tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/american-football-4974/articlesAmerican football – The Conversation2024-02-09T00:36:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2228532024-02-09T00:36:19Z2024-02-09T00:36:19ZHigher, faster: what influences the aerodynamics of a football?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573580/original/file-20240203-27-i63qjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In addition to a player's ability to throw it, a number of factors will influence a ball's flight, including its size, inflation pressure and texture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/super-bowl-lvii-averages-audience-of-113-million-viewers-fox-sports">113 million viewers in the United States</a> and 40 million more around the world, the Super Bowl is the most popular sports event in North America. This year’s event on Sunday – with the added attraction of a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/sports/2024/02/06/super-bowl-players-vegas-taylor-swift-wire-nc-vpx.cnn">romance in the spotlight</a> – promises to attract as many fans.</p>
<p>In Canada, the most recent Grey Cup final, last November, reached a <a href="https://twitter.com/RDS_RP/status/1726722586816430330">record audience</a> of 3.7 million viewers who tuned in to watch the Montréal Alouettes’ victory.</p>
<p>The two leagues definitely don’t enjoy the same popularity – far from it. Nor do they have the same rules. But there is another difference: although similar in appearance, the famous oval balls used in football have specific characteristics on both sides of the border that can affect their aerodynamics, i.e. the forces exerted by the air on the ball during its flight. The design and characteristics of the ball have an impact on the magnitude of these forces.</p>
<p>It might be news to football players, but their talent for throwing balls long distances is not the only thing that matters. A number of factors affect the ball’s aerodynamics, including the way it is made and its inflation pressure.</p>
<p>As a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Québec’s École de technologie supérieure, I am interested in experimental fluid dynamics. I study the physics of fluid flows and certain applications (e.g. propulsion of aquatic vehicles, aerodynamic applications). Fluid dynamics is a vast field and affects many aspects of our lives, such as the flow of blood in the heart, the flight of aircraft, the beautiful swirling patterns in Jupiter’s atmosphere or the perfect football pass for a touchdown.</p>
<h2>Ball size affects flight stability</h2>
<p>The NFL and CFL have the same <a href="https://cfldb.ca/faq/equipment/#:%7E:text=The%20CFL%20football%20dimensions%20are,to%2028%201%2F2%20inches">rules</a> regarding the dimensions of their balls. They must be between 11" and 11.25" long. They must also be inflated to between 12.5 psi and 13.5 psi, giving them a maximum circumference of between 28" and 28.5" around the length and between 21" and 21.25" around the width.</p>
<p>These dimensions are important. The football acts like a gyroscope. The higher the speed of rotation, the more stable the ball will be during its flight. Different dimensions can therefore have specific effects on the stability of the ball’s flight.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An American football player catches a ball in mid-flight on a field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573219/original/file-20240203-25-y5at9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The size of the football matters. The ball acts like a gyroscope. The higher the speed of rotation, the more stable the ball will be during its flight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A larger circumference suggests that more of the ball’s mass is located away from its centre line. This means that it will have a higher moment of inertia (resistance to rotation) and, therefore, that the same force applied to make it rotate will result in a lower speed of rotation.</p>
<h2>Two stripes and laces make a difference</h2>
<p>While there are two white stripes on the Canadian ball, as well as laces, American rules don’t mention these.</p>
<p>The differences between the Canadian and American balls can have an effect on their drag. A drag force is the resistance to a moving object in a fluid. In this case, it is mainly the resistance caused by the air (a fluid), which is called form or pressure drag.</p>
<p>Let’s take the example of a golf ball. Its dimples encourage turbulence, which allows the airflow to stick to the ball and reduce its total drag. Less drag means the ball can fly further with the same force applied.</p>
<p>The laces on a football and any other significant modification to its surface (a logo, a valve), in combination with the rotation of the ball, will to some extent have the same effect. It would be interesting to study how <a href="https://www.engineering.com/story/the-aerodynamics-of-a-football">these differences</a> between NFL and CFL footballs affect their respective drag.</p>
<h2>NFL or CFL, which ball is better?</h2>
<p>To do this, we could use a wind tunnel (an experimental installation in the form of a tunnel with a controlled airflow) to simulate the movement of air (fluid flow) around the two balls that will be fixed in space, put into rotation and subject to an airflow speed that would imitate the balls’ speed of flight.</p>
<p>An aerodynamic force balance could be used to measure the differences in drag between the two balls subjected to the same conditions. Ideally, to eliminate other factors of variability, the two balls would have the same dimensions.</p>
<p>The passage of air around the ball could be visualized using smoke or particle image/tracking velocimetry. The latter is a method in which the air is seeded with particles (helium-filled soap bubbles or oil droplets). The movement of these particles could then be captured using a camera to quantify the airspeed at all points around the ball. This would allow regions of flow separation and recirculation to be seen, and provide an idea of the distribution of aerodynamic forces around the ball.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A gloved hand holds a football on a grassy surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573221/original/file-20240203-21-3s2qf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ball about to be kicked. A number of factors will influence the aerodynamics of the ball.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Different rotation speeds and flight speeds could be examined, as there is always the possibility of developing flow instabilities, which would lead to a change in its behaviour around the ball. </p>
<p>This would help determine whether the NFL or CFL ball is better.</p>
<h2>Ball texture influences drag</h2>
<p>There is another type of drag, this one attributable to the friction between the air and the surface of the ball. This is called friction drag.</p>
<p>It depends mainly on the texture of the ball and its speed. The rougher the texture of the ball, the greater the friction drag for the same speed. Similarly, a faster ball speed will have a higher friction drag.</p>
<p>By reducing the form drag, we further reduce the total drag of the ball, which can therefore go further and faster on the football field.</p>
<h2>And then there’s the weather!</h2>
<p>The weather also plays a role in the aerodynamics of the football.</p>
<p>Cold or hot temperatures can affect the size of the ball by reducing or increasing the air pressure inside it.</p>
<p>Similarly, temperature can have some effect on the material properties of the ball, with colder temperatures making it stiffer and warmer temperatures making it softer.</p>
<p>Temperature and humidity also play a role in the physical properties of air, altering its density and viscosity.</p>
<p>Rain will also directly affect drag as, in a sense, it affects the texture of the ball’s surface as felt by the air.</p>
<p>But that won’t be an issue in Las Vegas on Feb. 11 for the Super Bowl game, since Allegiant Stadium is covered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222853/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giuseppe Di Labbio ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>A football’s dimensions, pressure and texture affect its aerodynamics, i.e. the forces exerted by the air on the ball as it flies.Giuseppe Di Labbio, Professeur adjoint, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210572024-01-18T13:27:31Z2024-01-18T13:27:31ZBill Belichick’s hidden playbook – the 19th century origins of ‘The Patriot Way’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569590/original/file-20240116-15-uaomih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C224%2C1429%2C936&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bill Belichick during his last game as head coach of the New England Patriots.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-england-patriots-head-coach-bill-belichick-looks-on-in-news-photo/1915226241?adppopup=true">Winslow Townson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To the New England Patriots fans enrolled in my <a href="https://www.coursicle.com/qu/courses/SPS/362/">Story of Football</a> class at <a href="https://www.qu.edu/">Quinnipiac University</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Education_of_a_Coach.html?id=7a92PwAACAAJ">Bill Belichick</a> is the only Patriots coach they’ve ever known.</p>
<p>The 71-year-old coach and team owner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kraft">Robert Kraft</a> amicably parted ways after 24 years on Jan. 11, 2024, following the end of a dreary season. </p>
<p>Despite my students’ familiarity with the image of Belichick stalking the sidelines, the coach’s world – at least, as far as technology goes – has had little, if anything, in common with theirs. </p>
<p>When he began coaching the Patriots in 2000, and for years afterward, Belichick seemed to ignore the digital revolution erupting around him. He’d joke about a reporter being on “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7U2ew9nMxo">Snapface</a>,” or he’d call Facebook “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GPemM8FAfo.">Your Face</a>.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Education_of_a_Coach.html?id=7a92PwAACAAJ">Belichick’s moments of social media virality</a> have been rare – and usually limited to <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/18/bill-belichick-patriots-coach-hates-tablets/?sr_source=Twitter">his abuse</a> <a href="https://www.nfl.com/videos/bill-belichick-throws-tablet-on-sideline-after-chiefs-late-td-401238">of the blue Microsoft Surface tablets</a> NFL coaches and players use on the sidelines to study instant replays. </p>
<p>Most of the time, though, he exudes stoicism – some might say arrogance – offering little words of value to the fans and the media.</p>
<p>Yet his legendary terseness and his rejection of the latest technology belie a wealth of knowledge about the game and its history. If there ever were a living historian-coach, it was Belichick.</p>
<h2>Historian at the lectern</h2>
<p>Most reporters covering the Patriots learned the drill during Belichick’s news conferences: ask him about next week’s starters, and you’d get a vague retort, perhaps followed by a snort or a sneer.</p>
<p>But prompt him on football history, and he’d respond like a scholar. </p>
<p>During a 2021 new conference, he delivered a 1,500-word soliloquy on the history of the <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bill-belichick-offers-1500-word-discourse-on-long-snappers-off-the-top-of-his-head">long snapper</a>, which is perhaps the most specialized, obscure position on a football team – a player tasked with snapping the football during punts and field goal attempts. Before a 2020 game against the Denver Broncos, <a href="https://nesn.com/2023/12/watch-bill-belichick-give-history-lesson-on-3-4-defense-1978-broncos/">Belichick analyzed the evolution</a> of a defensive formation consisting of three linemen and four linebackers, known as the “<a href="https://footballtoolbox.net/3-4-defense">3-4 defense</a>,” which he learned in 1978 during his one year as an assistant to Broncos defensive coordinator <a href="https://denvergazette.com/sports/denver-broncos/legendary-broncos-defensive-coordinator-joe-collier-looks-back-at-an-incredible-career/article_8e291b8c-1393-11ee-bed4-df445c0a2fd6.html">Joe Collier</a>.</p>
<p>Sports Illustrated senior writer Greg Bishop <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2024/01/11/bill-belichick-unparalleled-legacy-new-england">described Belichick as</a> “part librarian in addition to all coach,” and the more than <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/28/bill-belichick-library-steve-belichick-naval-academy">400 football books</a> that the coach donated to the Naval Academy Athletic Association in 2006 reflect his lifelong love of the game’s history. </p>
