Junior Seau’s death should force fans to ask uncomfortable questions

The Washington Post ^ | May 12, 2012 | Jason Reid

[MinorityRepublican]

With each bone-breaking, head-injuring hit, NFL players are killing themselves slowly. It’s not a possibility. It’s a fact, no less certain than the league’s immense profitability.

Football injuries can kill in a variety of ways. One particularly tragic way might be by making life unbearable for the afflicted. And autopsies have revealed that several former players who committed suicide suffered from brain trauma caused by repeated blows to the head.

[RetiredTexasVet]

I don’t see much difference between the football players today and the gladiators of the past. Each makes or made a exceptional living with the high probability of death or dismemberment as the cost of participating. They make/made the choice .... buyers remorse?

[ohioman]

I played WR too and this writer is your basic liberal puss who probably never played a real sport in his life.

[Venturer]

There are lots of thing that are unnecessary, from riding horse’s to motorcycles, and skydiving,and Bungy cord jumping, let’s just ban them all.

The American Society for the toothless wants to ban Hockey.

[ops33]

With each bone-breaking, head-injuring hit, NFL players are killing themselves slowly. It’s not a possibility. It’s a fact...”

“It’s unclear why former San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau shot himself in the chest last week. There’s no proof, yet, that Seau even suffered from trauma-induced brain damage, much less killed himself because of it. But it’s a good bet it was on his mind.”

Within the first 3 paragraphs the author contradicts himself.

[OldPossum]

Yes indeed, there are a lot of stupid, unnecessary human activities. Do you know that psychiatrists and clinical psychologists go to hospital wards to counsel the young men (and it’s almost always men—women have better sense) who have made paraplegics and quadriplegics of themselves riding on motorcycles? They are there to show these men how they are going to live their lives in either wheelchairs or beds for the next 40 to 50 years.

I think a strong case could be made to prohibit these and other dumb things people do. If it only impacted them and no one else, fine, knock your self out. But that’s not true. Their mistakes raise costs to non-participants in stupid activities; think medical costs—and hence higher taxes—that are borne by the general public because of what others do, exercising their “freedoms.

Mind you, I am as much for personal freedom as most people (I accent “most”). It is only when those freedom impinge on others that I have a problem.

These comments apply equally to other activities such as sky diving. I would exempt football and hockey if the organizations which sponsor them provided insurance for the players after they retire. But I’ll bet Medicare pays for them now.

[OldPossum]

I would add that if these young men’s injuries are covered by private insurance, then let them be. If they want to destroy their ability to walk, I have no problem with that, get on that motorcycle and go. Be stupid. But I’ll bet that’s not the case, they have no insurance. The public pays.