I love football. I grew up a 49ers fan, my best friends played football throughout middle and high school, switched to the Packers as an adult (Go Pack Go!), and fell in love with the Hawkeyes while I attended college at the University of Iowa. When I became a teacher, I went to every football game, hosted pregame meals in my classroom, and talked about the game in the hallways to any and all students who would listen.
I knew about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). The great Junior Seau had commited suicide while I was in college. In September of 2015, my favorite football player while I was a college student, one that I had bought the #9 jersey of, Tyler Sash, died at the age of 27. The cause of death? Mixture of drugs. But that didn’t sit well with any of us Hawkeye fans. Five months later it was revealed that he was in Stage 2 of CTE with comparable damage to that of Junior Seau who died at 43.
“Early symptoms of CTE usually appear in a patient’s late 20s or 30s, and affect a patient’s mood and behavior. Some common changes seen include impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and paranoia. As the disease progresses, some patients may experience problems with thinking and memory, including memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, and eventually progressive dementia. Cognitive symptoms tend to appear later than mood and behavioral symptoms, and generally first appear in a patient’s 40s or 50s. Patients may exhibit one or both symptom clusters. In some cases, symptoms worsen with time (even if the patient suffers no additional head impacts). In other cases, symptoms may be stable for years before worsening” (www.concussionfoundation.org).
In April of 2017, Aaron Hernandez, former Florida Gator and New England Patriot powerhouse, convicted of murder, was found dead in his jail cell. About five months later, it was revealed that he was in stage 3 of CTE with damage well beyond was could be expected for someone his age. The Netflix documentary “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez” did a great job of highlighting his struggles including CTE.
This blog is not about defending Aaron Hernandez who committed crimes that are unimaginable. This is not a eulogy for a player that I thought was the King of Iowa. This is not a plea for football to be eradicated. This blog is about voicing and exploring the moral implications of being a lover of football and seeing grave consequences of the game. If repeated hits to the head do the damage then this is something that has to be talked about when we are educators of the youth that are receiving these hits. How do you talk to your own children about this? How do we talk to our students about this? Do we not talk about it? Is it too personal? These are the types of things that our students should be exploring for themselves in our religious studies curriculum and in their education as young adults.
A former student, now friend, is a current D1 football player who jokes about CTE that he will endure when older in order to cope with the reality that he, his teammates, and brothers might have a fate that is dark.
An acquaintance who currently plays for the Houston Texans told me, “I know all about CTE but I love football so I am willing to deal with the consequences.”
I love football. But a little piece of my heart breaks when I watch football because I know that there are consequences of the game that I can’t predict but that I know for a fact will be devastating.
This topic hits close to home for me – my husband Josh suffers from TBI (traumatic brain injury) from multiple blows to the head during combat in Iraq. Our lives, specifically his, are different because of this. Recently we went to a neurologist appointment and were talking to the doctor about this exact story and he said that while he treats a lot of combat veterans, football head injuries are on another level. I. CAN. NOT. EVEN. IMAGINE. what they go through after seeing the struggles Josh has.
A question that I have is how does one help a child who has chosen a contact sport like football to really think about this choice and to help them be safe? Your D1 friend chose to play football but can he really imagine the long term consequences of something like CTE at 19 or 21? I think not. But on the other hand am with you – I for whatever reason am not anti-football.
I enjoyed reading the post. I played football in high school and still have lingering effects, mainly my lower back that has flared up these past few weeks. While I loved playing and was always made my mom conveniently missed sign ups for Pop Warner year in and out, she couldn't prevent me from playing in high school. Football is the greatest team I have ever had the privilege of being a member of. However, as I have a 10-year-old son now, I refuse to allow him to play Pop Warner and while I love what football can instill in young people, I pray he doesn't want to play in high school.
As you pointed out, I am also conflicted as a football fan. I love the 49ers like no other team, however I cringe and look away when injuries are replayed.
Football is like rubber necks on the highway – have to look at destruction and tragedy, we can't turn away.
Thanks for opening the dialogue.
One of my football playing students got a cortisone shot recently so he could play in the big game in LA. Today he informed me that he has a fracture in his spine. This is taking it too far.
Both my daughter and granddaughter have debilitating sports injuries. My daughter cannot hike because she ruined her knees while participating in synchronized swimming. She quit after her team won the national championship. My granddaughter has had three concussions and multiple foot injuries while playing volleyball in college.
Football seems to be the worst, but I see so many students in all sports who have sustained major injuries. Something is wrong here that needs fixing. It is not right to encourage students to take such high risks for scholarships, fame, or money. Many of these injuries will have lifelong effects.
Hi Siobahn. I think the data is coming in and doctors are taking it way more seriously than they did a few years ago. Concussions for me in my role are an elusive journey – not every concussion is the same and not everyone's ability to recover will be the same. This has huge implications for the classroom as well as the physical ramifications. It's sort of a double-hit . . . For me, instead of playing the 2 steps forward, three steps back approach, I wish doctors who diagnose a concussion would just tell students to stay home for two weeks for brain rest and no activity. Unfortunately, more than not, want to get right back into the game, so recovery is secondary to possible play time, scholarships etc. Mindset change needed greatly! I think it's happening though. Look at the two recent football players that decided to retire early due to fear of late stage CTE possibilities. They chose simplicity and health over millions.
I was just having a conversation about this with my boyfriend recently. We were watching a football game and there was a hard hit and I cringed just watching it. I made a comment like "Ugh, I hate watching those hard hits." And he said "Well, it's football." And not to throw him under the bus (even though we will never see this), to me, that is not a valid reasoning. I have never been a huge fan of football but after hearing about CTE over the past few years, it got me wondering if football is worth it.
My son is HUGE and everyone jokes that he'd be a great football player. (His size and ability to nearly lift me at age 3 says there's probably something to that.) But I've told our family that I don't want him play football. When he gets older, I'll talk to him about why I feel this way…and hopefully future research results will help support my opinion.
this one is hard… I am not a football fan and so I struggle with this being an acceptable life choice… how could we make the game safer without making it a different game?
Of course it is not just football… think boxing or any combat sport… why do we gravitate to the violence…?