<p>That passion was spurred on by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/21/sports/football/steve-belichick-coach-who-wrote-the-book-on-scouting-dies.html">his father, Steve</a>, who started collecting the works after World War II. The elder Belichick even published a book himself in 1962: “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9pkjHN2C4tUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=steve+belichick&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7i5adz-KDAxV7rYkEHbppBSkQ6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=steve%20belichick&f=false">Football Scouting Methods</a>,” a respected primer on how to properly assess opponents by observing their games and detecting tendencies and patterns of play.</p>
<h2>The father of football informs ‘The Patriot Way’</h2>
<p>The oldest book in the donated collection is “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-vS_ZugKGTcC&pg=PP9#v=onepage&q&f=false">American Football</a>,” written in 1891 by Yale football coach Walter Camp, who’s credited with inventing rules, such as <a href="https://operations.nfl.com/learn-the-game/nfl-basics/terms-glossary/glossary-terms-list/line-of-scrimmage/">the line of scrimmage</a>, which made the game distinct from rugby. </p>
<p>In the book, Camp also detailed the physical requirements and roles of each position, such as guard and quarterback, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-vS_ZugKGTcC&vq=specator&pg=PA165#v=snippet&q=specator&f=false">and included a chapter</a> for spectators to teach the game to the growing number of fans. </p>
<p>In 1896, Camp updated the book, this time with a co-writer in Harvard coach Lorin Deland. They simplified the title to “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=z4soAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false">Football</a>.”</p>
<p>One chapter, titled “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=z4soAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA180#v=onepage&q=don&f=false">Football Don'ts</a>,” lists 40 tips to help coaches and players win. Belichick never used the expression “<a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/kevin-faulk-patriots-way">The Patriot Way</a>,” the phrase the New England sports media used to describe the Patriots’ team-first culture and disciplined approach under Belichick. But a sampling of the “Football Don'ts” reveals that The Patriot Way has 19th century origins. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of mustached man wearing heavy winter coat and a fedora." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569581/original/file-20240116-25-yz6xu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Walter Camp is known as the ‘Father of American Football.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/walter-camp-father-of-american-football-1925-news-photo/106500770?adppopup=true">Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Don’t answer back to a coach upon the field, even if you know him to be wrong. Do exactly what he tells you to do, so far as you are able, and remember that strict obedience is the first requirement of a player.”</p>
<p>In short, “<a href="https://nesn.com/2017/01/bill-belichicks-do-your-job-mantra-goes-way-back-as-this-2000-interview-shows/">Do Your Job</a>” – the mantra that Belichick drilled into his players to remind them that he’s given them each a specific task to accomplish. Everything else is noise. </p>
<p>“Don’t fail to play a fast game. Line up instantly after each down. Your game is twice as effective if there are no delays.”</p>
<p>In 2012, the Patriots ran <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2012.htm#all_team_stats">1,191 plays</a>, the second-most ever at the time. </p>
<p>“Don’t be satisfied with a superficial knowledge of the rules. Master every detail.”</p>
<p>“Players say Belichick is constantly plucking obscure penalty situations from across the league and showing his players tape every week,” wrote <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/2/1/16958718/super-bowl-new-england-patriots-bill-belichick-rules-penalties-study">The Ringer’s Kevin Clark in February 2018</a>.</p>
<p>“Don’t be an automaton. Thoroughly master each principle, and then vary your play as emergencies arise.”</p>
<p>In 2019, in the two weeks before Super Bowl LIII against the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams, Belichick <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25920798/how-patriots-defense-stymied-sean-mcvay-super-bowl-liii">overhauled the Patriots’ defensive line formation and pass coverage</a>. </p>
<p>The Patriots <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401038115/patriots-rams">held the Rams to three points</a> en route to Belichick’s sixth Super Bowl title as a head coach.</p>
<h2>On to the next challenge</h2>
<p>Belichick routinely credits other coaches for his success: <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/belichick-credits-parcells-after-using-the-wind-to-patriots-advantage">Bill Parcells</a>, whom he worked under for the New York Giants and Patriots, and Paul Brown, the co-founder and first coach of the Cleveland Browns, a franchise that still bears his name.</p>
<p>Brown was the first coach to use a playbook and the first to suggest that coaches and players communicate via headsets.</p>
<p>“It was very insightful to see how far ahead of his time he was. What a great, great football mind,” <a href="https://www.bengals.com/news/six-degrees-for-bengals-pats-17880223">Belichick said in a 2016 interview</a>.</p>
<p>“Everything I do today, Paul Brown did. It all started with Paul Brown,” <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bill-belichick-proclaims-paul-brown-the-greatest-coach-in-pro-football-history">Belichick added in 2019</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of man wearing fedora and long overcoat patrolling the football field with his hands in his jacket pockets." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569582/original/file-20240116-21-s6m6tc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Cleveland Browns were named after Paul Brown, their co-founder and first coach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-shows-paul-brown-head-coach-of-the-cleveland-browns-news-photo/514968198?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even the deflection and praise seem to be an intentional part of Belichick’s approach to the game.</p>
<p>In “Football,” Camp also discussed coaching, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=z4soAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA194#v=onepage&q=thoughtful&f=false">delivering a lesson</a> about the importance of coaches’ keeping a low profile.</p>
<p>He wrote: “The thoughtful man who finds himself appointed to such a position will make his influence felt in all important matters, but he will himself be rarely. His power is well-nigh paramount, but the public display of his exercise of that power might easily become intolerable.”</p>
<p>Belichick has certainly heeded Camp’s advice in his refusal to make himself the story. After losses, there are no excuses, no second guesses, no calling out individual players. Instead, he’ll often reiterate that he has to do a better job – that everyone has to do a better job.</p>
<p>After a brutal <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/400554325/patriots-chiefs">41-14 loss</a> to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014, Belichick infamously responded to a barrage of questions from reporters with the same phrase, repeated ad nauseam: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GaUO67FYok">We’re on to Cincinnati</a>,” the team’s next opponent. <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2024/01/11/bill-belichick-on-to-cincinnati-interview/72191389007/">One reporter</a> noted that Belichick used the word “Cincinnati” 15 times.</p>
<p>Now, Belichick will stalk the sidelines <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/style/bill-belichick-hoodie-patriots.html">in his trademark hoodie</a> somewhere else.</p>
<p>If not to Cincinnati, Belichick will almost certainly coach again. He has interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons. Other teams are also rumored to be in the mix. </p>
<p>Maybe the interviewers should add a question about long snappers. That way, they can see how they’ll be getting more than just a coach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rich Hanley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The coach’s legendary terseness and his rejection of technological trends belie a wealth of knowledge about the game and its history.Rich Hanley, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Quinnipiac UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137192023-09-22T12:30:44Z2023-09-22T12:30:44ZAaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles tear resurfaces questions about player safety on artificial turf<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549613/original/file-20230921-23-1tbdis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C12%2C2780%2C1882&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon after being sacked by Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/aaron-rodgers-of-the-new-york-jets-is-sacked-during-the-news-photo/1689810103?adppopup=true">Jim McIsaac/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the first quarter of his first game as a New York Jet, quarterback Aaron Rodgers dropped back to pass. Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd blew past the offensive line and wrapped up Rodgers, dragging him awkwardly to the ground. Rodgers got up, before falling back to the turf, grimacing in pain. </p>
<p>Just like that, the Jets lost their biggest offseason acquisition <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/09/18/aaron-rodgers-complete-achilles-tear-explained/70853550007/">to a season-ending Achilles tendon tear</a>.</p>
<p>Blame quickly circulated. To some football players, it wasn’t Rodgers’ age – the quarterback will turn 40 in December 2023 – nor was it simple bad luck that caused the injury.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/13/sport/aaron-rodgers-injury-artificial-turf-nfl-spt-intl/index.html">It was the artificial turf</a> at MetLife Stadium, where the Jets and New York Giants play their home games.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1701402938642415783"}"></div></p>
<p>Two days after the injury, the NFL Players Association <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/09/13/nfl-players-union-renews-call-for-grass-fields-after-aaron-rodgers-injury/">called on the league to convert all playing fields to natural grass</a>. It joined <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2014/05/21/nfl-history-95-objects-artificial-turf">a chorus of players and coaches</a> across sports who, for decades, have blamed artificial turf for injuries ranging from sprains and strains to tendon ruptures.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_AxjgecAAAAJ&hl=en">As a physical therapist, researcher</a> and director of performance and sports science, I help elite athletes minimize injury risk and maximize performance. It’s always difficult to tell whether an injury could have been prevented had someone not been playing on a certain surface - particularly because muscle and tendon strength, pliability and stiffness usually play a much more important role.</p>
<p>However, some studies have linked playing on artificial turf to injury risk, though the risk tends to be limited to a few body parts.</p>
<h2>The grass is always greener?</h2>
<p>In 1966, Houston’s Astrodome became the first major sports venue <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1941738118793378">to install synthetic turf</a>. It was originally called “<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-astroturf-1991235">ChemGrass</a>,” though Monsanto, the company that invented it, later rebranded its product as “AstroTurf” due to its association with the Astrodome.</p>
<p>Not everyone was jazzed about the cutting-edge carpet.</p>
<p>“Imagine that – a [US]$45 million ballpark and a 10-cent infield,” <a href="https://sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/turf-wars/">groused Chicago Cubs manager Leo Durocher</a>. Players said the surface didn’t have the same give as grass – making <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/14/archives/astro-turf-is-looming-as-reds-weapon-astro-turf-looming-as-red.html">diving for balls a risky endeavor</a> – and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-17-sp-269-story.html">claimed their knees deteriorated</a> from the daily grind of playing on the harder surface. </p>
<p>The technology has come a long way since then. Today’s synthetic turf systems have shock-absorbing technology and glasslike fibers that essentially mimic natural grass. <a href="https://keystonesportsconstruction.com/10-ways-synthetic-turf-fields-beat-the-competition-grass-fields/">Its proponents argue</a> that they’re low-maintenance, cost effective and more durable. </p>
