Are the physical and mental tolls that professional sports take on athletes simply the cost of competing at the highest level? Is the physical and mental health and well-being of athletes something that should concern fans? Are owners and league officials doing enough to protect and help athletes, or are they primarily concerned about the bottom line (making money)? Limit: 13 responses
I do not believe that the physical and mental tolls that athletes endure can be boiled down to being the cost of competing at the highest level. I believe that could be the excuse that some people want to believe or need to believe. There are many stigmas surrounding mental health that could be changed in order to preserve athletes’ mental health at the highest stage. For example, there is often time for physical recovery, but many professional sports environments don’t offer time for mental recovery. When speaking on the importance of mental rehabilitation, Helen Richardson-Walsh said, “’I think the mental side can feel harder because it won’t just happen with time. Although time is helpful, you’ll only recover if you’re doing the right things’” (Meister and Lavanchy). If athletes were given the tools and the support to exercise mental recovery, then there may be less problems with mental health in professional sports. Thus, poor mental health may not be considered just ‘a part of the job’, but instead something that can be overcome with hard work and the right plan in place.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the well-being and health of athletes should certainly be a concern of fans. Fans are essentially paying teams to watch their athletes play each week. It is common human decency to be concerned about whether their favorite player is okay or not. Emily Kelly, the wife of Saints safety Rob Kelly, has an extremely strong opinion on the matter. She questions if, “’[fans] cheered [for big hits] despite knowing a man just greatly increased his risk for dementia’” (Dennie). I personally do not believe it is as ‘black and white’ as Kelly puts it. The athletes do understand what sport they are signing up for. Like any job, there are risks involved. It is extremely devastating when one of those risks come into fruition, and every possible measure should be taken by the league to eliminate them, but there is still a possibility that someone gets injured. The athletes understand that and are exposing themselves to it. If a fan does not feel comfortable watching it, they don’t have to, but I don’t believe all fans should be scrutinized for embracing entertainment, especially when it is allowed in the confines of football.
With my opinion that the athlete is signing up to play their sport professionally being said, that is under the expectation that leagues, and organizations are doing everything in their power to eliminate any physical and mental abuse. However, I can’t confidently say that all leagues and organizations are doing that. That could be seen significantly in the case of USA Gymnastics and the case of Larry Nassar. Nassar abused hundreds of young gymnasts. He used their weaknesses and insecurities to take advantage of them by physically and mentally abusing them. What is most concerning is how Simone Biles recently came out and said she would not allow her daughter to train with US Gymnastics because, “’[she] doesn’t feel comfortable enough, and because they haven’t taken responsibility for their actions and what they’ve done’” (North). Biles said that after USA Gymnastics supposedly ‘handled’ the situation. That proves that gymnasts do not believe that the organization is moving in the right direction. They do not want to make changes because it might hurt their reputation and cost them money. If Simone Biles does not even believe that her organization is headed in the right direction, then it’s a clear indication that league officials are not primarily concerned with their athlete’s mental health.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Dennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
Meister, Alyson, and Maude Lavanchy . “Athletes Are Shifting the Narrative around Mental Health at Work.” Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing, 24 Sept. 2021, https://hbr.org/2021/09/athletes-are-shifting-the-narrative-around-mental-health-at-work.
North, Anna. “Gymnastics Still Hasn't Fully Reckoned with Its Abuse Problem.” Vox, Vox Media, 24 July 2021, https://www.vox.com/22585637/gymnastics-tokyo-olympics-2021-abuse-larry-nassar.
The physical and mental tolls that professional sports have taken on athletes are a lot more serious than what goes noticed today. There is speculation on the fact that since these players are competing at the highest level that these tolls are to be expected. I firmly believe that in such a prosperous organization, there should be preventative measures so that players do not have to go through such physical and mental trauma. According to the article, “I’m Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players is Too Great to Ignore,” Trevor Dennie states that the NFL's response to players' injuries has been insufficient. Dennie stated that “Much of the focus has been on preventing or limiting concussions when the role of concussions in causing CTE is uncertain and there is evidence that repetitive trauma below the concussion threshold is the real culprit. Some measures have been instituted to protect quarterbacks, but less than 10 percent of the players posthumously diagnosed with CTE in the Boston University study were quarterbacks” (Dennie). Of course, a quarterback getting hit can cause a lot of damage as quarterbacks are stereotypically less built than a linebacker, however, most of the time it is the rest of the team getting beaten down which therefore brings their safety at higher concern, yet the quarterbacks are getting the most caution from the NFL. It makes me wonder how such organizations can be so neglectful, especially since if it weren’t for these players, owners and league officials would not be making any money. In the article, “From ‘Punch Drunk’ to CTE: How the Sports World Learned to Ignore Brain Trauma,” Stephen T. Casper explains his opinion on why organizations are not taking responsibility for players' mental and physical traumas. Casper stated that “Universities do not wish to admit that they have harmed – and are harming – their own students. Arrogant doctors dislike being confronted by the evidence of their own past callous disregard. Even now, fans of football tend to want to deny the health implications of recurrent hits to the head or the fact that football helmets historically have been superbly designed as concussion delivery systems” (Casper). Therefore, although such injuries, specifically in relation to the brain, are documented, they are most definitely ignored.
