Monday, September 8, 2008
Enough is Enough: Football’s Unnecessary Risk
How many more men have to suffer serious neck injuries in football before something more is done about it? A preseason game last month featuring the up-and-coming Houston Texans against everyone's favorite or least favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys, exposed the risk these players are put in once again. This time Texans wide receiver and special teams standout Harry Williams suffered the mishap during a kickoff in the first quarter of the game.
Williams was falling down as he trailed the returner, when his own teammate, who lunged and missed the tackle, accidently slammed into him from the opposite direction. He immediately slumped to the ground, unable to move any of his limbs. While not a lock to make the team, Williams had nonetheless drawn praise form the Texans coaching staff in the recent weeks for his effort and accomplishments on special teams. This perhaps makes the situation all the more distressing. In only his third NFL season of bouncing around the league, Williams was laying it all on the line every week in an effort to make the cut, holding back nothing while sacrificing everything.
I hope you're not too surprised; Williams is just one of a host of players who have suffered serious neck injuries over the years. This NFL preseason alone we've seen two others, Denver Broncos linebacker Louis Green and Tampa Bay linebacker Antoine Cash, carted off the field with similar injuries. Both of those players were fortunate enough to rejoin their teams. Williams, on the other hand, has already been placed on the IR.
Look, I know football is a contact sport, and injuries are going to happen regardless. However, having watched this unfold right before me that Friday night, I can tell you it makes you feel a level of compassion for these players far beyond the sport itself. I honestly felt somewhat guilty for even being a part of this game we call "entertainment." As the crowd stirred in their shock and silence and the camera pointed to other concerned players kneeling several yards away, some with their heads down in prayer, others staring intently forward with looks of fear and apprehension across their face, you realize how real the danger is every play of every game.
In such a violent sport, extra precautions should be taken to ensure safety. While certain ones do already exist, I can't help but feel like more could be done. Last year, we all saw how the storyline played out with Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who sustained a life-threatening spinal cord injury on a kickoff. And while some may disagree, it seems that the kickoff itself (whether kicking or receiving) creates the most opportunity for serious injuries.
With players gaining full speed, sprinting 30 to 50 yards downfield before slamming into their opponents, it's a wonder there aren't more people seriously hurt. This is especially true when you think about how much bigger, stronger, and faster players are in today's game compared with when the game was invented (more than 80 years ago).
Undoubtedly, there are still plenty of risks for neck injury other than a kickoff; receivers cutting across the middle, quarterbacks being blindsided, etc. But a rules change to kickoffs would definitely help the situation. Perhaps kicking off from the 40 or 50 yard line instead of the 30? What about the assortment of neck rolls, collars, and other pads that we see some players wearing and others not? Should some form of these be mandatory for every player? It still wouldn't protect against every kind of neck trauma, but even if it prevented only one serious injury over the years, it would have been completely worth it.
Each offseason, representatives of the league's competition committee and the NFL Players Association discuss different equipment options and rule changes that could better protect the players. While everyone can agree that it's a serious issue, it seems as though improving player awareness and technique along with advanced post-injury research and development has been the chosen path so far.
In 2001, NASCAR fans saw one of their most beloved figures, Dale Earnhardt, die during a race from head and neck trauma before it was decided that the HANS (Head and Neck Support) device be required for use by all drivers (Earnhardt was not wearing the device at the time of his death). Before this the device was optional, and many drivers refused to accustom themselves with it, claiming it was uncomfortable and questioning its effectiveness. However, after enduring the tragedy that took one of the sports all time greats, no one is complaining anymore, and since becoming mandatory, the device has saved multiple lives.
Sadly, that may be what has to happen in the NFL, as well. Perhaps people have to see someone like Peyton Manning or LaDanian Tomlinson lose their life on a football field before something is actually done. One would hope that people would learn from the mistakes of others and not simply wait for the worst to happen.
Harry Williams did start to regain feeling in his arms and legs during the ambulance ride to the hospital. He wound up having spinal fusion surgery two days later, and while it appears he will walk again, his career is now over at 26-years-old. I know it may seem like just a couple of fluke injuries that don't nearly warrant the kind of policy that forces players to wear something they're not comfortable in, or a rule change that alters the structure of the sport itself. for that matter. However, as we sit back in our living rooms every Sunday with friends and family, cheering these players on as they tear across the field, fling their bodies through the air, and hurl one another to the ground over and over again, it's easy for us to forget that they too have friends and families at home watching them, as well.
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Today's secret word: Injury