<p>Some athletes disagree. Not only do they point out that artificial turf is still a lot different to play on than grass, but they also question the league’s commitment to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nfl-players-rip-league-artificial-turf-aaron-rodgers-season-ending-injury-profit-over-people">safety over saving money</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Panoramic view of domed baseball stadium with bright green artificial grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549624/original/file-20230921-22-kgyc7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">When Houston’s Astrodome was built, it was dubbed the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/general-view-of-the-astrodome-during-a-houston-astros-game-news-photo/50830647?adppopup=true">Bill Baptist/MLB via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>So what does the evidence show?</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546519833925">There have been studies</a> looking at the rate of injury on different playing surfaces. A handful have found that the overall incidence of football injuries is significantly higher on artificial playing surfaces. </p>
<p>However, orthopedic resident Heath Gould – a former college football player – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2473011421S00217">led a review of existing studies</a> and found that most studies identified similar rates of injury on natural grass compared with artificial turf. There have even been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20075177/">a few studies</a> that reported a higher overall injury rate on natural grass. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the incidence seemed to be related to specific body parts. There was a higher rate of foot and ankle injuries on artificial turf – both older versions and newer ones – compared with natural grass. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101956">And a recent meta-analysis</a> observed that the overall incidence of injuries in professional soccer is actually lower on artificial turf than on grass. It concludes that the risk of injury can’t be used as an argument against artificial turf when considering the optimal playing surface for soccer. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that while playing surface is important to take into account when assessing injury risk, other factors must be considered.</p>
<h2>The human factor</h2>
<p>The human body is a kinetic chain that consists of body segments linked together by joints. Those joints need to work together to create and dissipate forces needed for us to move and perform athletic motions. </p>
<p>Any chain, however, is only as strong as its weakest link. The muscles, ligaments and tendons in our bodies play an important role in supporting those links. </p>
<p>For athletes, the stakes are even higher because of the incredible power and momentum they are able to generate and absorb. <a href="https://theconversation.com/stiff-muscles-are-a-counterintuitive-superpower-of-nba-athletes-116252">They rely on muscle, tendon and ligament stiffness</a> in order to take advantage of the elastic energy they create. Like a spring or rubber band, when a muscle is stretched, its stiffness helps create elastic energy that can then be used with a muscle contraction to help athletes run, jump, accelerate or decelerate. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2018.7192">Research I conducted with colleagues</a> found that injuries can occur when there is too much stiffness or compliance in these tissues. In fact, we’ve found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/jab.2022-0088">Achilles tendon ruptures</a> in professional basketball players tend to occur when the ankle flexes beyond the muscle and tendon’s ability to withstand the forces incurred with certain maneuvers.</p>
<p>Certainly, several other variables factor into injuries: muscular strength, power, flexibility, body type and tissue elasticity.</p>
<h2>What gives?</h2>
<p>Playing surface is another important aspect of this equation. </p>
<p>Think about the contact point between the athlete and the surface that they’re playing on. This represents an additional link in the chain because forces must be exchanged between the player and the ground.</p>
<p><a href="https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/newtons-laws-of-motion/">As Isaac Newton noted</a>, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” </p>
<p>The playing surface must be firm enough to allow an athlete to push off to accelerate or jump. At the same time, the surface must be compliant enough to be able to absorb forces when a player lands or slows down. There is a sweet spot between the ability for playing surfaces to offer enough resistance and support, but also absorb forces. </p>
<p>Therein lies the question as to whether artificial turf is appropriate and safe enough for athletes. The research might be somewhat hazy, but Rodgers’ Achilles tendon rupture did occur in a part of the body <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35593739/">that is correlated with more injuries on artificial turf</a>. </p>
<p>It’s encouraging that playing surface technology continues to evolve. But replicating mother nature isn’t easy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Anloague does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two days after Rodgers’ injury, the NFL players union called on the league to convert all playing fields to natural grass.Philip Anloague, Adjunct Professor of Physical Therapy, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992432023-02-10T22:12:35Z2023-02-10T22:12:35ZWhat to watch for when you are watching the Super Bowl: 5 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509546/original/file-20230210-14-t9c1mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C5380%2C3616&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Clash of the tight ends?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kansas-city-chiefs-linebacker-ben-niemann-tackles-news-photo/1235721523?phrase=kansas%20chiefs%20Philadelphia&adppopup=true">Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Super Bowl – an annual celebration of advertising, calorific bar food, Roman numerals and occasional on-field action – is upon us, again.</p>
<p>At 6:30 EST on Feb. 12, 2023, the <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/super-bowl-lvii-picks-will-kansas-city-chiefs-or-philadelphia-eagles-win-lombard">Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will take the field</a> in Arizona before moments later trundling off for one of the many breaks that are a feature of football. </p>
<p>But there is an upside to all those breaks. It means you can read an article or two from The Conversation’s archive. To that end, below is a selection of stories tackling what is happening in the world of football, but not necessarily on the field.</p>
<h2>A game of wounded warriors</h2>
<p>A specific part of the anatomy of Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been scrutinized in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl: his right ankle.</p>
<p>You see, despite Mahomes’ being more handy with his hands than with his feet, he still needs to be able to move around with some dexterity to be effective – and Mahomes’ mobility is a key aspect of his game. And on Jan. 21, 2023, the 27-year-old athlete awkwardly fell after a tackle and sprained his ankle.</p>
<p>But what exactly in an ankle sprain? The University of Pittsburgh’s <a href="https://mirm-pitt.net/staff/macalus-v-hogan-md-mba/">MaCalus V. Hogan</a>, a surgeon who specializes in sports-related ankle injuries, <a href="https://theconversation.com/patrick-mahomes-injury-an-ankle-surgeon-explains-what-a-high-ankle-sprain-is-and-how-it-might-affect-mahomes-in-the-super-bowl-199248">explained that they occur</a> when someone rolls an ankle joint, resulting in the stretching or tearing of ligaments that hold the ankle together.</p>
<p>The good news for Chiefs’ fans? Hogan reckons their quarterback will be OK come gametime: “While Mahomes may not be at 100%, given the moderate severity of the injury, his fitness and the high quality of care he is receiving, I expect that he will be ready to play an exciting game come kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday.”</p>
<p>Of much more concern are the life-threatening injuries of the sort that afflicted Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa earlier in the season. </p>
<p>Both collapsed to the turf after jarring tackles, Hamlin from heart problems, Tagovailoa from a concussion. As paramedics administered treatment on the field, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-broadcasters-have-a-duty-to-report-injuries-responsibly-in-the-case-of-nfls-damar-hamlin-they-passed-the-test-197192">broadcasters faced a dilemma</a>, as <a href="https://comm.osu.edu/people/kraft.42">Nicole Kraft of The Ohio State University</a> explained.</p>
<p>“When disaster strikes on a live sports broadcast, it’s easy to say something wrong, especially in an age where words can be distributed widely, dissected and criticized on social media,” wrote Kraft, noting that broadcasters also have a decision to make over whether or not to show replays of the injury.</p>
<p>In the case of Hamlin, ESPN and others behaved responsibly, Kraft concluded. Instead of filling the air with speculation, broadcasters instead appealed to the NFL to suspend the game.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/patrick-mahomes-injury-an-ankle-surgeon-explains-what-a-high-ankle-sprain-is-and-how-it-might-affect-mahomes-in-the-super-bowl-199248">Patrick Mahomes injury: An ankle surgeon explains what a high ankle sprain is and how it might affect Mahomes in the Super Bowl</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-broadcasters-have-a-duty-to-report-injuries-responsibly-in-the-case-of-nfls-damar-hamlin-they-passed-the-test-197192">Sports broadcasters have a duty to report injuries responsibly – in the case of NFL's Damar Hamlin, they passed the test</a>
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<h2>The rise and pitfalls of sports gambling</h2>
<p>A subplot of this year’s Super Bowl advertising rush is the growing presence of betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.</p>
<p>It’s only been five years since the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">Supreme Court opened up legalized sports betting</a> across the states. Since then, “a whole industry has sprouted up that, for tens of millions of fans around the country, is now just part of the show,” wrote <a href="https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/people/individual/john-affleck">Penn State’s John Affleck</a>. He added: “Betting’s seamless integration into American sports – impossible to ignore even among fans who aren’t wagering – represents a remarkable shift for an activity that was banned in much of the country only a few years ago.”</p>
<p>The damage being done by the explosion of easy-to-bet apps and websites is only just being understood. <a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/node/677">Lia Nower</a>, director of The Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, has been tasked by New Jersey to <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-from-new-jersey-is-a-warning-sign-for-young-sports-bettors-197865">evaluate the impact of sports gambling</a> by interviewing gamblers and analyzing every bet placed online in the state since 2018.</p>
<p>She reported that “those wagering on sports in New Jersey were more likely than others who gamble to have high rates of problem gambling and problems with drugs or alcohol, and to experience mental health problems like anxiety and depression. Most alarming, findings suggest that about 14% of sports bettors reported thoughts of suicide, and 10% said they had made a suicide attempt.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">How legalized sports betting has transformed the fan experience</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/data-from-new-jersey-is-a-warning-sign-for-young-sports-bettors-197865">Data from New Jersey is a warning sign for young sports bettors</a>
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<h2>It really is time to drop the ‘chop’</h2>
<p>Kansas City fans inside the State Farm Stadium in Glendale during the Super Bowl might at various points during the game engage in what is known as the “tomahawk chop.” Outside the stadium, Native Americans intend to protest. What they want – along with an end to that offensive gesture – is a new name for the franchise.</p>
<p>Such re-branding is not, of course, unheard of. Washington’s NFL team dropped its racist moniker in 2020. And last year, the Cleveland Indians changed its name to the Guardians.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://www.oxy.edu/academics/faculty/peter-dreier">Peter Dreier of Occidental College</a> noted, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cleveland-indians-changed-their-team-name-whats-holding-back-the-atlanta-braves-181662">not all teams are on board</a> with jettisoning their problematic names. The Atlanta Braves are one team that refuses to move on, sticking with its name, along with its “tomahawk song” and accompanying crowd gesture.</p>
