Junior Seau's Death Highlights Inherent Dangers of Football

David Mittleman

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Junior Seau's death is yet another in a long list of football players that have been diagnosed with CTE, or traumatic brain injury associated with their brutal profession. When news of Seau's suicide started circulating in the news, discussion quickly turned to talk of CTE and although some of us may not have wanted to admit it, football does impact the loyal players who give us our beloved game.

CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative disease caused by multiple hits to the hit and has already been diagnosed in 30 former football players who have died. The number only seems to grow every time another player agrees to donate his brain to science post-mortem. However, despite the fact that Seau's was a household name, it is unlikely that the recent diagnosis of CTE is going to change the way that the game is played. Unfortunately, football is too much of an American icon and we can't be bothered to talk about serious and life-changing injuries when we're busy worrying about the latest big game or championship.

Perhaps Brian Urlacher echoed the sentiments of the football world when he stated:

If I have a concussion these days, I'm going to say, 'Oh man, something happened to my toe or knee or something; I've got to come out for a few plays,' just to get your bearings back.

Urlacher and other NFL players know the risks associated with playing professional ball, and they seem more than willing to embrace those risks. This willingness allows the rest of us to turn a blind eye to the mortality associated with football and kick back on our couches with the remote another Sunday. But as more high school students spend hours in the weight room and submit their bodies to pounding on the field while in their teens in the hopes of making the pros one day, will we always be able to turn a blind eye? What do you think?