I studied sport management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I’ll never forget one of my professors exclaiming that the NFL is the “No Fun League,” and I’ve been trying to globalize that sentiment ever since.

With all its pageantry and athleticism, the National Football League is truly a No Fun League. Not only is Roger Goodell the worst commissioner for fans and the best for owners, but for years now, he has presided over a brain-inducing trauma center. He has turned accountability into a PR exercise and player safety into a talking point that always seems to come second to profit. And now he wants to grow the game globally? Why don’t we try taking care of the players we already have?

Protecting players from CTE and other brain injuries has to matter more than adding another international game to the schedule. These are injuries players may have sustained in high school, let alone after years of college football and hard hits in the NFL under the lights. The article published in The New York Times on Tuesday, August 25, should be a wake-up call to everyone — and yes, I mean everyone.

Sure, parents are steering their kids away from playing football, but what about the current players out there? Sociologically, we humans love violence, and it feeds our primal needs to watch a violent sport every week — usually multiple times a week once fall rolls around. But we, as a society, can no longer ignore the risks this “game” is having on all of us.

Games are supposed to be fun. Brain injuries? No fun. Men are already having a hard time defining masculinity in this day and age. Maybe it’s time we stop asking them to prove it by sacrificing their brains for our entertainment.

Will you be watching football this fall? I’m struggling with balancing my fandom and my cultural identity that is wrapped up in sports. Where do we go from here?

Let me know your thoughts!

Cheers,

Sarah