<p>“Today, many fans – not to mention many Native Americans – cringe at the music and the chop. To them, it reflects a stereotypical image of Native Americans as violent and uncivilized, similar to those that appeared on TV and in movies for many years,” wrotes Dreier.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cleveland-indians-changed-their-team-name-whats-holding-back-the-atlanta-braves-181662">The Cleveland Indians changed their team name – what's holding back the Atlanta Braves?</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199243/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to take on the Philadelphia Eagles, The Conversation takes a critical look at some of the biggest news stories from the past NFL season.Matt Williams, Senior International EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996582023-02-10T18:07:25Z2023-02-10T18:07:25ZThe Super Bowl — what we love but mostly hate about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509786/original/file-20230213-21-vm1b6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4493%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes holds the trophy after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-super-bowl-—-what-we-love-but-mostly-hate-about-it" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>This past weekend, <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/world-cup-2022/how-does-world-cups-viewership-tickets-and-attendance-compare-nfls-super#:%7E:text=World%20Cup%20vs.-,Super%20Bowl%3F,of%20227.27%20million%20per%20day.">millions of North American (and worldwide) eyeballs were glued to their TVs</a>, beer and chicken wings in hand, to celebrate perhaps the last truly bipartisan “national holiday” that America has left: the Super Bowl.</p>
<p>While the Super Bowl is ostensibly a football game for the NFL championship, it is really a combination of sporting event, concert and advertising convention. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/protests-not-welcome-in-the-spectacle-of-sports-84817">Protests not welcome in the spectacle of sports</a>
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<p>This year, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64602594">Rihanna performed at halftime</a> in a much-anticipated return to the stage. And 30-second <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/nfl/story/_/id/35587895/super-bowl-2023-commercials">advertising spots</a> sold for as much as $7 million apiece. </p>
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<img alt="Signer Rihanna in a black outfit sitting on a couch speaking into a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509267/original/file-20230209-24-g29sqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Rihanna will perform at halftime during the Super Bowl LVII NFL football game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mike Stewart)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>One <a href="https://www.summitwealthgroup.com/blog/2023-super-bowl-by-the-numbers">investment management group estimated</a> the event will bring $700 million to the city of Phoenix, and an estimated $16 billion <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/super-bowl-2023-20-percent-of-american-adults-expected-to-bet-on-chiefs-vs-eagles-according-to-survey/">will be wagered on the game</a>.</p>
<p>And, oh yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in what turned out to be an entertaining game.</p>
<h2>Professional sport is primarily a business</h2>
<p>While the league may like to promote itself as simply men playing sport for the love of the game, their teammates, and the city they have been drafted or signed to play for, elite and professional sport is first and foremost a business. </p>
<p>More specifically, it is a commodity spectacle where athletes put their bodies and brains on the line for our entertainment. They are both workers and product. Dollars and cents come to the league through ticket sales, TV licensing deals, merchandise, advertisement and anything else the league and its organizations can possibly sell. </p>
<p>While we may know elite sport is business, rarely do we ask what the business and profit-making mean for everyone involved in the NFL business ecosystem, from the workers (players) to the capitalists (managers and owners) to the consumers (fans). </p>
<p>This is by design. The NFL, like most businesses, does not want its consumers to see how their sausage is made, especially when it involves the amount of violence, exploitation and harm that exists in football.</p>
<h2>Threat of brain injury</h2>
<p>The most obvious of these harms is the long-term injury — specifically brain injury — to players. There is continued evidence of football’s relationship with traumatic brain injury, dementia, memory loss, depression and premature death.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.8334">A 2017 study</a> published by the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>, said 177 of 202 former football players studied of all levels had <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy">Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)</a>, including 110 of the 111 NFL players studied.</p>
<p>In the latest <a href="https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/bu-finds-cte-in-nearly-92-percent-of-former-nfl-players-studied/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=link&utm_content=research_brain&utm_campaign=social_main">research out of Boston University,</a> 345 of the 376 former NFL players studied had (CTE). </p>
<p>Because CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem, these studies contain samples of brains that were donated by concerned families, and therefore are more likely to have CTE. Still, they show rates of 92 per cent for the NFL players studied. </p>
<p>In contrast, a <a href="https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/bu-finds-cte-in-nearly-92-percent-of-former-nfl-players-studied/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=link&utm_content=research_brain&utm_campaign=social_main">2018 Boston University study</a> looked at 164 donated brains of men and women: only one had CTE, and he was a former college football player. </p>
<p>It is harrowing to imagine how many players — not just in the NFL, but in college and at the high school level — are developing CTE, and suffering irreparable and lifetime damage to their brains and lives.</p>
<p>Football is not the only sport where athletes are at risk of lifelong injury (rugby, ice hockey and combat sports are other big culprits), but many football players aren’t even able to earn any money for their bodily sacrifice. </p>
<h2>Labour exploitation</h2>
<p>While the NFL and the college football industry sell the dream of scholarships and superstardom, only 6.5 per cent of high school students will even play college football. And they do not get paid for their labour. And a miniscule 0.00075 per cent (800-900 out of 1.1 million) will <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/college-football/how-many-ncaa-football-players-make-nfl">play the game professionally</a>.</p>
<p>If players do beat these lottery-level odds and make it to the NFL, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/sports/football/nfl-contracts-injuries-young-players.html">football player careers average about three to four years</a>. Many contracts are not guaranteed, with teams able to cut players and not pay them the full amount of their salaries. </p>
<p>Add to this the exploitation of a predominantly Black workforce of unpaid players who sacrifice their bodies and brains to <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230105539">fill the coffers of largely white coaches and team owners.</a></p>
<p>As scholars <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/sep/07/race-money-and-exploitation-why-college-sport-is-still-the-new-plantation">Nathan Kalman-Lamb, Derek Silva and Johanna Mellis put it in <em>the Guardian</em>,</a> “big-time college sport is often about rich white people using Black people for profit.”</p>
<p>The treatment of athletes as mere commodities or investments, to be drafted and traded, used for value and profit extraction and then thrown away, permeates every layer of the NFL. </p>
<h2>Super Bowl traditions have a strong hold</h2>
<p>There are other issues too: this is not an exhaustive list of the harms associated with football and the NFL. These are just some of the behind-the-scenes facts and relationships that the NFL does not want fans thinking about, least of all during the Super Bowl.</p>
<p>The Super Bowl — as the culmination of the NFL’s season long coverage — is meant to make sure we continue to ignore these issues <a href="https://theconversation.com/protests-not-welcome-in-the-spectacle-of-sports-84817">by providing us with a spectacle to take our minds off the hard questions</a>. </p>
<p>Karl Marx originally coined religion as the “opiate of the masses,” and sport scholars have long adapted this passage to sport, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14775085.2017.1401383">specifically to mega-events</a> like the Super Bowl or the Olympic Games.</p>
<p>Beyond distracting fans from their own personal problems and the unequal world they inhabit, the goal of football’s spectacle (from the league’s perspective) is also to distract fans from the very harms that the sport itself produces.</p>
<p>Super Bowl traditions have a strong hold, and the game is often something that brings family and friends together. But at the very least, keep in mind the violence and harm that it takes to get to this game, and remember that there are human beings under those helmets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Sailofsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Super Bowl is more than a game — it’s an ecosystem of parties, the halftime show, the ads and 100 million people watching despite the sport’s ugly and dangerous side.Daniel Sailofsky, Lecturer, Department of Criminology, Middlesex UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1971922023-01-05T13:27:38Z2023-01-05T13:27:38ZSports broadcasters have a duty to report injuries responsibly – in the case of NFL’s Damar Hamlin, they passed the test<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503131/original/file-20230104-64877-4qdtfn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C11%2C2542%2C1686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Medical personnel attend to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he collapsed on the field during an NFL game in Cincinnati on Jan. 2, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BillsBengalsFootball/cb4e320fc1b7472cbe0c692d94d07a6e/photo?Query=damar%20hamlin&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=453&currentItemNo=112">AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Injuries are an unfortunate part of any sport – none more so than in the NFL, where players can be felled in front of a TV audience <a href="https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2022/09/espns-monday-night-football-nabs-nearly-20-million-viewers-in-record-setting-season-opener/">in the tens of millions</a>.</p>
<p>Typically, when a player suffers an injury, the media cuts to commercial and returns with replays of the injury – sometimes running it over and over, using every available camera angle, while analyzing what might have happened and the ramifications for the player and team.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35368372/damar-hamlin-collapses-field-bills-bengals-temporarily-suspended">But in the case of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin</a>, who collapsed to the ground after a tackle during the “Monday Night Football” game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, it quickly became apparent that this was no broken arm or torn ACL. This was a matter of life and death. Paramedics worked to keep him alive on the field before he was transported to a hospital, where he <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/football/damar-hamlin-collapse-bills-status-wednesday/index.html">remains in critical condition</a>.</p>
<p>As the tragic scene played out, ESPN’s broadcasters and studio hosts were left to explain what was happening in real time, with virtually no information.</p>
<p><a href="https://comm.osu.edu/people/kraft.42">I am a professor of sports journalism</a> and spend much of my time teaching students how to cover games. As a sportswriter, I have covered many contests as if they were battles, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-warspeak-permeating-everyday-language-puts-us-all-in-the-trenches-121356">with the language of war</a> interwoven with feats of extraordinary human accomplishment.</p>
<p>When crisis strikes sports, however, it is left to the media to report in, around, about and through the moment. Some do it well and some fail miserably.</p>
<p>In its coverage of Hamlin’s injury, ESPN was, I believe, a sound and responsible broadcaster during one of football’s darkest on-field moments.</p>
<h2>ESPN’s measured, restrained response</h2>
<p>ESPN’s broadcasting duo of Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, along with sideline reporter Lisa Salters, relayed the scene as it unfolded. But instead of filling the live airtime with rambling commentary and sensationalism, they responded with compassion and care. They avoided speculating about Hamlin’s condition and ultimately <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/bills/news/damar-hamlin-collapse-injury-buffalo-bills-cincinnati-bengals-ambulance-nflpa-postponement">appealed to the NFL to suspend the game</a>, with Aikman asking, “How do you, as a member of the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati Bengals, continue on to play football?”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/01/02/espn-damar-hamlin-bengals-bills/">As The Washington Post noted</a>, “The broadcast was measured, informative and emotional.” </p>
