Greed Covers Guilt

            I can’t believe it’s 2016! I always try to start the New Year off with an optimistic attitude and a heart full of gratitude, that was until I movie binged over the Christmas and New Year Break. Don’t get me wrong, I still have the same outlook and optimism for 2016, but these conscientious flicks that I viewed gave me a new perspective on how the world works. Concussion, Spotlight, and The Big Short were the three must-see movies I recommend everyone to check out.  Their storylines were all different yet their themes were very similar. The most troubling factor of them all was that all three movies were based on actual recent events that had an enormous, traumatic impact on peoples’ lives.

            The movie I want to focus on is Concussion. This movie was not only riveting with great acting and storyline, but was very nostalgic for me. Growing up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, this movie took me back to my youth of The Steel Curtain days. At the same time, it was very depressing to watch, because it addressed the suicides of several former Steeler greats and other NFL players. The most aggravating part of the story (or should I say “Truth”) was the haunting denial by the NFL (Owners, NFL Doctors, Administration, Commissioners) on the impact concussions had/has on former/current NFL players and not wanting to provide proper healthcare and mental healthcare to the players, because of the financial impact it would have on their bottom line.

            The greed to protect the machine was evident from top down. The excuse of “it’s a gladiator sport” or “he knew what he signed up for” just doesn’t cut it. Often people think that professional players shouldn’t complain about anything, because they get paid huge sums of money. So if anything happens to you physically/mentally during or after your playing career is over it’s on you to fix yourself. After watching the ESPN 30 for 30 “Broke”, I can see how someone can think that way, but blowing through your salary and getting proper health benefits from your employer are two separate issues.

            People like to compare professional players’ salaries to those of police officers, soldiers, firemen, etc.… and say that they should be paid the high salaries. I agree that the professions that are educating, molding, and saving lives are underpaid, but what I never hear is when a police officer or soldier is wounded “is he/she knew the danger of the job!” To say something like that would be unpatriotic or inhumane to the average American's mind, but why is it appropriate to say that about a disabled NFL football player? To me it's not!

            The focus should be on the billionaire owners, the NFL, and NCAA to rectify this situation. Assuring that players who are willing to sacrifice their bodies and minds for our amusement be taken care of in case any physical, mental, and emotional trauma should occur through the participation of playing football. I know that I'm wishing on a star, but until someone advocates for this to happen it will just be a dream. We as fans have the economic power to make it happen by keeping our dollars in our pockets and turning are televisions off the football games. That's the only way change is going to occur, but are we too selfish and greedy ourselves?