“Football is on trial. But because I believe in the game, I will do all I can to save it.”
-Teddy Roosevelt, 1905
Football is a uniquely American sport, for the spectacle, strategy, and violent struggle of the game. Now, though, Teddy Roosevelt’s words ring truer than ever, as football finds itself on trial from those who question the safety and ethics of the National Football League and the game as a whole.
In particular, a massive class-action case against the NFL and helmet maker Riddell has been filed by former players. Tthe brief claims that the league and the company knowingly hid details regarding the inadequacy of current rules and equipment to prevent football-induced head trauma. Harvard Medical School is poised to conduct a $100 million study funded by the NFL Players Association, to examine the safety of the sport. One must now ask: does America still believe in the game of football? Despite recent medical research, football continues to have an immense hold on American culture—over 100 million viewers tuned in to this year’s Super Bowl. Though it will be transformed, the essence of the game will survive.
Dangerous Beginnings
Concerns for safety on the gridiron are hardly new. At the start of the 20th century, football was just as popular as baseball, but far more dangerous. Helmetless and clad in little more than thick wool sweaters, players could only run the ball and struggled by sheer force down the field. The constant shoving, tackling, and collisions often resulted in serious injuries and 19 player fatalities in 1905.
Harvard President Charles Eliot hated the sport for its “barbarous” nature. Amidst growing public uproar, President Teddy Roosevelt called coaches and representatives from Harvard, Princeton, and Yale to a conference at the White House. This intercollegiate group instituted major changes to the game, including the inception of the forward pass. Injuries and fatalities declined, and after further changes in the rules following the 1909 season, football began to resemble today’s sport. In the modern era, the NFL has seen one on-field fatality, due to a heart attack, and players run and tackle while encased in padding, hard plastic, and an imposing helmet. The risks, though, are serious and remain unseen to most viewers.
Safety Today: Concussions and CTE
The NFL is beginning to pay attention, and has taken steps to address concussion safety. On the field, rule changes like penalties for head-to-head contact and a shift of the kickoff line to reduce full-speed collisions have been newly implemented. In an interview with the HPR, Dr. Stanley Herring of the NFL’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee said, “A lot of work has been done … to address concussions in a comprehensive fashion.” Off the field, new standard procedures to diagnose a concussion and a mandatory medical second opinion are improving safety.
In addition to severe concussions, however, another threat has emerged about which we know even less. Christine Baugh of Boston University is an expert on a neurodegenerative disorder known as CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. She explained to the HPR that CTE is insidious, as it occurs due to “seemingly routine, repetitive impacts” that accumulate to pose a great danger. These hits may occur on every play of a football game for some players.
When asked to comment on whether the NFL is doing enough to prevent CTE and associated brain trauma, though, Baugh acknowledges the difficulties that the condition’s newness on the medical stage presents: “We don’t have enough information yet to say what is a ‘safe’ amount of brain trauma.” Yet Herring points out that while the NFL waits for scientific consensus, “it hasn’t been in neutral in the interim.” Harvard football coach Tim Murphy stresses “cultural changes” to the game as well. He recalls, “There was a time when … if you went to the trainer with a headache, you were perceived as being ‘soft’. That was the warrior mentality.” Today, he says, coaches, trainers, and the players are hypersensitive and aware of the risks related to head trauma.
Starting Young
In order to have a measurable impact, rule changes will have to occur at all levels of the game, according to Baugh. In America, many children begin early, participating in programs such as Pop Warner Football when they are seven or eight years old. The youngest confirmed case of CTE was that of Nathan Stiles, a 17-year-old high school player and fatal concussion victim who was later diagnosed with the disorder. Parents are not oblivious to the risk: USA Football, a national nonprofit governing body for the sport, has seen a six percent decline in youth participation in the last year alone.
USA Football faces just as difficult a crossroads as the rest of the sport. According to executive director Scott Hallenbeck, the nonprofit has been dealing with trauma-related issues through a program known as Heads Up Football. Hallenbeck described it to the HPR as “a comprehensive program designed to increase safety for youth football players while returning football to its basics, its fundamentals.” The program involves four steps, focusing on the education of coaches, parents, and players as to the risks and symptoms of concussions, as well as designating “player safety coaches” to specifically monitor games and practices.
Final Minutes
Christine Baugh mused at the end of the interview that she “still loves to watch football. Now though, I grapple with why. Rather than being enthralled by the hits, now I cringe a little.” Any discussion of safety is merely a part of the “interplay between science and culture” that characterizes the sport. America will continue to watch its favorite game, but it should “grapple with why” we love the game so much, as well. Coach Murphy has an answer: “It’s a sport where you have lots of different skill sets and body types that have to mesh perfectly together … it never seems to get old.”
Over 100 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt and a few Ivy League coaches saved football by remaking the game. Football finds itself on trial once again, and the charges are serious as ever: brain damage, physical and emotional trauma, equipment that does not protect the way it should. Each tackle and block is a risk, but football can never be wholly safe. Carl Eller, president of the Retired Players’ Association and player advocate, crystallized the dual objectives of those promoting a safer football game. “Player safety is paramount,” he stated, while adding, “We [the RPA] are so interested in the survival of the game, the essence of the game.”
Consensus is building around the fact that the violence of football cannot take precedence over safety. “We will do, and the league will do, whatever is necessary to protect the players,” Eller proclaimed. Yet, Eller’s passion both for the game and safety demonstrates how football will continue. Contact rules can be reformed, and some may criticize these changes, but America will continue to believe in its game. Like a come-from-behind Sunday victory, the comeback will be worth a watch.