Football

Yesterday I heard on NPR's All Things Considered that NFL players are confused about the league's decision to actually enforce the existing rule against dangerous hits. 

I don’t think I want to get into why the players – who, God knows, have suffered many injuries, and seen enough serious injuries, and serious after-effects, among their peers – might be confused.

What upsets me are these player statements:

From an AP article posted on NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130672660 ): 

"The guys who have had the knack to lay somebody out, I consider it a talent in itself," Broncos safety David Bruton said. "I feel as though these deterrents would be depriving them of the chance to showcase their abilities."

On the subject of head-to-head hits, Miami linebacker Channing Crowder said the only way of preventing helmet-to-helmet hits is to eliminate the helmet. "If I get a chance to knock somebody out, I'm going to knock them out and take what they give me," Crowder said. "They give me a helmet, I'm going to use it."

From an NPR-produced piece by Tom Goldman (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130757477 )

Lawyer Milloy, a defensive back for the Seattle Seahawks, said "You know, going into a game, am I thinking about it? I'd be lying by saying that I wasn't, you know. How do I tackle this guy? You know, can I have the woo hits like, you know, Ronnie Lott used to talk about? Theyre really taking that out of the game, and that's a shame." (Tom Goldman explained that to listeners: "The woo hits were what Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott called the violent hits that made the entire stadium go woo.")

It's appalling.

I stopped following pro hockey in the 1970s, because the Philadelphia Flyers, then an NHL expansion team, put their Goon Squad on the ice. The Goon Squad's job was to win games for their team by intimidating opponents, starting fights (or escalating them) and making hits with the express purpose of putting opposing players out of the game. The team and the press called them "The Broad Street Bullies." They were thugs, pure and simple.

The NFL players who think that “laying someone out” is a valuable talent, who will “knock somebody out” at any opportunity, and who believe that a big "woo” factor is a good thing, are thugs. The more of them that are suspended, fined or dismissed from football, the better.