rolling American football death spiral thread

that will be the first game i watch this year, yes

What is the future of football as concussion worries grow? I visited two families, one black and one white, with teenage boys, to examine the sport’s widening racial divide: https://t.co/K6nYHCq4Md

— AlanaSemuels (@AlanaSemuels) February 1, 2019

States where high-school tackle football has added more players since 1998:

Georgia (+52%)
Florida (+34%)
Virginia (+55%)
North Carolina (+33%)

It lost players in:
Iowa (-20%)
Kansas (-10%)
Illinois (-9%)
In Ohio, home of Pro football Hall of Fame, it grew just 0.4% https://t.co/4TXq05bH6a

— AlanaSemuels (@AlanaSemuels) February 1, 2019

Good article.

The stats in that tweet don't support her argument well because in the last 20 years the populations of the southern states listed have grown a whole lot faster than the populations of the midwestern states. A larger football-age population is going to produce more players regardless of its racial composition.

Some of the data cited in the article is much more damning: "...Today black athletes make up nearly half of all Division I college-football players, up from 39 percent in 2000. White athletes make up 37 percent, down from 51 percent."

the usa as roman empire analogy needs it gladiator class

https://deadspin.com/what-andrew-luck-means-1837554491

Marshawn Lynch: A History is a worthwhile film to watch. David Shields made it. I'd only known him as a writer and the film's style is very much in his post-everything-collage writer style.

Joe Posnanski had a great post about this in which he brings up his old columns about how messed up Priest Holmes got from his overuse

https://joeposnanski.com/p/ignore-the-pain

pretty harrowing passage here:

Years after that Kansas City-Buffalo game, I visited Priest in San Antonio. He would tell me about lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling, praying for the feeling to come back to his arms and legs. He told me about looking for cracks in the sidewalk when he walks because he knows that if he hits a crack wrong now, his whole body might crumple. He told me about the migraines that split his head open. He told me that he would never have a full-night’s sleep for the rest of his life.

https://deadspin.com/my-husband-is-dying-every-day-1837411982

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/opinions/andrew-luck-nfl-risks-pearlman/index.html

Luck, on the other hand, spent his first seven years battling all sorts of injuries, missing a full one and a half seasons while facing crippling ailment after crippling ailment. Finally, enough was enough. The joy was gone. The pain overtook the pleasure.

Enter: The gift.

Knowing that their hero was exiting the arena for the final time, Colts fans booed. And booed. And booed. Not all of them, obviously -- but many. It was an ugly, vicious sound, generally reserved for led-off-in-cuffs Wall Street execs and political conmen ousted from office. Luck heard it all; later, he admitted the reaction left an Indiana-sized bruise. "Yeah, it hurt," he said. "I'll be honest, it hurt."

What Luck probably didn't realize at the time, but will almost inevitably come to see, is that the boos were truth serum -- and one is far better off knowing such.

Put differently, NFL players are meat. They are meat to owners; they are meat to coaches; and they are meat to fans. When a quarterback plays well, everyone loves him. He's the darling of the city -- free drinks, autograph requests aplenty, Instagram praise and Twitter glory, five-figure appearance fees and the finest cut of prime rib at the finest table in the finest restaurant. You are a king and a God, and you're making millions of dollars to live the life.

Then, because your body is in constant pain and you want your remaining time on earth to be prosperous and you realize throwing a prolate spheroid through the air only carries so much bliss, you decide you are done. And they scorn you.

The hatcats have lost Washington. Took long enough.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/opinion/sunday/nfl-retired-pension.html

Most N.F.L. players who retired before 1993 receive a pension of about $365 a month per season they played, meaning that the typical seven-year player gets about $2,500 a month. Thousands get considerably less, and have stories you won’t see on network broadcasts.

One star of those New York Jets’ Super Bowl team videos now lives in a trailer; unable to afford a dentist, he barely has any teeth. A standout lineman from the storied 1970s Minnesota Vikings played 17 years and gets just $2,300 a month (he took some of his pension early). That’s not enough to cover his football-related medical bills, leaving him and his wife living check to check. There are countless more like them.

NFL fans are remarkably resistant to noticing poverty, physical debility, and suffering among ex-players. The NFL is an entertainment business and these facts are not entertaining.

not sure focusing on pensions is great messaging -- i don't think too many fans are getting pensions from jobs they had for a while 30 years ago. better to demand coverage of football-related medical bills

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/sports/cte-bennet-omalu/

players like Luke Keighly and Andrew Luck retiring so young is really going to have an effect in the coming years

Trump is convinced that w/out the reopening of the NFL and the normalcy it projects, he's not getting reelected. The NFL (and its billionaire Trump donors) and ESPN by trumpeting a schedule that may not even happen, is now in partnership in the Trump reelection project.

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 7, 2020

Sure, there's that, but those billionaire owners make a mint off those teams and they stand to *gasp* lose a shit ton of money if the season, or some facsimile of one, doesn't happen.

still enablers

i can't believe i'm not blocked by zirin on twitter considering how many tweets i've drafted calling him an idiot

figures

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29144297/mlb-return-play-proposal-expected-week-sources-say

theyre just tryin to catch up in the delusional game

Trumpists only care about NFL, NASCAR

this is silly right? obviously these major sports want to return to normal bc their raison d'être is playing sports not bc they are hoping trump wins. maybe they even do collectively hope he wins but why would that be on their mind when it comes to reopening their businesses.

i'm actually kinda surprised in this take from zirin i thought he was more of a lefty guy but this take reeks of #resistance hysteria

lol if only the XFL could've figured out how to do live sports during a pandemic

watch what happens starting in mid-August, i'd say

they want to return to normal because they stand to lose billions in tv revenue. that is the only story here.

surely the NFLPA will object to unsafe working conditions

virus isn't too much worse than their regular unsafe working conditions

https://www.theringer.com/2020/5/11/21253986/college-football-season-coronavirus-pandemic-ncaa-amateur-model

I read that yesterday, it definitely made me feel better about the crappy Monday I was having

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29293290/panthers-moving-jerry-richardson-statue-stadium-precaution
imagine how shitty of a human being you have to be that the people who run the house that you built don't feel comfortable leaving a giant bronze statue of you out in public

NEWS: @gmraynor reports that 23 -- yes, 23 -- Clemson football players have tested positive for COVID-19.

Up from just two last week. https://t.co/nfTQXp6W6L

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) June 19, 2020

yes but has dabo called them pussies yet

14 at Kansas State. I guess one way to have football in the fall is to expose all the players in the summer.

https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/big-12/kansas-state/article243686637.html

getting literal with the thread title
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2898491-report-nfl-may-ask-fans-to-sign-liability-waivers-to-attend-games-amid-pandemic

sheesh

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29454756/nfl-unveils-oakley-mouth-shield-combat-coronavirus
i mean come on

Yes, and

https://www.theringer.com/2020/7/10/21319314/college-football-season-coronavirus-players-coaches-tipping-point

grim

If covid puts an end to college football forever I would have to give covid props for that

agreed tbh

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2900454-nflpa-reveals-72-players-were-diagnosed-with-covid-19-as-of-july-10

seriously fucked up

meanwhile the NFL is like “hey! sneezeguards INSIDE the helmet? can that be a thing? ARE U READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL”

assholes

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2020/07/26/mike-ditka-kneeling-athletes-national-anthem/112416850/

Ditka is such a piece of shit, it's impressive he kept such a good public image for so long

stick to trading your entire draft for one guy, Mikey

https://www.nfl.com/news/ravens-de-anthony-thomas-latest-nfl-player-to-opt-out-of-season

https://imgur.com/gallery/Nfphh2U