Violence in Sports

Fans, stop cheering helmet-to-helmet violence

By David Satcher

As Surgeon General of the United States, I released 14 reports that addressed issues related to the health of the American people, three of which directly addressed mental health. Some of these reports demanded a reaction and therefore were released as calls to action.

Mental health is now more than ever a pertinent issue for sports, and it's time for a call to action to communities of sports fans, coaches and parents, especially now in light of the tragic death by the suicide of Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley on Sept. 20 and the evidence of long-term effects of head injuries in sports, particularly depression, early dementia and Alzheimer's disease. While many circumstances may surround McKinley's death, most of which we may never know, we are learning more and more about mental illness among professional athletes.

Football is a fundamentally dangerous sport, and often that violence is celebrated among fans of the game. The harder the hit, the louder the cheers. Fans and the general public must consider the long-term consequences of these potentially catastrophic head injuries even though they may not emerge until decades later.

At the same time, this is not a problem unique to professional football. Head injuries occur in soccer, boxing and hockey, just to name a few, and youth athletes are especially vulnerable. It is estimated that more than 55,000 concussions occur in high school football alone every year.

The brain is our most delicate organ and it must be treated as such, and not just by use of helmets (though the importance of helmets cannot be overstated). Studies suggest that dementia is becoming a problem of concern for a growing number of NFL alumni and their families, and therefore the NFL also has a growing concern about the problem of dementia in America. Research continues in an effort to understand the relationship between the experience of NFL alumni including injuries and concussions throughout their development as athletes and their play within the NFL. As life expectancy increases in this country, so does the need to increase years of quality living. As such, athletes need protection today to ensure their future quality of life.

A cultural change is needed. The issue of brain injury has finally risen to the level of importance in the NFL that Commissioner Roger Goodell is taking action by changing NFL policy and rules of play by suspending players for illegal hits. This policy will change the culture of football as well as the game itself.

But this is also a call to action for the fans, not only of football, but of all sports and at all levels, and it's our duty as fans to respond. Fans must change the way we view and celebrate America's favorite pastime. The days of celebrating potentially catastrophic blows to the head must be over. This is a call to action!

David Satcher is the director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. He was 16th Surgeon General of the United States.

The idea of the fans not cheering for voilent hits is ridiculous. The fans go to football games to see big hits and always will. However, the fans do deserve some blame for the volience in contact sports. On page 200 of the text, Coakley talks about how players in power/ performace sports are rewarded for volience. If a player is known to be a big hitter, he will be more popular and probably receive more endorsements.  Ray Lewis and James Harrison are prime examples. I play football and part of the reason I play is because I love the violence of the game. I love hitting people and doing things in football that would normally be frowned upon in society, but they are encouraged in football. With that being said, I do think there needs to be a change. The number of concussions in football are extremely high. The 55,000 concussions that happend in high school last year is alarming and making a change will be diffcult. On page 209 of the text, Coakley discusses  how it  is difficult to change volience on the playing field becuase it is rooted into the game. I could not disagree with Coakley more. In football, particularly voilence is part of the game. Ever since I can remember, I was always taught to hit as hard as i can and to hurt the guy across from me. If change is going to truly come in football it will take a long time. Volience is so embedded into the sport and football is loved becuase of its volience. The game of football is in a tough sitaution if they get rid of the violence in the game they will loose almost all of its fans. If they allow the voilence to grow, the players' health is at exetreme risk. It is a very difficult sitaution for the NFL and all of the different levels of football.