BUBBLE WRAP
Posted on 05/05/2012 6:20:18 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
A gray-haired woman in a green floral dress is screaming the worst moment of her life in front of the entire world. Luisa Seau stands in front of microphones, in front of cameras, on televisions across the country wailing the sometimes incoherent words of every mother’s worst nightmare.
“I pray to God,” she screams, “please take me, take me and leave my son, but it’s too late. Too late.”
You might’ve seen the heartbreaking video already. If you watched television at all Wednesday, or opened up a web browser, it was hard to miss and harder to stomach that Junior Seau, 43 years old, apparently killed himself with a gunshot to the chest.
This is a former NFL Man of the Year not even retired long enough to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame but leaving behind three children and a line of crying teammates.
Police believe his death was a suicide. If so, Seau is the third former football player to shoot himself to death in the last 15 months, and what might be the most serious issue in sports has a new face that a new generation of fans can remember and some painful questions must now be asked.
How much longer can this go? What’s your tolerance for this? How much stamina do you have for the men you cheer today dying tragic and premature deaths in the coming years?
How much longer can you be a fan of a sport that appears to be killing its athletes?
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
BUBBLE WRAP
I’ve heard somebody say that the old leather helmets offered better protection than today’s helmets. Also, today’s helmets can be used as a battering ram, which causses injuries to both players, if a player uses his helmet as a weapon that way.
In other words turn football into rugby.
Football is a substitute for war between the cities.
It pays well,lots of people love to see other people hurt or do risky stuff.
NASCAR is also pretty pointless: a couple dozen people drive really fast in circles.But a whole lot of people pay to watch.
Personally I don’t care to pay to watch either group.
Matter of fact the whole idea of people sitting on couches watching paid players ,and idolizing those players, strikes me as farcial.
However,I think the ancient Roman advice was “love the people for what they are,not what you would have them be”.
And both activities are likely to be still big business for many years to come.
I WISH the pros actually did live as good examples to the youth;and I OBJECT to taxation funding stadiums and other businesses.
I guess it would be similar, but the rules are very different.
You may ask, who cares?
But the better question is why?
Incomprehensible this debate about the ‘dangers’ of football! First off- do you expect to be perfectly healthy after CHOOSING to engage in a ‘sport’ that has 300lb men stomping on, crashing into, and piling on each other?
Do you think head-butting said mountains of muscle is a GOOD thing for your neck and head?
So you trade your health for big money then complain about the deal you got?
Sounds to me like brain damage is a REQUIREMENT for playing football as well as an after-effect.
You get wet in swimming.
You get your body abused in boxing, soccer, martial arts and football.
Whining with a bank account full of pain money is laughable.
Couldn’t agree more. Mr. Seau was a great player and his death is a tragedy, but he made a conscious decision to play pro football and subject himself to the associated risks. In return, he earned millions of dollars and a very comfortable lifestyle. With his fortune, Seau likely had access to the best medical and mental health care, even though there isn’t much you can do in cases of early onset dementia caused by a lifetime of head injuries.
On the other hand, consider the plight of military veterans wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. They, too, made a decision to enlist and face the risk of injury or death. In return, the nation pledged to do everything it could for the troops and their families, in the event they were maimed or killed.
There are literally thousands of young men and women who suffered horrible physical and mental wounds in combat over the past decade. Many of them never made more than $30,000 a year in uniform and after being scarred for life, they were medically discharged from the armed forces, with a disability rating. After that, they must battle for benefits within the VA system, where the quality of care pales in comparison to what Junior Seau had access to.
One more thing: my heart goes out to the Seau family. But I wonder if any of them ever encouraged him to retire from the NFL sooner, before the cumulative effects of the game took their toll. He spent 19 years in the league; at the time, many marveled at his longevity, but we can only imagine the toll it took on his body. And there were plenty of people—agents, families, teams—that were willing to let him keep playing.
NO. It really is about preserving the brain for study and Seau's family have consented to that end. It's the same MO of the other player's suicide and was explained in the suicide note.
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