<p>From the studio, former NFL players Booger McFarland and Ryan Clark offered their perspectives on what it might feel like to be a player on the field, in that moment – whether as a member of the Bills or the Bengals. They reminded the audience that players are first and foremost people. McFarland <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3797278-damar-hamlin-injury-tests-espn-with-terrifying-live-television-moment/">acknowledged the inherent violence of the game</a>, adding, “I think we reached a point where nobody is concerned about football anymore tonight.” </p>
<p>Clark, who himself was hospitalized for a splenic infarction in 2007 <a href="https://www.on3.com/news/ryan-clark-provides-unique-insight-reflection-terrifying-damar-hamlin-injury-collapsed-cpr/">shortly after playing a game for the Pittsburgh Steelers</a>, <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/espns-ryan-clark-earns-rightful-plaudits-for-powerful-handling-of-damar-hamlins-life-threatening-injury/">acknowledged</a> that part of living an NFL dream is “putting your life at risk.”</p>
<p>“Tonight we got to see a side of football that is extremely ugly, a side of football that no one ever wants to see or never wants to admit exists,” he said.</p>
<p>The gravity of the situation was reflected in ESPN curtailing all commercials for more than an hour to provide uninterrupted coverage. In doing so, the network <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/damar-hamlin-collapse-espn-coverage.html">stressed the importance of a player’s life over the game or profit motive</a>. </p>
<h2>When the media misfires</h2>
<p>When disaster strikes on a live sports broadcast, it’s easy to say something wrong, especially in an age where words can be distributed widely, dissected and criticized on social media.</p>
<p>Just ask controversial sports commentator Skip Bayless, who wasn’t even on the air, but nonetheless went viral for all the wrong reasons <a href="https://twitter.com/realskipbayless/status/1610101204687949827">after tweeting</a>: “No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game - but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”</p>
<p>Bayless may have had a point – the NFL must now work out how to address the outcome of this game and the implications for the postseason – but his tone and timing led to <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/sports/skip-bayless-apologizes-after-tweet-on-bills-safety-damar-hamlin-sparks-outrage/">much criticism</a>.</p>
<p>Bayless is far from the only broadcaster to be accused of insensitively following the death or serious injury of sports stars.</p>
<p>The 2020 death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna was a model for what can go wrong, with TMZ breaking the news <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/480066-tmz-scolded-by-police-for-breaking-news-of-kobe-bryants-death-before-his/">before their family was notified</a>. ESPN relegated the news to ESPN2 <a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2020/01/27/kobe-bryant-media-coverage-espn-mike-breen-jay-williams">so as not to interrupt Pro Bowl coverage</a>. In their rush to break details from the story, some reporters trafficked in misinformation. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-01-29/abc-news-has-suspended-correspondent-who-said-four-kobe-bryant-daughters-were-on-his-helicopter-matt-gutman">ABC News ultimately suspended a reporter</a> who said on air that all four of Bryant’s daughters were among the crash victims, while the BBC ran footage of LeBron James instead of Bryant.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1221686041083613186"}"></div></p>
<p>Driver Kevin Ward, Jr. was killed during a 2014 sprint car race, but it was Tony Stewart, the man whose car struck him, <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2014/08/11/tony-stewart-crash-coverage-challenge-media/13916449/">who garnered most of the media coverage</a>. The media was quick to lay the blame squarely on Stewart before an investigation absolved the driver and revealed Ward was under the influence of enough marijuana to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2014/09/24/column-tony-stewart-grand-jury-no-charges-kevin-ward-jr-death/16165885/">impair him at the time of the crash</a>.</p>
<p>Sports media was perhaps never more criticized for incident coverage than it was in 2020, when Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest on the field. BBC cameras <a href="https://theconversation.com/christian-eriksen-broadcast-the-bbc-and-the-question-of-public-interest-162726">showed not only medical professionals performing chest compressions as Eriksen struggled for life</a>, but also his crying life partner and traumatized teammates. Cameras lingered for a full 15 minutes before cutting to the studio hosts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man stands at podium speaking before a mass of reporters." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503156/original/file-20230104-105135-rlymua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tony Stewart, front right, speaks to the media three weeks after his car hit and killed sprint car driver Kevin Ward, Jr. during a dirt track race.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tony-stewart-driver-of-the-bass-pro-shops-mobil-1-chevrolet-news-photo/454335928?phrase=kevin%20ward%20jr&adppopup=true">Jamie Squire/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Prioritizing mourning over moneymaking</h2>
<p>From the tragic deaths of basketball players Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis, to the deaths of auto racers Dan Weldon and Dale Earnhardt and to Chuck Hughes who, in 1971, became the first and only NFL football player to die in a game, it is the media’s responsibility to navigate a tragedy on behalf of the public.</p>
<p>Research has shown that the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/0163443708098251">media is often responsible for modeling appropriate public displays of emotion</a> when traumatic or tragic events occur, be it respect for victims and their families or public mourning. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17512780701275457">can be argued</a> that the media – especially in the digital age – is a key conduit to community connection amid a tragedy, when people seek to show their support and share their grief.</p>
<p>There is a fine line when it comes to sports and catastrophe, for much of what people love about football is its warlike nature. Players are depicted like gladiators in a coliseum. Media quote athletes saying <a href="https://twitter.com/bethhooleVNL/status/1599313686199345152?s=20&t=_2oFgUiDhSlJgUGe8BGcnA">they will die for their teammates</a>.</p>
<p>But when life and death become all too real, the athlete’s well-being takes precedence over wins and losses. At that point, the media, in my view, has one main job: help remind viewers of the player’s humanity.</p>
<p>As “SportsCenter” <a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/2023/01/damar-hamlin-bills-espn-salters-ryan-clark-booger">host Scott Van Pelt put it</a>: “Sports is important. And suddenly it’s not.”</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correctly identify Skip Bayless.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Kraft does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>ESPN commentators avoided speculation and struck a compassionate tone.Nicole Kraft, Associate Professor of Clinical Communication, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942102022-11-16T00:14:45Z2022-11-16T00:14:45ZFamilies of athletes with dementia linked to brain trauma on watching somebody you love disappear – Uncharted Brain podcast part 2<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494697/original/file-20221110-15-502fcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=90%2C123%2C4233%2C2865&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traumatic brain injury from sports such as American football is linked with a form of dementia called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dec-12-2021-tampa-fl-usa-2091006526">Steve Jacobson/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dementia doesn’t just affect older people. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a form of dementia that athletes from a whole range of sports can develop. It’s now at the centre of a number of legal challenges involving sports from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/25/case-against-rugby-union-governing-bodies-on-dementia-destined-for-courts">rugby</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/sports/football/judge-announces-settlement-in-nfl-concussion-suit.html">American football</a>. </p>
<p>We find out about the toll this type of dementia can take on family members, who are often unaware of what’s happening to their loved ones, in the second episode of Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia, a new podcast series available via <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-anthill-podcast-27460">The Anthill</a> podcast. </p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/5e3bf1111a6e452f6380a7bc/6372631b0fe2e80011dd8a86" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-564" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/564/df7570dc1ec7680034215f0ca19d2e0378e13f3b/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>After Lisa McHale’s husband Tom, a former NFL player, died in 2008, she received a request from researchers at Boston University School of Medicine to study his brain for signs of CTE. </p>
<p>“I remember thinking: ‘Well, Tom never had any concussion but I would imagine you need control subjects,’” McHale told us. “But when they came back to me, they said Tom had chronic traumatic encephalopathy – a pretty severe case, pretty progressed for a 45-year-old.” She says that learning more about the the disease has been extremely helpful in processing what happened to her husband. </p>
<p>Today, McHale is director of family relations at the US-based Concussion Legacy Foundation, which works with family members who lost loved ones after they developed CTE. Matt Smith, a sports psychologist at the University of Winchester, recently led a research project interviewing some of these family members about their experiences. </p>
<p>“It was very noticeable how confused the families were at first [by their loved ones’ behaviour],” says Smith. Some people talked about their husbands suddenly being prone to rage and various erratic behaviours like risky business ventures. </p>
<p>Smith has been impressed by the interviewees’ determination to change things for the better and <a href="https://theconversation.com/football-and-dementia-heading-must-be-banned-until-the-age-of-18-150575">make sport safer</a>. “The family members’ motivation to be interviewed was not only to tell their story, but also if their story could help others,” he tells us. </p>
<p>Listen to the full episode to find out more about the experience of family members whose loved ones had CTE. </p>
<p>You can also <a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-induced-traumatic-brain-injury-families-re-live-the-hell-of-living-with-the-condition-172828">read an article that Matt Smith</a> and his colleagues Adam John White and Keith Parry wrote about their research as part of The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/insights">Insights project</a>. </p>
<p><em>Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia</em> is hosted by Paul Keaveny, investigations editor at The Conversation in the UK, and Gemma Ware, co-host of The Conversation Weekly podcast. The series is produced and written by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware.</p>
<p>All episodes of the series are available on <a href="https://podfollow.com/the-anthill/view">The Anthill</a> podcast channel. </p>
<p>You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194210/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span> </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Smith is affiliated with CLF-UK and has a role as research lead for Patient and Family Services. The aim of this role is to develop research that helps understand the experiences, and support patients and family members. </span></em></p>Listen to the second episode of our series Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia via The Anthill podcast.Paul Keaveny, Investigations Editor, Insights, The ConversationGemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1768712022-02-10T13:40:06Z2022-02-10T13:40:06ZWhat The Conversation talks about when it talks about football: 3 essential reads ahead of the Super Bowl<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445532/original/file-20220209-23-uz6yx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C6000%2C3943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Football, as a mirror to society?