ReplyDeleteIt is also quite clear that fans aren’t any better than these owners and officials in regards to players' mental health. According to the article “Sports fans should treat athletes like human beings,” Connor Youngberg talks specifically about NBA player Ben Simmons in fans' reactions to his mental health. Youngberg stated that “ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that Simmons has said he is not mentally ready to start the 2021-22 season. All of this is after his 2021 playoff run with the Philadelphia 76ers, which ended with Simmons playing poorly and the entire city of Philadelphia turning against him” (Youngberg). How can fans expect someone to play well when they are going through such a serious health issue and then give him hate for it? There were also many instances where players would accuse Simmons of faking his mental health issues. Fans need to show players support to players and take their mental health seriously. Overall, changes need to be made by fans, officials, and owners as we see such backlash on players facing physical and mental health issues.
ReplyDeleteCasper, Stephen T. “How the Sports World Learned to Ignore CTE.” Global Sport Matters, 10 Feb. 2022, https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/10/punch-drunk-cte-sports-world-ignore-brain-trauma/.
Dennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
Youngberg, Connor. “Sports Fans Should Treat Athletes like Human Beings.” The Quinnipiac Chronicle, Quinnipiac University, 15 Feb. 2022, https://quchronicle.com/75949/opinion/sports-fans-should-treat-athletes-like-human-beings/.
Sports Blog
ReplyDeleteNo matter what level of sportspeople play, physical and mental health concerns are overlooked. We see this mainly throughout the National Football league. The injury rates are sky high and are not taken seriously. According to Reddit, the average lifespan of an NFL football player is 55 years due to the number of hits taken towards the head. Most leagues, donors, and fans do not understand the physical and mental toll these sports have on athletes. These players risk their lives every day they step on a field, court, or ice. A lot of this is overlooked due to the money and winning aspect that is a part of the game. In today's world, the amount of money we make dictates almost everything. People often get carried away by this and start to forget that these athletes are real people. Even though majority of people do think this way, some people and retired athletes have realized the cost these sports have on the players. In an article written by Trevor Dennie in The Seattle Times, he states that he had to stop watching football due to the high number of injuries the players were enduring. The article talks about Rob Kelly and former New Orleans Saints player who started to show signs of dementia in his early 40s, “But when all those big hits happened, and the fans cheered, did they cheer despite knowing a man just greatly increased his risk for dementia?” she asked. And I had to ask myself, could I continue to follow and enjoy this sport? And the answer was no.” (Dennie). Most people do not think this way when watching sports. But for Trevor Dennie, it was one of the only things he could think of. I think that if more people looked at the bigger picture and really cared about these athletes, then they would stop watching and fight for a change. Owners and fans can be a little more focused on the health of these athletes rather than the money. Mental health, along with physical health, should also be shown more focus. Due to the vast amount of pressure these athletes have, their mental health can deteriorate. Usually, when people talk about their mental health, they are viewed as weak, or they are playing the “poor me” card. In an article by Kensa K, Gunter from the Wall Street Journal titled Athletes and Mental Health: A Long-Overdue Conversation talks about how mental health issues have been overlooked by people for years. “These dynamics, coupled with the stigma related to mental health, resulted in any type of mental or emotional concern being labeled as weakness.” (Gunter) Because athletes were not able to come out and talk about these problems, they kept them buried in for years, only resulting in a breakdown or suicide. These problems have gotten better post-pandemic. Even though many athletes have come out and spoken about it, there is still a lot of change left so they can feel more comfortable and treated with respect.
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteDennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
“R/Todayilearned - Til That the Life-Expectancy of an NFL Football Player Is 55 Years.” Reddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/fkja1/til_that_the_lifeexpectancy_of_an_nfl_football/.
“What Is the NFL's National Anthem Protest Policy? Here Are the Rules for Kneeling in 2020.” Sporting News, https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/nfl-national-anthem-policy-2020-kneeling-protests/1o88fwivdxvqu1d8nnbiw5dw3z.
Matthew Miller
ReplyDeleteWhile it may seem like the physical and mental told that professional sports take on athletes are because the athletes are competing at the highest level, that is not necessarily the case. No matter the level you compete at, athletes are constantly faced with physical and mental tolls. Players get hurt all the time in high school and college sports. While the talent in a professional sports league is better, it does not take more of a physical and mental toll on an individual. Football is one of the most, if not the most, violent sports you can play. Many football players suffer from CTE due to repeatedly getting hit. CTE has “been associated with the dementia and cognitive difficulties experienced by many former players. It has been implicated in the suicide at age 43 of one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history, Junior Seau, and in the homicidal behavior of Aaron Hernandez… who was released by the Patriots in 2013 after being charged with first-degree murder.” (Dennie 2019). With NFL players constantly getting hit in the head, more measures must be taken to make the game safer. According to Stephen T. Casper, the myth is that CTE is a new thing because “Powerful sporting organizations over many decades found ways to feed it. Universities do not wish to admit that they have harmed —and are harming — their own students. (Casper 2022).
Professional athletes have stepped away from sports for periods of time because of their mental health. While some of it may be attributed to competing at the highest level, the reality is that people have other things going on in their lives that is not public knowledge, nor should it need to be. One of the greatest Olympians, Michael Phelps, has talked about his mental health struggles. After admitting himself to a rehabilitation center, “Phelps has become the spokesperson for the therapy app TalkSpace and has spoken the vital role that exercise plays in managing his mental health.” (McDowell 2021).
