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ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

nytimes.com

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Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#11

Post by bdcravens »

TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #6

What about the sponsorship of daredevil sports like free climbing, wing suits, etc., by consumer companies like GoPro and Redbull. I feel that we are supporting these companies with our purchases, and then they in turn create social media spectacles by giving these people an incentive to do dangerous stunts. Recently a wingsuit daredevil died while livestreaming on Facebook, watched by his young daughter and wife. It…

While Red Bull sponsors the extremes, and with that comes extreme disaster, I think those participants very well know the risk. Football, on the other hand, is sold to youth and the American public as safe with light risk, even though it's likely that we'll find a significant % (at least at the pro level) will suffer from long-term brain damage. Plus, for every $1 Red Bull sponsors, there's likely $1M sponsored in pro football.

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#12

Post by dogruck »

I think the headline is much stronger than the story. Cunningham's professional life is still deeply intertwined with football:

> At first, Cunningham told ESPN executives that he was leaving to spend more time with his sons, ages 3 and 5, and because of his workload as a film and television producer. He was a producer for “Undefeated,” a documentary about an urban high school football team, and has a string of projects lined up.

I'd guess the truth is closer to "he decided to leave ESPN for several reasons, and his concerns over the brain damage was one of those reasons -- but not the biggest reason."

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#13

Post by NegativeLatency »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #5

Football is America's gladiator sport. For all the fun, the money, the excitement, the money, the drama, the bombast, the cheerleaders, and even the money, we should remind ourselves that American football is a very violent sport rife with injury and long term disability, and our participation as passive spectators and consumers makes us just as responsible for the incentive structure that harms so many young men for…

Is rugby safer? I'd actually be interested in watching rugby on tv. Never been a fan of football due to all the stopping and setting up plays, makes the game move too slowly to be interesting.

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#14

Post by cmurf »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #5

Football is America's gladiator sport. For all the fun, the money, the excitement, the money, the drama, the bombast, the cheerleaders, and even the money, we should remind ourselves that American football is a very violent sport rife with injury and long term disability, and our participation as passive spectators and consumers makes us just as responsible for the incentive structure that harms so many young men for…

I don't think the post is depressing and masochistic. I think football fans are depressed masochists, and they get their temporary fix with vicarious participation in a gladiator sport. The more fans pay for tickets, the more contracts go up in price, the more justification for violence they feel entitled to receive. OH, these guys are getting paid a million bucks at least, I would do that!

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#15

Post by damnfine »

samdung wrote: post #2

This article is about american football. Not the actual 'foot'ball.

You got downvoted, likely becayse americians all know a pedantic asshole who repeats this ad nasuem. However, it should serve to point out how US centric a lot of our assumptions are conversing on HN.

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#16

Post by habosa »

TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #6

What about the sponsorship of daredevil sports like free climbing, wing suits, etc., by consumer companies like GoPro and Redbull. I feel that we are supporting these companies with our purchases, and then they in turn create social media spectacles by giving these people an incentive to do dangerous stunts. Recently a wingsuit daredevil died while livestreaming on Facebook, watched by his young daughter and wife. It…

The risk profile is entirely different. When you go jump off a cliff you're saying "there's an x% chance I will die right now" but there's no chance that you die slowly 20 years later after surviving the jump. So it's much more fair to ask the jumper to evaluate the risk.

Playing football is a slow killer. After years and years of hits you may get serious brain damage. But there was no one particular moment, no single play, that you should have avoided. It's the sport as a whole.

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#17

Post by beachy »

Speaking as someone from a rugby-playing nation, where mostly players wear no protection except mouthguards and shin pads, American Football is spectacular but insane.

Wearing protective helmets just ups the ante as players launch into each other with full force. In rugby, you don't tackle someone like that as you'll hurt yourself, and fail to stop the opponent.

Rugby is a plenty violent sport, and has its own health issues, but the lack of protective helmets and body armour (and rules preventing tackling without using your arms) means that attacking players think about their own safety before launching ridiculously high impact hits on each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F6POhAbAhE

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#18

Post by ethmarch »

dogruck wrote: post #12

I think the headline is much stronger than the story. Cunningham's professional life is still deeply intertwined with football: > At first, Cunningham told ESPN executives that he was leaving to spend more time with his sons, ages 3 and 5, and because of his workload as a film and television producer. He was a producer for “Undefeated,” a documentary about an urban high school football team, and has a string of proje…

“Those are two of the issues,” Cunningham said. He waited weeks before he revealed the third. “The big one was my ethical concerns.”

Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field

#20

Post by anonacct37 »

TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #6

What about the sponsorship of daredevil sports like free climbing, wing suits, etc., by consumer companies like GoPro and Redbull. I feel that we are supporting these companies with our purchases, and then they in turn create social media spectacles by giving these people an incentive to do dangerous stunts. Recently a wingsuit daredevil died while livestreaming on Facebook, watched by his young daughter and wife. It…

Last I looked my middle school and high school didn't have wing suit teams.

Very few kids in those schools have a career/college plan based on wing suits.

You're not wrong about death for red bull being bad, but I feel these things are different because of how tightly football is tied to education and children.

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