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SuperBowlFootball/46a088ab174a4013abc2c45d931a7169/photo?Query=Super%20Bowl%20trophy&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=2938&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Morry Gash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Super Bowl is all about wings. Well, it’s about wings and commercials. OK, OK, it is about wings, commercials and four 15-minute quarters of broken play interspersed with moments of occasional sporting drama and a halftime singsong. </p>
<p>In fact, football is about all that and much more. Over the last 12 months, The Conversation has published articles on everything from race and sexuality in the NFL to how <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-u-s-football-season-kicks-off-climate-change-threatens-the-game-167036">climate change may affect the game</a> in years to come.</p>
<p>So if this year’s Super Bowl is a little dull, or you simply want to avoid being sold a truck every commercial break, here are a few interesting reads on what is happening in the football, but off the field.</p>
<h2>1. NFL’s abysmal record on hiring diverse coaches</h2>
<p>Super Bowl LVI is taking place in the shadow of a controversy over racial discrimination in the the NFL. On Feb. 1, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against three teams and the league, alleging a pattern of racist hiring practices.</p>
<p>To George B. Cunningham, professor of sport management at Texas A&M University, the legal development is perhaps hardly surprising. His <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-all-nfl-coaches-are-white-lawsuit-focuses-on-leagues-abysmal-record-hiring-diverse-coaches-176295">article explores</a> the “glaring absence of nonwhite head coaches” in the NFL. </p>
<p>Cunningham notes that at the beginning of the 2021 season there were just three Black head coaches in the NFL – the same as there were in 2003.</p>
<p>This isn’t a result of performance; there is no evidence that Black coaches are less qualified or have worse results. Rather, Cunningham notes, “biased decision-making, organizational cultures that value similarity, and societal forms of bias and discrimination are all to blame for the lack of diversity among NFL head coaches.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-all-nfl-coaches-are-white-lawsuit-focuses-on-leagues-abysmal-record-hiring-diverse-coaches-176295">Almost all NFL coaches are white -- lawsuit focuses on league's abysmal record hiring diverse coaches</a>
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<h2>2. An equally bad record on supporting gay athletes</h2>
<p>Racial gaps at the top level of coaching isn’t the only disparity in American football. There is also a distinct lack of gay athletes in the sport.</p>
<p>In fact, the first openly gay active NFL player only came out in June 2021. The announcement, by Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib, received widespread attention and praise.</p>
<p>Penn State’s John Affleck writes that to “have a gay player in America’s most-watched sport represents a landmark moment” but that it does not mean “the end of homophobia in sport.”</p>
<p>Affleck <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-such-a-big-deal-that-the-nfls-carl-nassib-came-out-as-gay-163228">notes the case</a> of Michael Sam, a star college football player who was projected as a fourth-round draft pick heading into 2014. But after confirming in interviews that he was gay, he slid to a sixth-round projection. Ultimately, “he was not selected until the 249th pick overall – eighth to last – in the final round of the draft,” Affleck writes.</p>
<p>Barriers to out athletes continue today. Affleck cites 2021 research showing that half of LGBTQ respondents to a survey said they had “experienced discrimination, insults, bullying or abuse while playing, watching or talking about sports.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-such-a-big-deal-that-the-nfls-carl-nassib-came-out-as-gay-163228">Why it's such a big deal that the NFL's Carl Nassib came out as gay</a>
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<h2>3. Decision making away from the field of play</h2>
<p>Big players made big calls during this year’s NFL season – but not all of them were right, and not all of them were on the field.</p>
<p>Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made a call that was out of his field of expertise – and he was very, very wrong.</p>
<p>A few days after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Rodgers offered what USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’s Joe Árvai <a href="https://theconversation.com/aaron-rodgers-dropped-the-ball-on-critical-thinking-with-a-little-practice-you-can-do-better-172362">described as</a> “a smorgasbord of pandemic misinformation and conspiracy theories” defending his decision to skip the COVID-19 vaccine.</p>
<p>As someone who studies how people think, Árvai was also intrigued by Rodgers’s claim that his position on vaccination was due to his being “a critical thinker.”</p>
<p>To Árvai, critical thinking is not “some after-the-fact justification someone makes to convince others – or themselves – that their opinions or behaviors are sound.” Rather, it is a “pattern of behaviors that happen before someone makes a judgment, like coming to the conclusion that something is risky.”</p>
<p>He outlines three ingredients for critical thinking:</p>
<ol>
<li>Acknowledging when to balance instinctive reactions with the need for a heavier psychological lift.</li>
<li>Following basic principles regarding information and being willing to change your mind in response to new insights.</li>
<li>Recognizing when it is time to look for experts to help.</li>
</ol>
<p>“Unfortunately, Aaron Rodgers is far from alone when it comes to poor critical thinking,” Árvai laments.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aaron-rodgers-dropped-the-ball-on-critical-thinking-with-a-little-practice-you-can-do-better-172362">Aaron Rodgers dropped the ball on critical thinking – with a little practice you can do better</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176871/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As the Los Angeles Rams prepare to take on the Cincinnati Bengals, The Conversation takes a critical look at some of the biggest news stories from the past NFL season.Matt Williams, Senior International EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1760762022-02-08T16:28:12Z2022-02-08T16:28:12ZDizzying highs and crushing lows: is being a sports fan good or bad for you?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444795/original/file-20220207-25-pzchg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6973%2C4035&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-happy-fans-cheering-their-team-1337790905">Master1305/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Performance slumps. Relegations. Points deductions. Failed takeovers. Being a sports fan can seem an easy route to heartache when even the good times come with the spectre of future decline. </p>
<p>However, the passion fans have for sport stays strong – and they continue to make financial, social and emotional investments in the teams they support. </p>
<p>Fans of American football have been reported to spend <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/01/17/nfl-fans-spend-46-hours-a-month-obsessed-with-their-team/">46 hours a month</a> talking and thinking about their team, and travel an average of <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/01/17/nfl-fans-spend-46-hours-a-month-obsessed-with-their-team/">296 miles</a> (476km) to attend an away game. </p>
<p>An average family of four supporting the Las Vegas Raiders would spend around <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/202584/nfl--fan-cost-index/">US$780</a> (£575) to watch a game.</p>
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/the-true-cost-of-watching-football-in-the-uk-revealed/">British football fans</a> spent an average of £712 a year supporting their team – and more if their team was in the Premier League.</p>
<p>The despondency that many fans feel at a loss might lead them to question whether all this time and money spent following a team is worth it. Research shows, though, that while watching a match can cause stress, being a fan can be good for you – even in defeat. </p>
<h2>More than a game</h2>
<p>Sporting competitions can evoke strong emotional responses in athletes. The release of a hormone called cortisol causes a stress response, which includes a higher heart and breathing rate and helps prepare us for challenges and demands that we may face. It can be observed across various <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16823365/">phases of competition</a>. </p>
<p>In male athletes experiencing a victory, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10910222_Testosterone_territoriality_and_the_%E2%80%99home_advantage%E2%80%99">playing at a home venue</a> and even <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-021-09407-7">watching a teammate win</a> have been linked to an increase in testosterone. Research with male tennis players found that those with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0018506X89900421">higher testosterone</a> before a match also felt more positive about the match. </p>
<p>In sporting competition, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018506X11002212?casa_token=p0BHSS_Yp7sAAAAA:rfJRFtrwVljwbuVU_y95O55N1jL5QP3aIA4BskLlWQ-Wvn0JXbeWKbwiTvXtJau7TsuvEqs-1g">winning</a> can cause an increase in testosterone. A rise in testosterone can increase the release of the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18408610/">chemical messenger dopamine</a>, associated with rewards and positive feelings.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3329546/">Research suggests</a> that fans can also have similar physiological responses to those of the players they support. For example, during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, male and female Spanish football fans had higher testosterone and cortisol levels when watching a match, although this was not linked to their teams’ victory. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martha-Newson-2/publication/338588071_Devoted_fans_release_more_cortisol_when_watching_live_soccer_matches/links/5eab27c6299bf18b958a6b1d/Devoted-fans-release-more-cortisol-when-watching-live-soccer-matches.pdf">research</a> from the 2014 Fifa World Cup found male and female Brazilian fans who were more “highly fused” with their team experienced heightened levels of cortisol. This meant they had higher levels of stress, especially in situations of unhappiness and frustration. </p>
<p>Cortisol is released when we experience a stressor that can, in turn, affect our immune system. Therefore, <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/health/hardcore-football-fans-stress-study-cortisol-389595">highly committed fans</a> who get overly angry or excited need to be aware that too much cortisol over a prolonged period can be detrimental to their health. Indeed, during the same 2014 Fifa World Cup, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-90582-z">researchers in Germany</a> reported that during the tournament there was a greater number of hospitalisations for heart attacks across men and women. </p>
<h2>Part of the crowd</h2>
<p>Fans play an instrumental role for their team. They contribute to the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721413513267?casa_token=ROvwNsvavQUAAAAA%3Alj8OOLLRkK_Rf36nWyZBVt0tVz2geUAJ8FReLWnEm2DPEDJJztzrL3RV4aribZ-fbVcZDEpC645HXg">home advantage</a>, with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1612197X.2014.932826?casa_token=6iKw_77llBcAAAAA%3AnLkwEmyuekFt5GPZ0qZpQoKBad9FfmS5btx_kgf6NG0mP0jGLrtx4JxdV9JVM6W364DiKRhXJVnOvA">managers and players</a> acknowledging the impact of the home crowd. </p>