I believe that the physical and mental health and well-being of athletes should concern fans. While we as fans want to see our team win whenever they play, there has to be a point when fans should be concerned with more than just the game. Whenever someone gets hurt during a game, fans always clap and cheer when they get up because they are glad that the athlete is ok. However, sometimes fans want their players to win so bad, they do not care what it takes.
Owners and leagues are trying to make an effort to help and protect athletes, but they certainly are not putting a lot of effort into it. The only thing owners and sports leagues care about is making money, no matter how it happens. While they are not happy if a player gets hurt, they would rather it be a role player rather than a star player. If the star player is out, ratings will go down, which means that the owners and leagues are not making the money they want. Mental and physical health plays a role in all athletes. No matter the level of competition, people need to realize that professional athletes are just like any other human.
Works Cited
DeleteDennie, T. (2019, January 31). I'm done watching football: The toll on players is too great to ignore. The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/
McDowell, E. (2021, June 7). 12 athletes who've spoken about their mental health struggles. Insider. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.insider.com/athletes-mental-health-struggles-depression-2021-6
Thursday, S. T. C. |. (2022, February 10). How the Sports World Learned to ignore CTE. Global Sport Matters. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/10/punch-drunk-cte-sports-world-ignore-brain-trauma/
Joey O’Donoghue:
ReplyDeleteThe physical and mental toll that professional sports can take on an athlete is more than merely the cost of competing at the highest level. Many athletes, current and former, suffer from severe consequences solely as a result of competing in their respective sports. No one should have to anticipate some of the horrid effects of playing professional sports. According to an article from NBC Sports, “The tragic story of Aaron Hernandez came to a gruesome end early Wednesday morning, when he committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell” (NBCSports, 2017). This jarring sentence is the reality of how Aaron Hernandez, former NFL tight end, passed away in 2017. He was also found guilty of first-degree murder, and his homoicidal behavior was pinpointed to him having CTE. His brain was altered and damaged as a result of playing football in the NFL, leading to extreme behavior and eventually a suicide. If a story like this was on the job description of playing in the NFL, there certainly would not be any more athletes. So, this issue that we’ve seen of athletes developing CTE and a plethora of other severe mental and physical injuries, is a much larger issue than the cost of playing at the highest level in sports.
Joey O'Donoghue Continued:
DeleteFans should certainly be concerned with the tolls that are taken on professional athletes. Yet, many have not done a respectable job expressing these concerns. According to an article from “The Seattle Times” by Trevor Dennie, “And the response of football fans also seems inadequate… The weekend postings from September until the Super Bowl are still dominated by football. And many of the people posting, I strongly suspect, would never allow their own children to play football” (Dennie, 2019). That said, there is certainly not enough advocating being done by fans as they continue to post content supporting sports leagues. While a lack of education may contribute to this issue of a lack of awareness, a majority of people could be doing more. Those who understand the detrimental effects of playing sports don’t post about it, and those who don’t understand can’t because of the lack of education and awareness surrounding the topic. Yet, this certainly does not fall on the shoulders of the fans… league owners and officials have not brought attention to this issue nor have they taken adequate steps to prevent it from continuously occurring. According to an article from Global Sports Matters by Stephen Casper, “Colleges and universities educated young people’s brains. That was their mission. Schools did not, and certainly could not, become known for damaging brains” (Casper, 2022). It begins at the collegiate level, as both colleges and professional sports leagues attempt to sweep the physical and mental health issues of athletes under the rug in order to retain a good reputation and continue having sports as they are. With sports leagues being incredibly lucrative, they have no motivation to put an end to them or restructure them to make them safer. After all, safer sports would be “less entertaining”. Whether there’s validity to that sentiment or not, it is NECESSARY that sports leagues alter their respective sports to save athletes from the severe consequences they have suffered from playing in their sports. The extent to which they suffer should never be imposed upon anyone on earth, and the leagues should be doing more to both spread awareness to the issue and make the necessary changes to prevent them from occurring.
References
Aaron Hernandez commits suicide in prison. NBC Sports Boston. (2017, April 19). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/new-england-patriots/aaron-hernandez-commits-suicide-prison
Casper, S. T. (2022, February 10). How the Sports World Learned to ignore CTE. Global Sport Matters. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/10/punch-drunk-cte-sports-world-ignore-brain-trauma/
Dennie, T. (2019, February 1). I'm done watching football: The toll on players is too great to ignore. The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/
Ethan Carrion
ReplyDeleteThe tolls that sports can take on athletes has been something that we have been aware of as a general society for decades now. However, with the advances that society has made in science, there is more and more evidence of these tolls each day. There are often two sides to this debate; on one end, there are the people that believe we should ban certain sports or adjust rules to prevent all the injuries that happen. The other side says that injuries are simply part of the sport and play should go on as usual. I believe that, like many issues, the truth is somewhere in between. I believe that people in the sports industry should do everything in their power to make sports as safe as they can, but I think as a society we need to acknowledge that sports are inherently dangerous, and though we can minimize injuries, eliminating them is unrealistic.
