Scrambled Brains

When I wrote “The Big D”, I touched on the concussion issue and the mental problems suffered by a fictional boxer who then takes a violent path.

The scrambled brains of young men playing high school, college and professional football is distressing to me.

Evidently, the people in charge of the sport, and the fanatics who watch every game have done the math and decided that the entertainment value of kids being maimed is more important than the safety of the participants.

Of course, when a young man is flat on his back on the field, with his hands all seized up, the announcers get real quiet and say:

“Our prayers are with this young man and this is the worst thing any of us could have imagined.”

Yeah.

Right.

What they really mean is:

“Let’s get him off the field so we can keep playing.”

Like everyone else I caught wind of what happened to Tua - the Dolphins quarterback.

One week ago, he got demolished on a hit during the Bills-Dolphins game. He tried to stand up and walk (things most of us can do) and flopped.

They talked about a back problem.

After halftime, despite ‘stringent’ concussion protocols, Tua was back in the game.

He was cleared to play that half and subsequently cleared to play again just 4 days later!!!

(The fact that two teams play on Thursday’s to make more money for a league that is buried in an avalanche of cash is another disgusting topic - but who cares, right?)

In the game against the Bengals, Tua’s brain was scrambled again and a horrified audience watched him seize up on the field.

“He knows the risks,” one caller said on sports radio.

“They make a lot of money,” another guy said. “I’d take a concussion hit every 20 minutes for that much money,” said another moron.

Truth is, we are going to watch a young man die on the field some day.

We’ve dismissed those who’ve been paralyzed.

A number of former players have shot themselves in the chest to get away from the hell their lives became after they retired. They put the hole in their chest in case someone wanted to study their damaged brains.

They shouldn’t have bothered.

The NFL settled with former players who have been destroyed. The league tried to save money in that lawsuit.

How noble.

Thing is, I wish that I was dedicated enough to the issue to completely ignore the sport.

I certainly don’t watch a full game every week. But I haven’t been able to avoid it all together.

I feel dirty watching it.

As the Tua horror story was discussed all week, I thought about how I might feel if he were one of my sons.

He is someone’s son. Someone’s boyfriend. Someone’s uncle.

He deserves to be safe at work.

If he worked for one of my construction clients, OSHA would be hammering at his employer’s door.

But the NFL is safe from examination.

Money, after all, trumps scrambled brains.

That’s the truth.

Live with it.

Go Bills?