<p>Being part of the crowd can have benefits for fans, too. Feeling <a href="https://theconversation.com/euro-2020-is-this-the-greatest-therapy-session-england-ever-had-163840">connected socially</a> can have a positive effect on our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2169">self-esteem and wellbeing</a>. </p>
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<img alt="Fans with yellow and black scarves and flags in stadium" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444816/original/file-20220207-47158-1qsbqtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Fans of German football team Borussia Dortmund.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dortmund-germany-december-10-2015-fans-351446009">Ververidis Vasilis/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Being a sports fan helps to meet our <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/23/why-being-a-sports-fan-and-rooting-for-a-team-is-good-for-you.html">need to belong</a>. Fans can enjoy the glory of a victory alongside their fellow supporters, friends and family. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2167479519830359?journalCode=coma">US college football fans</a> who experienced a win subsequently had a boost in self-esteem that lasted up to two days post-game. For fans who shared the burden of defeat, being part of a group may have acted as a protective mechanism for their self-esteem. </p>
<p>Research has found that fans who experienced less success with their clubs are more loyal to each other. Football fans of less successful clubs would be more willing to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23750472.2020.1866650?src=&journalCode=rmle21">sacrifice their lives</a> for their fellow fans. The strong social connections forged at these clubs may be a real benefit for their fans. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-football-clubs-are-less-successful-fans-are-more-loyal-to-each-other-153696">When football clubs are less successful, fans are more loyal to each other</a>
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<p>The importance many of us place on sport became very clear when COVID restrictions led to the suspension of sporting events. In Britain, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2020/mar/13/premier-league-and-british-football-set-for-shutdown-due-to-coronavirus-live">football shut down</a> and fans were unable to attend matches. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://s27807.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Covid-survey-summary-Final.pdf">survey of disabled football supporters</a> found that 43% of fans agreed or strongly agreed their mental health had been negatively affected when live sports were suspended during the pandemic. The survey found that 62% of these fans felt that their wellbeing would be negatively affected from being unable to watch live sport.</p>
<h2>Support for the supporters</h2>
<p>In the UK, football has proven to be a valuable medium for targeting fans for mental health interventions. Statistics show that men are at <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/news/survey-people-lived-experience-mental-health-problems-reveals-men-less-likely-seek-medical">particular risk</a> of suicide and are less likely to disclose a mental health issue. </p>
<p>Many football club <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755296618301029?casa_token=wZZ50idTmskAAAAA:2BwlCjpsJX6ALdtizMo5Wz1iLSEoh_4PyIYq4vUes6ycu7gTQqhgUe__PXCCC4Qghgupd_r5feQ">foundations</a> have seized the opportunity to raise awareness and provide advice for their supporters, such as Newcastle United Foundation’s <a href="https://nufoundation.org.uk/beagamechanger/">“be a game changer” initiative</a>. </p>
<p>Being a sports fan can have many benefits psychologically and socially if we bask in the glory together and also support each other in defeat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Fothergill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Being a fan can be good for you – even in defeat.Melissa Fothergill, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1695192021-10-21T14:38:01Z2021-10-21T14:38:01ZWhat if Tom Brady took a knee instead of Colin Kaepernick?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426736/original/file-20211015-25-fon2ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C10%2C3444%2C2305&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady celebrates after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game in February, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2021-22 NFL season is underway and Colin Kaepernick is still out of a job. It’s been more than five years <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/06/01/colin-kaepernick-kneeling-history/">since he took a knee during the national anthem</a> and in so doing further exposed issues of systemic racism in the NFL. </p>
<p>I’ve been researching and writing about sport and media for several years and I frequently use Kaepernick’s case in my classes. To illuminate the gendered and racialized nature of that case and of the NFL, I ask a hypothetical question: what if Tom Brady took a knee?</p>
<p>Kaepernick’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/sports/nfl-colin-kaepernick-protests-timeline.html">story is now quite familiar</a>. In 2016 he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice in the United States. In what sports reporter Dave Zirin calls “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/the-kaepernick-effect-how-taking-a-knee-began-a-movement-u6r/">the Kaepernick Effect</a>,” this gesture spurred a movement across different sports.</p>
<p>For the NFL, Kaepernick’s gesture created <a href="https://thesportjournal.org/article/how-the-nfl-responded-to-the-colin-kaepernick-protests-in-2016-2017-and-how-the-league-responded-to-athlete-protests-during-the-black-lives-matter-movement-of-2020-a-sport-study-social-phenomenologi/">a public relations nightmare</a>. </p>
<p>Following the death of George Floyd and swell of the Black Lives Matter movement, the NFL was forced to make public displays in support of inclusivity, which included “allowing” players to post social justice messages such as “End Racism” or “Stop Hate” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/sports/nfl-social-justice.html">on their helmets</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-dont-have-an-ounce-of-racism-in-me-jon-gruden-and-the-nfls-whiteness-problem-169806">'I don't have an ounce of racism in me': Jon Gruden and the NFL's whiteness problem</a>
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<p>Whether or not the Kaepernick Effect has lead to any meaningful change in the NFL is up for debate, though the recent controversy surrounding <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/sports/football/nfl-jon-gruden-emails.html">Jon Gruden</a> would suggest not. But for all its apparent nods to inclusivity and ending racism, Kaepernick has yet to be re-signed to an NFL team.</p>
<h2>A vitriolic response to protest</h2>
<p>Kaepernick was clear in his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/sports/football/100000004643947/kaepernick-explains-his-protest.html">communications with media</a> that his protest was about police brutality and racial discrimination — he was simply calling attention to well-documented facts. </p>
<p>Yet the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/22/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-protests">response to his kneeling quickly turned ugly</a> with fans, team owners, media personnel and then-President Donald Trump calling him un-American and unpatriotic. Several went so far as to call him a traitor. The disconnect between what Kaepernick meant and how his detractors interpreted his protest is remarkable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and outside linebacker Eli Harold (58) kneel during the playing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Bazemore)</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>The backlash to Kaepernick’s protest is most obviously <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/6/blackballing-kaepernick-fear-of-the-black-athlete">tied to the fact he is Black</a>. But to understand the peculiar level of vitriol in response to the protest it’s important to understand the NFL and its underlying myths. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1975.tb00552.x">In a highly influential 1975 essay</a>, communications scholar Michael Real described the sport as “American ideology collectively celebrated.” </p>
<p>He identified football as an aggressive, militaristic, capitalistic enterprise that is both gendered and racialized. He concluded, “if one wanted to create from scratch a sport that reflected the sexual, racial and organizational priorities of American social structure, it is doubtful one could improve on football.” </p>
<p>Not much has changed since 1975.</p>
<p>Borrowing from sociology and anthropology, Real described the NFL as a mythic structure, one that was created from and helped to sustain the dominant social order in the U.S. </p>
<p>Myths function by appearing to be natural or normal. When faced with a challenge to a dominant myth, communities and societies often wilfully ignore concrete evidence in favour of sustaining belief in the existing social order. That’s what happened with Kaepernick.</p>
<h2>Challenging the myth of American exceptionalism</h2>
<p>Kaepernick’s protest called attention to <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/the-myth-of-american-exceptionalism/">the myth of American exceptionalism</a> in a space that is built upon and demands allegiance to that myth. </p>
<p>His protest called attention to police brutality and racial injustice but also challenged the myth that the U.S. is a free and fair country where anyone can succeed through hard work and determination. In refusing to “shut up and play,” he called attention to the deep-seated racial tension that is baked into the DNA of the NFL and the U.S.</p>
<p>In response to this challenge, fans, players, owners and others had to either acknowledge the structural problems of their game and nation or find another avenue to keep the myth intact. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mural to honour George Floyd and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick are plastered on a building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pedestrian passes murals to honour George Floyd and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What if Tom Brady took a knee?</h2>
<p>What if it was Brady and not Kaepernick that began the movement in 2016? The absurdity of the question is also what makes it so revealing. </p>
<p>It would be impossible for Tom Brady to take a knee — it would run counter to every other facet of his public persona. Where Kaepernick — as someone who is Black — was described as a traitor disrespecting his flag and country, Brady is quintessentially all-American: white, male, heterosexual, fit, attractive, married to a supermodel, family-man, tremendously wealthy, law-abiding, apolitical (or at least uncritical), multiple championship winner and future Hall-of-Famer. In short, he is a winner. </p>
<p>Brady taking a knee is counter to both the man and the league. Nonetheless, had he done so, he would have been received much more favourably — it would have been relatively easy for football’s mythic structure to absorb Brady taking a knee and remain intact. </p>