As a fan, I come from a background in combat sports. In combat sports more than any other, it is impossible for athletes to finish the match unharmed. That being said, this does not mean that combat sports promotions such as the UFC should turn a blind eye to the issues. For example, Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC, decided to give all of their athletes medical coverage for injuries inside and outside of the cage, so long as they are related to their sport. This is according to a Bleacher Report article “UFC: Zuffa Offering Insurance to Fighters and How It Furthers the Sport” by Luan Madani. Things like health insurance along with innovations in the types of gloves and mouthpieces, has made even the most violent of sports that much safer.
To that same point, this is why I believe so strongly in the fact that the NFL should be doing more to protect their athletes. As per “From ‘Punch Drunk’ to CTE: How the Sports World Learned to Ignore Brain Trauma” we can see the that “…football helmets historically have been superbly designed as concussion delivery systems”. Now, I do not think it is fair to judge the people who designed these helmets, as they were designed in a time where the required information to make a better helmet was not available. I do fault the current NFL for not making the issue a priority. These organizations are making hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars, and yet the research and development of better gear seems to be getting about $0 in funding. And this happens in all organizations, the UFC has refused to incorporate a new glove that has proven to be more comfortable and safer for athletes because the company that makes the gloves refuses to sell the patent to the UFC. On many fronts, money seems to be the priority over athlete safety.
From here, I would like to bring to the attention that this should unquestionably be an issue for athletes and fans alike. Even from an emotionless perspective, we have seen, especially in recent years, that the mental health of athletes directly affects their ability to perform on the highest level. This Yahoo! Sports article about Naomi Osaka really highlights the impact that the nonphysical can have on an athlete. “…the match was briefly halted while the four-time Grand Slam champion asked the chair umpire if the fan could be ejected.” This came after a fan was repeatedly heckling Osaka during a match, and apparently had such an impact that Osaka began crying. Appealing to your human aspect, can we not all agree that you cannot play your best while you are crying? Athletes are people too, and I think it is time we treat them as such.
DeleteCitations:
Madani, L. (2017, September 15). UFC: Zuffa offering insurance to fighters and how it furthers the sport. Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/705950-ufc-zuffa-offering-insurance-to-fighters-and-how-it-furthers-the-sport#:~:text=The%20policy%20also%20covers%20dental,medical%20evacuation%20and%20physical%20therapy.
Thursday, S. T. C. |. (2022, February 10). How the Sports World Learned to ignore CTE. Global Sport Matters. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/10/punch-drunk-cte-sports-world-ignore-brain-trauma/
Baer, J. (2022, March 13). Naomi Osaka recalls Williams sisters after Heckler brings her to tears during Indian Wells Loss. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://sports.yahoo.com/naomi-osaka-serena-venus-williams-sisters-heckler-tears-indian-wells-loss-071716972.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9xdWlubmlwaWFjLmJsYWNrYm9hcmQuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMOtoenqR_AAQpD8nh3tFMb0BbIKhmy-eZUzlHgO9DtZ1GLBC_y6OQGewlCX4R79Z7EX9FYIEM9vcsOD0VOkaWE4MbsQ-JXzWnPWpn_vlQ_6axjosv0wuHOS_p1qGfJnjs72D41K6dqJ1SNgodYhSYeUEsoarOpDyrdWvpkCvSNI
Charlie Windels
ReplyDeletePart 1
Athletes and physical and mental damage have become a very controversial topic over the past few years as we have learned more about some of the effects. As someone who loves watching contact sports, I also realize that there is the potential someone can get hurt. Oftentimes this reality is covered up and downplayed by the sports themselves and how fun and entertaining they can be. An article I was reading titled I’m Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players is Too Great to Ignore by Trevor Dennie talks about some of the stories and traumatizing lives of some of these players years after their careers are over. It also goes on to mention how the NFL does nothing about it. The article quotes “Much of the focus has been on preventing or limiting concussions when the role of concussions in causing CTE is uncertain and there is evidence that repetitive trauma below the concussion threshold is the real culprit” (Dennie). This is clearly an issue around the league, but the problem mainly revolves around poor attempts at a solution. Injuries in any sport are bound to happen, however, I think the leagues could do a much better job at incorporating rules that help reduce the number of injuries and the extent of those injuries.
The next article I chose to look at was From ‘Punch Drunk’ to CTE: How the Sports World Learned to Ignore Brain Trauma by Stephen T. Casper. This article also talks about how contact sports and many leagues cover-up and ignore clinical research in an effort to keep people watching and being a fan of their sport. The article quotes “sports authorities ignored and even unlearned what clinicians already knew about CTE. Rather than accepting that knowledge, stigma, and a distaste for losers helped conceal the truth” (Casper). Despite these consequences, people still gravitate towards contact sports as forms of entertainment. Many argue that now because there is so much research being conducted that athletes already know what they are getting into. However, there is no excuse for not making player safety a number one priority. Players may be made aware of the risk, but that’s most likely the last thing they are thinking about after signing a multi-million dollar deal.
Charlie Windels
ReplyDeletePart 2
Overall I think contact sports will always be surrounded by controversy if there is not more of a focus put on player safety. Over the years we have seen slight improvements in players' equipment as well as rule changes. A recent article titled NFL partners with XFL for data sharing, player safety, and potential rule changes by Cassandra Negley was released talking about some of the progressive steps the NFL and XFL plan on making together. In the article, Negley mentions how both leagues plan to partner up and further address some player safety issues by implementing “forward-thinking physical and mental fitness programs for players, the study of playing surfaces and equipment, and the sharing of game trends and data” (Negley). These are steps in the right direction, but this is something that contact sports have been putting off for too long. Players’ health or lives should never be sacrificed for fan entertainment.
