Is it Immoral to Watch the Super Bowl? As Football fans all over the world countdown to Superbowl 51 and with the Raiders being this year 's up and comers we remember a tragic time in their history. Legendary quarterback Ken Stabler of the Oakland Raiders suffered from C.T.E in which was believed to be caused by multiple blows to the head as a result of football. In Steve Almond’s article “Is it Immoral to Watch the Super Bowl?” he explains to us how most players end up with some form of brain damage and as a result of this his moral compass has shifted and he can no longer watch football. Fortunately being a spectator of a sport where players know the risk, are handsomely rewarded for playing, have a union and health benefits is in fact, …show more content…
It is clear that this moment in his childhood stuck with him throughout his life and eventually manifested into something that would change the way he would look at things. As technology progressed we were able to watch “slow-motion replays showing us the precise angle of a grotesquely twisted ankle and a quarterback’s contorted face at the exact moment he is concussed” [Almond]. Watching this violence would stir any soul would it not? The beauty of morals is that it is seldom black and white but rather many shades of grey. This violence to me could be perfectly acceptable whilst to Almond it is absolutely unacceptable. People could be okay with the violence in football but not the violence in boxing. The grey area in these situations lies in the individual 's knowledge and compensation of said risk. Yes professional athletes are prone to serious injury but they are paid a handsome amount of money to compensate for such danger. Not only is there money involved but there is quite a bit of fame as well. Playing professional football can open many doors for a young aspiring athlete. In life there are many unknown risks and factors that come into play. If you are given a choice to do what you love knowing there are risks and be largely compensated for it that is hands down a win in my book. It doesn 't …show more content…
“They arise from a culture of fandom that views players as valuable only so long as they can perform” [Almond]. The audacity to claim that we the fans do not support our players is outrageous. There have been many athletes throughout the times who have lost their abilities to play as they once did and are still respected for the things they did off the field. I as a fan do not only judge a player by their ability to play, but also what they does off the field. A modern example of this would be the 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The man was once a great quarterback and has somewhat fallen from his former station. But us fans still care what he has to say. His decisions off the field affect us just as much as they do on the field. If we truly did not care for the players once they outlived their usefulness as Almond so carelessly states, we would not care that Colin did not want to stand for the nation anthem. Movements would have no been organized in support of this player. He would have simply been casted aside while we looked for the next best thing to entertain us. There are many risks involved in the sport and it is great to shed light on the situation as to improve playing conditions for the players and teams we hold dear to us. What is unfair is to demonize the fans who enjoy the sport. It is not immoral and cannot be
A big part of the NFL’s hold on players is their contracts and money. Thousands of young men aspire to be on a professional team, just for the fame, money and title. They are not made aware of the lasting conditions that come with playing football and their everlasting effects. If anything, the NFL has gone out of their way to discredit the newer research that links playing football with CTE. CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a disease that has the same effects as dementia and Alzheimer’s, except that CTE leaves tau protein deposition in distinctive areas of the brain, which is what separates CTE from dementia and Alzheimer’s....
In Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Offensive Play” he writes about the effects of football, boxing, and dogfighting can have. The effects of these gathering events for the amusement of others can have a lasting toll for those that are going through it. Gladwell describes how the effect of contact to the head can have on the neurological system. He shows in his article that players that play in the league can suffer from brain damage that is similar to Alzheimer or dementia.
