It's no one's fault that the NFL as we know it will be extinct in 20 years. The players are just now starting to learn the full extent of the game's dangers, and for most of them, the money and fame and ability to play a game for a living are too much to pass up.
The owners and NFL bigwigs haven't exactly shown the utmost concern for player safety, but even now, with the league levying fines for reckless hits and paying big money to former players in court, the athletes will continue to feel the physical and mental effects of the game.
The fans - well, we can't help ourselves. Football is exciting. It's become a bigger staple of American life on Sundays than going to church.
And what about the military, whose members get saluted too many times to count by the NFL and ESPN each weekend? What about the corporations making huge bucks off the Super Bowl? They all benefit from football in a big way, so of course they are going to support it.
For all of these reasons, the sport's demise may take a while. But mark my words: Football will not withstand the test of time.
Here's what's going to happen. Over the next decade or so, we will learn more about the game's devastating effects on current and former players. As the athletes age, many will endure nonstop, excruciating pain. Many will struggle with mental health issues. Many will die young.
The NFL will continue to try and patch up the problems as it gets hit hard in court. Stricter safety rules will be implemented, eliminating kickoffs and enforcing suspensions for helmet-to-helmet plays.
But the problems will persist. Parents will begin pulling their children from youth leagues in waves, just as many parents won't let their kids start playing in the first place. At the same time, we will awaken to the fact that football - just like the military that the NFL promotes so ruthlessly - glorifies violence, macho culture (see: Incognito, Richie) and the merits of fighting through pain. We will realize that macho culture is destroying thousands of male brains and cutting short thousands of lives.
I wish there were a way to make football safe, or even passable, without completely ruining its essence. I love the game. But I can't envision a viable solution. As long as football is played at full speed by full-grown men in pads and helmets, the carnage will continue.
I'm no scientist, but I can read the writing on the wall. A new book, "League of Denial," by Mark Fainaru-Wada and his brother Steve Fainaru, which was also made into a PBS Frontline documentary, details the harsh reality of concussions and football. Their research reveals that, of the ex-football players' brains that have been studied, the great majority shows evidence of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).
The NFL has tried to push back, denying responsibility and challenging the legitimacy of any study revealing the sport's harms. But in late August the league and over 4,500 ex-players agreed to a $765 million settlement over a concussion lawsuit. More litigation is on the way. Momentum is working against America's favorite game.
As former Giants linebacker Harry Carson told PBS, "The NFL has given everybody 765 million reasons why you don't want to play football."
Say what you will about the players knowing the risks. Say what you will about America's obsession with the sport - and yes, America is obsessed. But get back to me in 20 years. Football - and far too many young men - will be shattered.
Aaron Leibowitz is a senior who is majoring in American studies. He can be reached at Aaron.Leibowitz@tufts.edu.