Works Cited
Dennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
Casper, Stephen T. “How the Sports World Learned to Ignore CTE.” Global Sport Matters, 10 Feb. 2022, https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/10/punch-drunk-cte-sports-world-ignore-brain-trauma/.
Negley, Cassandra. “NFL Partners with XFL for Data Sharing, Player Safety, Potential Rule Changes.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, 21 Feb. 2022, https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-partners-with-xfl-for-data-sharing-player-safety-potential-rule-changes-officials-coaching-163624258.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHhEyDc3D5HtpMOXdPF36akKdQKtW933hbK-TevQRScUCAQ4_9_hUWFGlOBknXhcVoRXcyN5xoC-zO3PSYZ7wYvKWAuGm9EM4Z7DTw5wkE7aD4Dme7rgCQJbR48M8S7iAchSGc7-epK1aMAPatUO74hSlAqsEtTyQovQhiFxvkRb.
Emily Sweeney
ReplyDeleteThe physical and mental tolls that professional sports take on athletes may not simply be the cost of competing at the highest level, but I do believe that athletes who make it to compete at the highest level aae aware of and should be prepared to take on these tolls. Injuries and other physical tolls are now considered a part of the game that most people, even fans, have knowledge of and lately mental health issues have become much more well known as well. Because of the widespread knowledge of these tolls, do I think it should be simply the cost of competing…no, but I do think that people competing know about it going in, making it more of a cost for competing. It is almost like by playing a sport, you are assuming the risk of injuries and mental health tolls. Gary Chester states “If you are playing high school, college or recreational sports and are injured as part of the game, you cannot sue the player who caused your injury. By playing the game, you are assuming the risk of certain injuries”(Chester). This assumption of injury, although dangerous and not something that should be taken, is a reason as to why injuries and mental health issues may be partly a cost of competing. They know the risks being taken before they enter the sports world, especially at the highest level. You have to think about it in the same way that you think about signing a waiver to go to a trampoline park…is it fair to assume the risks, no, but you sign the waiver and take on the risk of injury anyway and are knowledgeable of what could happen.
Although athletes assume the risks, fans should still be concerned about the physical and mental health and well-being of the athletes and many fans are concerned about this. Some extreme fans have begun to boycott sports because of how concerning the costs of the sport have become. Trevor Dennie states “I had to give up watching football. The growing awareness of players suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repetitive blows, makes the game hard to watch” (Dennie). Dennie isn't the only fan who has done this. But, on the other side of things, some fans simply ignore the dangers of the sports they watch because of the entertainment and competition they provide.
Moving away from fans, owners and league officials are trying to protect and help athletes, however because of their focus on the “bottom line”, there is not enough being done and it almost seems as though the issues are being ignored or glossed over by the higher-ups. A prime example of this is in women’s gymnastics. After the Nassar case alongside the athletes testimonies there has been some positive action, but they have still not done enough to make athletes more comfortable and safe in their own sport. Anna North states “Indeed, Biles, one of the most high-profile athletes at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, said earlier this year that if she had a daughter, she would not allow her to train with USA Gymnastics. ‘I don’t feel comfortable enough, because they haven’t taken accountability for their actions and what they’ve done,’ she said in a February interview. ‘And they haven’t ensured us that it’s never going to happen again.’
To truly ensure that, advocates and experts agree that gymnastics needs to shift from a win-at-all-costs mentality to one that prioritizes the needs of the young competitors who make the sport what it is” (North). And overall, this attempt to create change that is moving at a snail's pace, is pretty much the definition of how league officials and owners are showing that they are trying to protect athletes over the bottom line, but it just isn’t enough.
Works Cited
DeleteChester, Gary. “Do Athletes Assume the Risk of Certain Injuries?” Garychesterlaw.com, 25 Sept. 2017, https://www.garychesterlaw.com/do-athletes-assume-the-risk-of-certain-injuries/.
Dennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
North, Anna. “Gymnastics Still Hasn't Fully Reckoned with Its Abuse Problem.” Vox, Vox, 24 July 2021, https://www.vox.com/22585637/gymnastics-tokyo-olympics-2021-abuse-larry-nassar.
Blake Guerriero
ReplyDeleteI don’t think mental health issues are as simple to say it’s all because of competing at the highest level. There are many factors that go into one’s mental health, and sports could sometimes be an escape for athletes. However, it is no secret that sports can sometimes be one of those factors for one’s bad mental health but not the main reason. There are a lot of physical and mental tolls that high level sports take on athletes. Elite athletes are vulnerable to mental health disorders because of the various specific stressors they experience in their sporting environment. Key factors are the impact of injury, overtraining, social media scrutiny and ongoing competitive pressure to perform (Physiopedia). Mental health is overlooked in general but especially in athletes because they are rich and famous or have a high status that they shouldn’t or wouldn’t have mental health issues. The physical and mental health should certainly be of the fans concern, Rob Kelly who is a former New Orleans Saints player who started to show signs of dementia in his early 40s. When all those big hits happened, and the fans cheered, did they cheer despite knowing a man just greatly increased his risk for dementia?” was asked to him by Trevor Dennie and I had to ask myself, could I continue to follow and enjoy this sport? And the answer was no.” (Dennie 2019). This opened my eyes because I love football and hockey which are two of the most physically demanding sports and concussion filled, and when I see a big hit or fight, I love it and cheer but fail to think about what potential permanent damages that did to the person.