He begins by discussing Rugby and how hazardous it is for young men. He backs it up by including a quote from the Cornell President, Andrew D. White. Zimmerman (2016) quotes White by stating, “‘The sight of a confused mass of educated young men making batter-rams of their bodies, plunging their heads into each other’s stomachs, piling upon each other or maiming each other for life- something indeed… killing each other… is a brutal monstrosity’” (p. 1). By using this hyperbolic quote Zimmerman in injecting pathos into his argument in order to manipulate the reader. Pathos can definitely sway an audience’s opinion when used correctly, however, Zimmerman’s use of it here is considerably poor because it adds a bit of repetitiveness to his paragraph due to the fact that before the quote he states something very similar too it. Instead it may have been better if he stated a statistic that added more support and validation to his statement. Zimmerman (2014) then goes onto state, “Amid newspaper reports of 18 football deaths that fall” (p. 2). While this fact has potential to help maintain Zimmerman’s stance against football, it fails and becomes almost invalid because of how this statistic is from 1905. It has little impact with an audience with present day. While Zimmerman speafootball in the past and the days of rugby he could have instead spoken of why the American sport is a problem now, in present day. By focusing too much on explaining the past of football he has not given enough evidence and backing on why it is still so dangerous in present day. Zimmerman then goes onto discuss the inclusion of the forward pass and then the introduction of helmets. However, his argument still lacks solid evidence and statistics for backing up what he is claiming. For instance, when Zimmerman (2014) writes, “helmet-to-helmet hits remain one of the key causes of concussions and
Throughout history in the NFL, head injuries and fixing those problems have always been hidden from the athletes because of the NFL striving to make a large profit instead of caring for the players. With this being an ongoing problem between NFL players and the NFL itself, many past and current players are digging deeper to find the truth and statistics continue to show how serious this problem actually is. When the lawsuits first began to come known to the public, the NFL agreed to pay over seven hundred million dollars to compensate former players suffering neurological injuries. Many believe the NFL offered this so quickly, hoping to avoid a potential public relations nightmare. The NFL, a ten billion dollar annual business, couldn’t take any type of guilt, or legal discovery, which some inside and out of the industry expected could have caused a fatal blow to the game’s future (Thiel). The settlement may have prevented the public from learning much about the past, but the issue of head injuries is a danger to football and won’t just go away because NFL wants it to (Waldron).
The NFL in particular is known for its focus on order, power and control, where operations are anonymous and interchangeable. With that players and employees are none else than compliant with league regulations. In this case Colin Kaepernick’s protest had the ability to go against the grain and break the façade of being afraid to voice his opinions. Today’s generation has become very open to sharing their opinions on social issues and Kapernick’s protest is just an addition. This protest instantly became political because of the fact that police brutality and racial is becoming a persistently uncomfortable issue that our country is facing. Every single there is something new about citizens being killed by the police for no reason, including recent cases such as Philando Castle and Terence Crutcher. Such issues will not be resolved until our society stands against it as a whole. It takes public figures such as Colin Kaepernick to stand with citizens to bring awareness about these issues in order to force change in the government and society. Whether industry leaders like it or not, I believe that such protest will continue to grow. Athletes and entertainers will continue to voice their opinions about social issues until changes come into effect.
Football is a very violent sport. There is a lot of concern over the risks posed by hits that injure the head and potentially the brain. The players say they have suffered one or more brain injuries. They want the NFL and helmet maker, Riddell, to set up and pay for medical monitoring and treatment programs for all former, current and future NFL players. Liberals are big supporters of the respect for human dignity. In that case, the NFL tentatively agreed to pay $765 million to past players with health problems that can be caused by concussions. Although research and progress within the scientific and medical communities is understandably slow, the same could be said about the NFL's response to concussions and the dangers they pose to new research reveals new findings. However, some liberals believe that it has taken to long for the NFL to respond to the perceived crisis and its attempt to regulate the concussion treatments which could eventually lead to players ...
In the New Yorker article “Offensive Play,” by Malcolm Gladwell, he makes a comparison between dogfighting and football, claiming that they tend to be more similar than people may conclude. Gladwell argues this because they both develop a negative effect on one’s body and brain causing several physical and mental changes that could possibly lead to death. However, some of these events that cause injury go without notice until later on in life when they have retired from their “glory days.”
