The Changing Culture of Football

As the 2013 football season starts on all levels of the sport, the culture of football isn't what it was 5 years ago. 5 years ago there wasn't any talk about concussions or illegal hits like there is now. The NFL has constantly been changing rules over the past 3-4 years in regards to leading with your helmet and targeting defenseless players. With the deaths of former NFL players and stars such as; David Duerson, Junior Seau, and other stars; a change was needed. As the NFL changes, so do the other levels; college, high school and even Pop Warner. The physicality of the game is now changed forever. Just today, the NFL reached an agreement with the families of those who had committed suicide due to the disease CTE. (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9612138/judge-nfl-players-settle-concussion-suit)

With these lawsuits the NFL was almost forced to change the culture that had been a persistent since the beginning. No more ringing "ohhhhh's" and "ahhhh's" after a jaw dropping hit anymore. Pretty much anything that looks somewhat violent will be an automatic flag. It seems as if they have lowered the NFL down to a little kids league instead. Players can't even make legitimate football plays without getting a flag for every little hit. These are grown men who weigh 200-300+ pounds and people expect them to play like they weigh 100-150 pounds.With hits to the neck and head area outlawed, hits to the knees are becoming a problem. (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/aug/28/nfl-will-look-at-hits-to-knees/) Soon enough, there won't be anywhere for players to hit which will diminish the game even more. But in a world where safety is becoming one of the main priorities, this is necessary. The careers of NFL players are already cut short due to injuries and the continuous hits and collisions they take on a daily basis; their lives don't need to be cut short either. So maybe the change is necessary for the players sake, but these players knew what they signed up for when they signed the dotted line on that contract. They knew the risks and the rewards of playing in the National Football League; injuries are apart of the game. So where will the game go from here? This culture change is relevant to the book, "The Most Dangerous Game" because at the beginning of the book Rainsford was considered the best hunter in the world, but at first he was unwilling to hunt game with General Zaroff. As the book progressed and Rainsford's life was at stake, he referred back to his natural tactics of hunting which ultimately saved him. This connects to the football story because it shows that when lives are on the line, the culture/situation has to change for the better of everyone who's involved.