There is a reason why athletes in pro sports are coming out more than ever about mental health, there are things that need to be done but they are getting no help. There is a myth that CTE is a new thing because powerful sporting organizations over many decades found ways to feed it. Universities do not wish to admit that they have harmed —and are harming — their own students. (Casper 2022). It is so beyond messed up, and the CTE that athletes deal with can ultimately lead to suicide. No sport should lead a professional athlete to suicide because of the lack of attention and care to them. Sports leagues use these athletes for profit then don’t care about them anymore once they retire. Daniel Carcillo a former NHL player came out and talked about the effects of CTE on his brain and how the NHL has done nothing to help these former players that are dealing with substance abuse to treat their brain injuries. The leagues care about money and that is all.
DeleteWorks Cited
Dennie, T. (2019, January 31). I'm done watching football: The toll on players is too great to ignore. The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/
Thursday, S. T. C. |. (2022, February 10). How the Sports World Learned to ignore CTE. Global Sport Matters. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/10/punch-drunk-cte-sports-world-ignore-brain-trauma/
Mental health of elite athletes. Physiopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.physio-pedia.com/Mental_Health_of_Elite_Athletes
Jason Vent
ReplyDeleteBlog 10
Playing professional sports has potential to be one of the hardest jobs in the world even though athletes are compensated with millions of dollars per year in most circumstances. The physical toll is an obvious price to pay for these athletes as they lay their bodies on the line night after night to both compete in the sport they love, and impress fans while fighting for championships. The NFL and football as a sport have some of the highest physical tolls on their athletes as they are crashing into each other at full speed night after night. A study done at Boston University examined the brains of 111 former NFL players after their deaths and revealed “only one of the 111 didn’t have evidence of CTE. A degenerative disease linked to repetitive blows to the head” (Dennie). This and many other findings regarding the disease have led some fans to lose interest in watching the sport as they are basically watching people kill themselves for their own entertainment. The mental heath question regarding professional athletes has been raised as well of the last few years especially, as these people endure travel all year round as well as harsh criticism from people on the outside looking in including fans, media personalities, and potentially even people they thought were on their side. We often lose sight that these athletes are real people with real problems and while “they have extraordinary gifts and abilities, but that doesn’t diminish their humanity and desire to be seen in the fullness of who they are as people” (Gunter). These athletes have a job to entertain and win in their respective sports and have the skills to do so, but this causes many fans and people in general to overlook the mental struggles that they go through in dealing with the opinions of others who don’t know what’s going on in their heads. Lastly, we all know that sports are a massive business and that there are ginormous amounts of revenue generated by the industry every year, but with money clouding the view of owners and other paid officials it is easy for them to shift their focus from the well-being of their athletes. Owners pay their athletes well to go out and perform every night but often expect more of the athlete than they are capable of. They work to put together a team that will put on a show for crowds, and “as long as fans are entertained, nothing else matters” (Steele). Owners are so far from the athletes themselves in the chain of command that they will rarely be blamed if an unfortunate event were to happen to one of their athletes which allows them to focus on the money being earner by the team. I believe that owners make enough money and that they should use it more on their athletes who make it for them than on themselves to better their own images.
Dennie, Trevor. “I’m Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, 31 Jan. 2019, www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore.
Gunter, Kensa. “Athletes and Mental Health: A Long-Overdue Conversation.” WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/athletes-mental-health-11638301882.
Steele, David. “‘Are You Not Entertained?’- Athletes Pay The Price But The Public Doesn’t Care.” First And Pen, 24 June 2021, firstandpen.com/athletes-pay-physical-mental-health-price-but-the-public-doesnt-care.
I do not believe that physical and mental tolls that sports take on athletes are simply the cost of competing at the highest. A lot of people around the word use sports as escapism from their daily challenges whether it be mental or physical. No matter what level you play at, there are chances of getting hurt and chances of dealing with the mental side of things, especially in college where athletes are also taking classes on top of playing a sport. With that being said, physical and mental tolls may play a part in competing at the highest level but I do not think it is the direct cause.
ReplyDeleteWhile the fans are the back bone of every team who seem to deeply care about their team and it’s players, the physical and mental health and wellbeing of these athletes does not seem to concern fans, although it should. We see this predominately when talking about hockey and football as those two sports are the roughest sports in regards to trauma and injuries, specifically focusing on CTE. An article from The Seattle Times, I’m done watching football: The toll on players is too great to ignore by Trevor Dennie, talks about the effects of CTE in football players by the early ages of 40 and while there is much evidence, the NFL’s efforts in response does not seem to be sufficient enough. While the NFL’s efforts are not sufficient enough neither are the fans. According to Trevor Dennie, after Emily Kelly, the wife of former New Orleans Saints safety Rob Kelly, wrote an OP-Ed in the New York Times about her husband’s progressive dementia he had been experiencing in his early 40’s, this caused Dennie to stop watching football in all his years of ritually watching it. In her Op-Ed Kelly asked, “But when all those big hits happened and the fans cheered, did they cheer despite knowing a man just greatly increased his risk for dementia?” Dennie asked himself whether he could continue watching after reading the statement and the answer was no (Dennie). That right there is the problem with fans, they don’t even realize that would be happening until somebody who was directly affected by it said something. Dennie concluded the article talking about how fans responses to CTE are also not sufficient even when his own friends are physicians and connected to medicine there has not been a decrease in their devotion. Social media postings are still dominated by football posted by the same people who probably wouldn’t let their kids play football.