If you have the brains when you start, you are aware that banging your head into people is not the best thing for your body,” stated Chris Cooley, tight end and a 2 time Pro Bowler with the Washington Redskins (Do No Harm, 2). Research over the years has gathered extensive data on the mental and physical illnesses of retired NFL football players. It has proved that players who accumulate numerous concussions are at a higher risk of health problems after their football career than players who’ve sustained fewer. This data is proven by various studies that have caused worry for many retired NFL football families. The examples of deaths resulting from past concussions are astonishing, and the stats that show high risks for the possible problems can prove why they possibly died. Countless retired players are now frightened by the potential hazard of destructive health problems.
“Football’s Endgame: What would happen if America’s Pastime just...died” is the title that had heads turning when it made its way onto Sports Illustrated. Football is the United State’s favorite sport so an article like this one was sure to shock fans. The article was written to be set ten years from now when the game of football met its death. Giving the ongoing issues surrounding the game in 2016, the author Austin Murphy dated the article September 7,2036. In this article Murphy talks about the factors that led to the end of one of the U.S’s beloved sports. Factors like the AIG not protecting athletes against head injuries in the NFL, Pop Warner settling a death with the family of a former football player who committed suicide at the age of 25 from CTE caused by hits to the head, and the 10% rise in football concussions. A woman whose son had passed away from a motorcycle accident noticed changes in her boy. Playing football for almost a decade he was bound to get hurt, but it was after his death that doctors found he had CTE. CTE is a topic of discussion in this article. Sports Illustrated works to inform everyone about CTE and its effects on the mind. This disease targets the way a person thinks and changes their moods, “He had all these [football-related] problems with his knees and back, but his brain was
So whats one more thing to think about? There professional level athletes,they need to give themselves more credit. And yes there right, injuries are bound to happen in a contact sport, but they need to try and do their best to play within the rules that are being set for their benefit.
The failure of the NFL to disclose credible research linking concussions to permanent, hidden long-term brain injury to the players can be interpreted as both ethical and unethical. Ethical theories and traps influenced the NFL’s decision. Not disclosing the research is considered moral by the ethical theory of utilitarianism. Utilitarian ethics considers the best decision is one which maximizes overall happiness and minimizes overall pain is more ethical. Utilitarianism’s goal is to produce the best outcome for the largest number of people. The NFL’s failure to reveal the research connecting concussion to permanent brain injury’s is in line with utilitarian ethics. A larger population benefits from football compared to the small number of
The roaring of the crowd on November 17 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC finally fell silent late in the fourth quarter after star linebacker Luke Kuechly was slow to get off the field after a huge hit to the head. American’s live to be entertained, and the football field is one of the main sources of enjoyment for many. Immediately after Kuechly’s hit, it was quiet in the stadium for the first time that day. The fans watched in fear, waiting to see if their star player could finish the game and bring out the win. However, they all became disappointed as Kuechly shed tears while being carted off the field, not because they were worried about the player and his head but because they feared about losing the game. Americans want excitement,
Many memories are made in football, but sadly some of the greatest players cannot recall them. The National Football League has been associated with concussions and brain traumas throughout the years, but lately it has been exposed by media and NFL veterans. The league recently “reached a $765 million preliminary settlement with thousands of former players who were suing the league over its treatment of concussions…” (Waldron). Many former players are experiencing the effects of taking hard hits over and over again; they were not properly treated, which makes the injury worse and long term. The concussion issue in the NFL is more prevalent today, because it affects not only the players, but the league as a whole.
Coming from its humble beginnings to now being the most viewed and valued form of entertainment, the NFL and the Super Bowl have become a staple and reliable boost for our economy. Everyone knows about football and it is on pace to become, if not already, the most influential and dependent resource ever. Bibliography Super Bowl Stress can Trigger Health Issues. CTV News, 2013 -. Web.
Then I found all of the good things that numerous players have done to help others. Just because they want to help doesn't mean that we should expect them too, because they are only human. We should not have athletes as scapegoats if children are resistant and defiant. Those are the responsibilities of the parents. Just because there are some bad people in sports today, doesn't mean that we should generalize.