanging with his friends, and decide to be patient rather than getting a quick reward. And know that every day this puts him at the risk of falling off this path. Or I can encourage him to play sports. Maybe he'll be good enough to get a scholarship. Maybe he'll love sports enough to make him choose than over life on the streets. What's a few concussions when the alternative is being worried he might be shot and killed?
So what I am supposed to do as a potential consumer. I can go ahead and enjoy Sunday afternoon football and go to games and have a beer. I can say these are unacceptable health risks we are inflicting upon young men for our own selfish pleasure. Or I can say, hey, at least this sport is giving them a chance. A chance to finish high school, get a college degree, and maybe even more. In a life with very little to be optimistic about, some of these young men can have hope for a better future than the ones surrounding him.
I don't know the answer to any of my own questions. It seems like a terrible decision. It makes me hesitate to advise parents against football. It makes me want to encourage parents to never let their child near a football. Either way, it feel like once again the young black men of our country are far too often in a position where there are no good plays for them.
My biggest problem is that why why WHY do all these fans (most of whom are parents) willingly and financially support an organization that provides such truly terrible role models for out kids? I mean, your ticket/paraphenalia/whatever purchase literally funds their salary. In most cases these are guys who love football- but some of them are abusers, dog fighters, drunk drivers, and sometimes worse. And people somehow continue to support the NFL playing these people. But all this is pretty obvious.
There's a lot of research coming about about the long term health risks that football players face. Multiple concussions leading to loss of IQ points, risk of depression, and higher incidence of suicide are some awful consequences to pay for your profession.
But these players love football! Its their passion! They are all adults, no one is coercing them, and they can weigh the risks and benefits for themselves. If they want to bash their head in week after week to earn their paycheck- that's just the American way. And this isn't flip- I do believe you have the right to earn money in a way that others may find unseemly or distasteful. Obviously those people are a minority when it comes to football, but it is a career that people have a right to choose.
But are young men truly choosing this for a career? I am not naive to what really happens to these players in college. My step-dad was one of them at Indiana University back in its hay-day. No one cared if he went to classes, much less picked classes that could encourage an education. No kidding- he actually took basket weaving. Maybe more than once. People wrote his papers. Teacher's fed them answers the day before to make sure they were prepped to pass the tests. They pulled some truly appalling pranks on campus that they don't seem to have ever gotten into any real trouble for. I'm sure if I went to a school with them, I would have hated them. And while this is annoying to other students, its really a disservice to these men. Lets not mince word- they are nothing more than profit makers for the school. As soon as they can't play football and sell tickets they loose all their academic support (having never learned the skills to make it on their own) and all financial assistance and are basically dumped on the curb and left to fend for themselves.
So all that sounds pretty bad. But lets take a step back to high school. Professional sports is a way to financial success and security that a lot of young black men might not have had otherwise. Black households are over 10 times less wealthy on average than whites. Incarceration rates are soaring while high school graduation is plummeting. In Baltimore there are hundreds of young men who don't expect to live past their 20s because the violence and drugs in their neighborhood are so bad. Escaping this for college, even if you're being used, might not be such a bad alternative.
So I think about what I would do if I was facing these two options for my son. I can try to encourage him to stay in school, stay away from drugs and gangs and violence, and hope that despite having hardly any role models he will choose to work hard over quick cash, to stay in and study rather than hanging with his friends, and decide to be patient rather than getting a quick reward. And know that every day this puts him at the risk of falling off this path. Or I can encourage him to play sports. Maybe he'll be good enough to get a scholarship. Maybe he'll love sports enough to make him choose than over life on the streets. What's a few concussions when the alternative is being worried he might be shot and killed?
So what I am supposed to do as a potential consumer. I can go ahead and enjoy Sunday afternoon football and go to games and have a beer. I can say these are unacceptable health risks we are inflicting upon young men for our own selfish pleasure. Or I can say, hey, at least this sport is giving them a chance. A chance to finish high school, get a college degree, and maybe even more. In a life with very little to be optimistic about, some of these young men can have hope for a better future than the ones surrounding him.
I don't know the answer to any of my own questions. It seems like a terrible decision. It makes me hesitate to advise parents against football. It makes me want to encourage parents to never let their child near a football. Either way, it feel like once again the young black men of our country are far too often in a position where there are no good plays for them.
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