Not only are fans not concerned, owners and league officials do not seem to be either whereas money seems to be the primary concern, not protecting and helping athletes. One sport this has become evident throughout in the past few years is gymnastics, namely USA gymnastics, after the rash of Larry Nassar. According to the article Gymnastics still hasn’t fully reckoned with it’s abuse problem by Anna North, the article summarizes how the sport of gymnastics still hasn’t fully been able to recover since the multiple abuses of Nassar and how athletes have been afraid to speak up because the culture centered around gymnastics has long supported and perpetuated abuse making it seem normal to athletes. According to North, “Nassar is one person and would not have been able to abuse young people for so long if sports authorities like USA Gymnastics had taken their duty to protect athletes more seriously. Before allegations of Nassar were public, USA Gymnastics was accused of mishandling and diminishing reports of abuse with warnings of a Georgia coach who went on to abuse gymnasts for seven years” (North). Simone Biles also spoke on behalf of USA Gymnastics saying “you literally had one job and you couldn’t protect us” (North, Biles). It is quite sad that myself as a former gymnastics athlete is actually happy I quit when I did.
ReplyDeleteAnother article I found by USA Today titled Survey: NFL dish on league’s biggest issues, owner respect and Roger Goodell by Jarrett Bell and Erik Brady summarizes how 108 players felt about things like health and safety, being respected and the commissioner. When asked what the league’s biggest issue was, a whopping 39% said health and safety that included CTE. According to Bell and Brady, one player who did not want to be identified said the league says it’s all about player safety but desn’tt act that way: How can the league be about player safety when they have us playing on Sunday and then (again on) Thursday Night games?... That’s not player safety” (Bell, Brady).
As we have talked about in previous classes with making money being one of the main focuses in the sports world, I believe that still reigns true to this day and if sports leagues don’t want to be seen that way, they have a long road to go to prove that, especially to its athletes whom work for them.
Dennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
North, Anna. “Gymnastics Still Hasn't Fully Reckoned with Its Abuse Problem.” Vox, Vox, 24 July 2021, https://www.vox.com/22585637/gymnastics-tokyo-olympics-2021-abuse-larry-nassar.
Bell, Jarrett, and Erik Brady. “Survey: NFL Players Dish on League's Biggest Issues, Owner Respect and Roger Goodell.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 28 Jan. 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2018/01/28/survey-nfl-players-dish-leagues-biggest-issues-owner-respect-and-roger-goodell/1073221001/.
Mikala Morris
ReplyDeleteThis topic is particularly important to me for various reasons. For starters, I am a division one athlete who is a part of a winning program so I am aware of the stressors and factors that can come along that do have an influence on one’s mental and physical states. Another reason is that I am wanting to become a sports psychologist and mainly want to focus in the area that deals with mental health regarding athletes such as anxiety, stress, depression, and eating disorders and how these factors influence athletic performance and vice versa. So yes I do believe that professional and even collegiate athletics do take a toll mentally and physical on a person who is competing at a high level. Recently there has been cases of student athletes taking their own lives because of how much they are impacted with stressors that occur within their daily lives such as athletic or personal affairs. Just this past week a volleyball player from the University of Wisconsin took her own life and a month before that a standout women’s soccer player did the same. Professional Athletes such as Simone Biles opted out of the Olympics this past summer due to her mental health and how it was making her hard for her to compete. However, though stories such as these are saddening to hear it is allowing individuals to spread awareness about mental health and elite athletics. Kensa Gunter mentions this by stating, “athletes from various sports have courageously shared their personal experiences regarding mental health, and a consistent theme has been the demand that we see them as people first, no longer reducing their identity to one that lives exclusively in their performances or sport. Yes, they have extraordinary gifts and abilities, but that doesn’t diminish their humanity and desire to be seen in the fullness of who they are as people” (2022). I think that one problem within athletics is that the better the athlete is the less they are looked at as a human being. I don’t think that the physical and mental well-being is necessarily something that should be a concern for fan but rather a concern for the athlete, coach, organization, sports psychologist, and other professionals. However, I do believe that fans need to become more understanding that though an athlete is a source of entertainment for them, and they are allowed to cheer for against them, what they say does matter and could be harmful to that athlete. Jack Baer discusses the importance of words by mentioning how a heckler at the tournament where Naomi Osaka was competing yelled that she sucked and was then seen crying in between games (Baer, 2022).
Mikala Morris cont
ReplyDeleteOsaka has also been another athlete who has opted out of competing due to her declining mental health. Though slander as ‘you suck’ may not phase may individuals of may not see extreme, for those who are already struggling with their mental health it could be a lot for them to take. Society deems athletes as individuals who are supposed to be not only physically strong but mentally as well, though the strongest state is still human and can be affected. Organizations should help to protect their athletes however majority of organizations do not. A scandal that supports this was the USA gymnastics and Larry Nasser case. According to the Wall street Journal Executive director new of simone biles with Nasser and of the investigation taken by the FBI but did not tell Simone Biles. Radnosfky stated (2019), “An examination of USA Gymnastics’ response to the allegations shows the federation ignored the possibility that its brightest star had been sexually abused while in its care, walled her off from investigations, and she didn’t know it for years”. This is a prime example of an organization caring more about it reputations and winning over its athletes safety and mental well-being.
