by Mike Moran ’13

​The New York Times’ Ken Belson reports that the family of Junior Seau, a former NFL Pro-Bowl linebacker who shot and killed himself last year, has sued the NFL.  He is also suing  the helmet-maker company Riddell, and others.  He is accusing all of them of disclosing information about the link between head hits and long-term mental-health issues.

Seau’s family said the NFL “propagated the false myth that collisions of all kinds, including brutal and ferocious collisions, many of which lead to short-term and long-term neurological damage to players, are an acceptable, desired and natural consequence of the game.” The family added that “the NFL failed to disseminate to then-current and former NFL players health information it possessed” about the risks associated with these severe head injuries.

Football is America’s most popular televised sport, an industry worth over $9 billion a year. But in recent years, suicides by brain-injured players and lawsuits from their families have raised concerns about the impact of repeated concussions.

The game must change in order to counter injuries, such as concussions. The tremendous athleticism and strength of the current players has created an exciting, but dangerous style of play.

President Barack Obama agrees there should be a change. Similar to most, Obama is intrigued by the game of football, but, when thinking on a person level, recognizes the danger: “I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.”

A sudden modification of the beloved game would certainly cause uproar. The NFL must make minor changes to achieve the larger goal of player safety. President Obama recognizes this transition to a lesser-violent game might take time: “I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence.”

The need for a safer game is certainly quintessential, but the question is, has the NFL already started this gradual transition?

The answer is yes. Rules protecting defenseless players, such as “roughing the passer” and “blindside block,” have significantly increased player safety. Also, the heavy fines and harsh suspensions for helmet-to-helmet contact have lessened the violence.

Some find that these newly intergraded rules have made for a soft NFL. Greg Lloyd, former Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker and three-time Pro-Bowler, is one of these people. He finds that the efforts of commissioner Roger Goodell to protect players have “really tainted the game.”

Lloyd’s comment towards the NFL rule changes is simply uncalled for. Just because the game is revolutionizing in order to increase player safety does not mean the game is “tainted.”

Lloyd’s real aggravation comes from the increasing favoritism for offensive players: “I don’t want to see a game where the damn score is 75 to one or 75 to two, all this passing and passing. I want to see somebody hit a quarterback … that is what people come to see. And at the end of the day if he gets hurt, so be it.” Being a defensive player, the former NFL linebacker’s bias towards a more defensive game is understandable, but certainly not justified.

Football will always be violent. The nature of the game calls for aggressiveness and force. The goal should be to simply lessen the violence, not completely end it. A revolution for the beloved game of football for the sake of the players is essential.