It has been over a month since Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during the now infamous Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, if and how the game, and the NFL, will change in response to this horrific event remains to be seen.
Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old second-year player, is believed to have suffered commotio cordis— a rare injury with a low survival rate that occurs when an individual is struck over the heart at a specific time in the heart’s rhythm, causing the heart to stop— after making a tackle. Hamlin was resuscitated on the field, surrounded by players and staff from both teams, before being taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition. The recovery process for Hamlin looks lengthy but promising, but at the time of his collapse, and for several hours after, football fans had no idea what would become of him. “I was watching the game and it was terrifying because they had dead air for like 30 minutes and they kept going back to these newscasters who didn’t know what to say,” said sophomore football fan Elizabeth Flathers, “nobody knew if he was alive.”
Football is an incredibly dangerous game, there is no debate. On top of the use and stress injuries typical of athletics, high-impact collisions make football players particularly susceptible to brain injuries that forever alter, and even end, their lives. Though an injury such as Hamlin’s is rare, its severity is not unique, and research suggests that the long-term effects of playing football are detrimental and still being discovered. With the mountain of research and countless op–eds in opposition to the sport, as well as the fresh trauma of Damar Hamlin’s injury, even long-time fans of football are forced to wonder what the future of the sport will be.
Questioning the ethics of engaging with football feels nearly anti-American. The sport is so ingrained in our culture and steeped in our values of competition, excellence, violence, and dominance, that interrogating its presence in our lives feels unsettling. Plus, it’s fun to watch. Rooting for one’s team, observing the game strategy, participating in fantasy football, and spending time with loved ones at a tailgate, watch party, or Sunday afternoon at home elicits an intoxicating mix of comfort and thrill. The concept of giving up these comforts and thrills is disturbing. It is also disturbing that we as a society gain so much joy from watching men destroy their bodies and minds for our entertainment.
This cognitive dissonance leaves football fans with the devastating question: How much longer can we support the industry of football?
Sophomore rugby player Victor Alayande, who sees both the danger and the allure of football, thinks Hamlin’s injury won’t have much impact on football and the NFL. “It’s not just a sport,” said Alayande, “it’s business[…]way too many people’s money is involved.” Alayande is correct. The total revenue of the NFL in 2021, the most recent available statistic, was $17.9 billion, and has been growing steadily since its inception (with the exception of 2020) making it the most profitable professional sports league in the United States. This measurement includes all of the NFL’s revenue streams— sponsorships, media, partnerships, ticket sales, and concessions— but does not capture the full picture of just how much money changes hands in this industry. Another roughly $7 billion is spent on player contracts across the 32 teams. The NFL itself has an annual revenue of $930 million, American college football is estimated to be a $4 billion industry, and Fantasy NFL is a $70 billion industry. None of these statistics include staff salaries, unofficial merchandise, unregulated gambling, and purchases tangentially related to football— think portable grills and beer koozies— or the money spent on pre-professional players. All this is to say, it’s impossible to chart the full financial impact of football in the United States, but the football industry is worth approximately $100 billion.
Before even considering the personal and cultural impact of football, it’s clear that the sport cannot be discontinued. So what can be done?
Short of banning football, there are steps that can be taken to make the game safer for the players. Sports opinion columnist for the Washington Post, Fred Bowen, believes only playing flag football before high school and shorter seasons with fewer games for high school and college teams would reduce the volume of dangerous collisions. A Stanford alum urged his alma mater to abandon their football program in 2020, stating “There is no quick fix; football cannot be bettered with improved tackling techniques or by similar fixes that tinker away at the edges of a fundamentally violent sport.” If more colleges, such as Stanford, that don’t rely on the income from football, disband their programs, perhaps a cultural shift away from football could begin to take place.
Recognizing the low likelihood of disbanding these programs, sophomore Victor Alayande proposes altering the norms of the NFL— giving players more agency in their careers, communicating decisions to them effectively, and improving post-career care with increased pensions and life-long health insurance. Though NFL careers can be relatively short, players will cope with the health ramifications of their football careers for the rest of their lives. Sophomore Elizabeth Flathers believes increased mental health care in the NFL, as well as support for players’ families and communities, could begin to address some of the harm playing professionally causes. Alayande and Flathers both see a need to humanize football players in the eyes of football fans and the league. Alayande wonders how many players have actually met the owner of their team, remarking that from the owner’s box “way up there, looking down, you’re seeing [players] as little dots. You aren’t seeing people. You’re seeing things move around.” It is difficult to ignore the racial implications of team owners, mostly wealthy white men, gazing from a cushy private box upon the players they effectively own, 71% of which are people of color according to NBC News, and earning millions of dollars while their players destroy their bodies and minds.
Despite the complicated ethics of football, millions of people tune in on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays to eagerly watch grown men run, jump, and slam into each other for 5 months of the year. According to Statista, around 100 million people will watch Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, February 12th, which is the most-watched television broadcast each year in the United States, and one of the most-watched annual sporting events in the world. It is unclear if Damar Hamlin’s injury has shifted the public’s perception of football, but it is clear that football is not going anywhere anytime soon. At the end of the day, football is a business, and in our capitalist economy, it will always put profit over people. Until society shifts away from these values, the best sports fans can do is advocate for improvements that make the game safer, and the players healthier. •
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