Baer, J. (2022, March 13). Naomi Osaka recalls Williams sisters after Heckler brings her to tears during Indian Wells Loss. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://sports.yahoo.com/naomi-osaka-serena-venus-williams-sisters-heckler-tears-indian-wells-loss-071716972.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9xdWlubmlwaWFjLmJsYWNrYm9hcmQuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMOtoenqR_AAQpD8nh3tFMb0BbIKhmy-eZUzlHgO9DtZ1GLBC_y6OQGewlCX4R79Z7EX9FYIEM9vcsOD0VOkaWE4MbsQ-JXzWnPWpn_vlQ_6axjosv0wuHOS_p1qGfJnjs72D41K6dqJ1SNgodYhSYeUEsoarOpDyrdWvpkCvSNI
Gunter, Kensa. “Athletes and Mental Health: A Long-Overdue Conversation.” WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/athletes-mental-health-11638301882.
Radnofsky, L. (2019). USA Gymnastisc was Investigating Larry Nasser. Nobody Told Simone Biles. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved Apr 26 2022 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/usa-gymnastics-was-investigating-larry-nassar-nobody-told-simone-biles-11574358875
One of the most infuriating things people use in defense of injuries (mostly concussions) is that they are part of the game, there is no way to prevent injuries or any way to slow them down unless you want to dumb the game down. This opinion is only infuriating because it is true. If we want to eliminate health concerns, you would have to limit the sport itself which would therefore kill athletics. Without contact and putting skill aside there is no separator between intramurals and professional sports and that is sad. As someone who played contact sports, I never really thought of what contact was doing to my body until the injuries started to pile up once I reached the age of 18. I was never good enough to be able to catch the eyes of a college scout, but I certainly resented the sport that I once loved because I took all those hits for what?
ReplyDeleteAnother issue that I am happy that has gained more acceptance not only in the sports world, but the world in general is the growing acceptance of pro-mental health awareness dialogue. Athletes are expected to keep their opinions to themselves historically, but that notion has certainly changed over the last decade or so. I think two prime examples of athletes who are very in touch with their emotions and don’t care who knows it are Kyrie Irving and Naomi Osaka. While I am a Celtics fan and find it hard to support Kyrie, I have been very fond of his openness with quite literally anyone who has ears. His words are bold and can be controversial like his anti-vax stance or his stance on the earth being flat, but he is very willing to discuss the inner nature of his mind, which is something that should be applauded instead of criticized. Naomi Osaka has also been very vocal since she came on to the professional scene only a few years ago and has truly paved the way for the conversations surrounding the merge between being an athlete and suffering with mental health. The most recent event surrounding Osaka and her mental health came after she was brought to tears during a match due to a heckler claiming that she “sucks” (Baer). While the comments were far from obscene, in that moment Osaka felt hurt and that is all that matters. The most important part of that interaction to me was that fans in attendance began to boo the heckler in return and in defense of Naomi Osaka, who certainly does not suck at tennis.
Just like physical injuries, mental health is something that takes intentional working out. Going to sleep and waking up will not ease the pain of mental health struggles for any person and I think that is why the dialogue has gone so well. You do not have to be an NFL player to struggle with mental illness, anyone in the world can have these issues. In football specifically, head injuries are trending towards permanent mental damage and that has been an ongoing story that has no end in sight. While the league has done better in changing kickoff rules to lower the risk of injury, concussions are still very common and go unnoticed compared to other injuries. I think to the Seattle Times article that pointed out visual injuries being hard to stomach and therefore a reason to stop watching (Dennie) but even if we were to never see a player go down with an injury in a game, there would still be a handful struggling with brain injuries or mental health, which is all the difference.
When it comes down to money in sports, all are in favor. With Patrick Mahomes signing a mega-contract worth a $500 million that will keep paying him into his thirties until he most likely signs another contract until he is around 40 years old, you always look to life after football is over. Many players have gone bankrupt during or shortly after their playing careers are over and I wholeheartedly believe that is because some of them deep down knew that their lives are scientifically expected to be shorter than someone who never played the sport in their lives (Raley).
CONTINUED
DeleteWhat we “normal” people would consider about time for a midlife crisis, is the average life expectancy for a football player.
What is money worth if you are not alive to have it? Mental health and non-visible injuries are just as important as broken bones and torn ligaments. The toll of injuries is something an athlete almost unknowingly signs up for, but should not be brushed off because of how much money they make.
Baer, Jack. “Naomi Osaka Recalls Williams Sisters after Heckler Brings Her to Tears during Indian Wells Loss.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, https://sports.yahoo.com/naomi-osaka-serena-venus-williams-sisters-heckler-tears-indian-wells-loss-071716972.html.
Dennie, Trevor. “I'm Done Watching Football: The Toll on Players Is Too Great to Ignore.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-done-watching-football-the-toll-on-players-is-too-great-to-ignore/.
Raley, Dan. “New NFL Goal: A Longer Life.” Seattlepi.com, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 23 Mar. 2011, https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/New-NFL-goal-A-longer-life-1272886.php.