With the Antonio Brown saga continuing, it seems as if the NFL is finally taking player safety seriously. Brown’s current helmet debacle seems to have no end in sight, and shows the further decline of the Raiders as a franchise. With the league standing firm in their position, does the NFL finally care about player safety?
The NFL and Player Safety’s History
Before we go into what the NFL is doing now, let’s look at how the NFL has dealt with player safety seriously. This is the first time it seems the NFL is taking into consideration their players lives in a proactive manner. Is this because they are viewing them as humans, or as assets? At this point, it does not matter. Any progress is good in the realm of extending players’ lives. With a commissioner that refuses to admit there was a correlation between football and brain injuries, the NFL needed to do something. However, what they have done is the wrong thing.
This is Not the Right Approach
Making sure players are wearing proper helmets is a step in the right direction. However, they are not admitting that football has caused concussions. They are implementing new helmet rules to appease the masses. The NFL has lied consistently about the dangers of football, specifically that relating to brain injuries. Roger Goodell and the league have pushed for studies saying football and brain injuries are not linked. If they would admit to these dangers, many more lives would be saved, or at the very least improved, as opposed to some new helmet rule.
Does the NFL Finally Care?
No, it does not. If the NFL honestly cared about its players, then it would be a welcomed step in the right direction. As I mentioned previously, however, they do not. The NFL not only doesn’t care about player safety, but also disrespects its players’ intelligence.
This generation of NFL players are potentially the most informed ever. Every week, you see a player exercising their constitutional right to protest. They are also at least aware of the risk of stepping they take every week. There is no hiding from the link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). By constantly telling players what to do without giving any substantial reason why not, it is spitting in the face of their players. While I do agree with the NFL having rules in place banning helmets that clearly don’t work, I disagree with how the NFL is implementing it. It seems a little two faced when the league declares, “No, you are not putting your brain at risk playing this sport. Also, here’s some helmets that we don’t want you using for reasons.” If the NFL wants to ban certain helmets, that’s great. However, no helmet is concussion proof, and if the NFL really gave a damn about player safety, they’d take concussions more seriously.