<p>The impact of the protest on the myth would have been outweighed by the magnitude of Brady’s American-ness. It would have been too costly (literally and figuratively) to purge Brady from the league as has been done with Kaepernick. And to do so would have acknowledged the racial and gendered hierarchy in America’s social structure — the exact forces central to Brady’s and the NFL’s success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Finn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Brady taking a knee is counter to both the man and the league. Nonetheless, had he done so, he would have been received much more favourably.Jonathan Finn, Professor of Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1698062021-10-17T11:56:25Z2021-10-17T11:56:25Z‘I don’t have an ounce of racism in me’: Jon Gruden and the NFL’s whiteness problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426474/original/file-20211014-20-7qgzua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C0%2C8640%2C5716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jon Gruden is out as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after emails he sent before being hired in 2018 contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last weekend, the NFL (the <a href="https://sportytell.com/sports/most-profitable-sports-leagues/">world’s most profitable sports league</a>) found itself in an all-too-familiar controversy after a now-former head coach’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html">disparaging emails</a> containing racist, misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic content were brought to light by a third-party investigation. </p>
<p>After the first emails were released last week, the former head coach in question, Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jon-gruden-racism-denial-raiders-loss/">stood in front of reporters and said</a>: “I don’t have an ounce of racism in me. I’m a guy that takes pride in leading people together. And I’ll continue to do that for the rest of my life.” </p>
<p>The type of leadership Gruden referenced in his mad dash to damage control is everywhere, from the league’s ownership groups to its front offices and coaching staff. It demands the protection of men like Gruden while ostracizing anyone who dares challenge the dominant system of power (like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/sports/football/george-floyd-kaepernick-kneeling-nfl-protests.html">Colin Kaepernick</a>). Its existence has resulted in what some have described as a <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/163980/jon-gruden-espn-email-scandal">culture of rot</a> throughout the league. </p>
<p>What’s fascinating and perhaps unique about the coverage, response and fallout of the league’s most recent controversy is how clear it’s made it that whiteness is at the epicentre of this rot. </p>
<h2>Protection of white men in power</h2>
<p>The systemic and systematic protection of white men in power has bred <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html">hypocrisy</a>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-nfls-racist-race-norming-is-an-afterlife-of-slavery/">race norming (the practice of assuming a lower baseline of cognitive abilities in Black players)</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/07/the-nfls-problem-with-violence-against-women-a-story-of-profit-and-apathy">gender exclusion and violence</a> and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/nfl-qb-drew-brees-kneeling-ignorance-and-performative-white-allyship">preformative acts of solidarity</a> with the <a href="https://www.tidesport.org/racial-gender-report-card">league’s majority racialized player pool</a>. </p>
<p>Abhorrent language connected to racism, sexism and homophobia is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230305892_6">inextricably linked to behaviours and value systems aligned with white supremacy</a>. </p>
<p>When the news first broke, it looked like Gruden might actually keep his US$100 million contract position, as <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32377814/las-vegas-raiders-players-react-jon-gruden-2011-emails-coach-apologizes-again">several players and related personnel appeared neutral</a>. In instances like these, why don’t more people speak up? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden speaks with officials" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Assuaging white guilt, like Jon Gruden’s, by not disavowing racism obscures any required accountability of the NFL.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a vivid display of the systemic power operating within the league, <a href="https://www.sportscasting.com/tony-dungy-mike-tirico-let-jon-gruden-off-hook-racially-insensitive-language-during-sunday-night-football-delay-we-need-to-except-that-apology-and-move-on/">Mike Tirico and Tony Dungy defended Gruden’s character</a> and advocated for his vindication on <em>Sunday Night Football</em>. Dungy, a former player and coach himself, <a href="https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/8423224002">stated during the broadcast</a>: “I’m not going to chalk everything up to racism. I think we accept his apology, move forward and move on.” </p>
<p>After more emails were released and Gruden’s resignation was announced, Dungy sort of walked back on his on-air comments. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447887228433313794"}"></div></p>
<p>What the segment revealed, however, was the <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11021/33882">depth of dominant white patriarchal ideologies upheld by people</a> and impenetrable systemic practices within the NFL. Assuaging white guilt by not disavowing racism obscures any required accountability of the NFL. </p>
<h2>A certain kind of leadership</h2>
<p>In a league run, owned and coached by a handful of executives — the “Jon Grudens” of the world — the resulting enabling of systemic, oppressive white supremacy makes pushing for meaningful change seemingly impossible. </p>
<p>Countless examples illustrate the pervasiveness of this “leadership” issue like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/sports/football/nfl-washington-fine-snyder.html">rampant sexual harassment claims</a> and the failed <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/its-time-for-the-nfl-to-take-the-rooney-rule-seriously-or-get-rid-of-it/">Rooney Rule policy</a> — an NFL policy that <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/31/rooney-rule-explained-nfl-diversity-policy">requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching jobs</a>. Only three out of 32 coaches are Black, in a league where <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1167935/racial-diversity-nfl-players/">over 57.5 per cent of its players are Black</a>. </p>
<p>The way in which such controversies are covered also constrains opportunities for organized resistance. For several decades, news outlets have recognized that <a href="https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/race-after-technology">racial slurs and misogynistic remarks from high-profile leaders are top revenue generators</a>. The preoccupation with dragging people through (virtual) public platforms happens within a matter of minutes. </p>
<p>The label of “racist” is depicted as a death sentence, immediately denied using various tactics like “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/color-blindness-is-counterproductive/405037/">I don’t see colour</a>” or “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/health/racial-microaggressions-examples-responses-wellness/index.html">I have Black friends</a>.” As readers, we must critically examine the deeper issues related to systems of racism that are at the root of these behaviours. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Las Vegas Raiders former head coach Jon Gruden walks across the field during an NFL football training camp practice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Only three out of 32 coaches are Black, in a league where over 57.5 per cent of its players are Black.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Locher)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While airing such vile acts provides necessary opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations, <a href="https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/race-after-technology">shaming and humiliation can be cathartic for people that too frequently have their experiences questioned or silenced</a>. A persisting consequence of witnesses labelling individuals as racists to be cast away <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv11vcbrf">too often delineates and absolves institutions from redressing larger systemic issues</a>. </p>
<p>When similar events occur (think of the <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/don-cherry-fired">firing of Don Cherry</a> or the <a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/08/26/espn-pulls-rachel-nichols-from-nba-coverage-cancels-the-jump">Rachel Nichols debacle</a>), and some racialized community members surface in defense of “the system” or supposed “forgivable acts,” the <a href="https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca/en/resources/glossary-a-terms-en-gb-1/item/27038-lateral-violence">lateral violence</a> inflicted against one another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1427586">strengthens anti-Black racism, as well as existing white supremacist institutions, policies and practices</a>.</p>
<h2>The colloquial apology</h2>
<p>Gruden’s resignation message included the seemingly ubiquitous “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone” trope. This, of course, is not an apology, but rather a failed acknowledgement insinuating a false narrative that his words were not meant for harm. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447742101693898753"}"></div></p>
<p>While we can debate intention versus impact, what cannot be understated is the power that words hold; they carry the weight, harm and oppression of the systems in which they are spoken. </p>
<p>As we continue to uncover behaviours and actions of coaches and other people in positions of power within institutions, we must interrogate the systemic structures of oppression which too often validate the transgressor and justify such practices. </p>
<p>While the resignation of Gruden signals a much-needed shift that hopefully forces franchises to be introspective when shaping their team’s social climate, we must not forget who the system was built to protect.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169806/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Braeden McKenzie receives funding from Sport Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sabrina Razack does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Jon Gruden’s resignation signals a much needed shift that hopefully forces franchises to be introspective when shaping their team’s social climate.Sabrina Razack, Sessional Instructor, Kinesiology & Physical Education, University of TorontoBraeden McKenzie, PhD Candidate; Reseach Assistant @ the IDEAS lab; Sessional Instructor, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1670362021-09-08T16:46:16Z2021-09-08T16:46:16ZAs U.S. football season kicks off, climate change threatens the game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419890/original/file-20210907-15-1122jmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4467%2C2975&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">University of Oregon running back Travis Dye celebrates his touchdown against Fresno State in a stadium smokey from nearby wildfires.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andy Nelson)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many in the United States, the first sign of fall is the start of football season. College students are back on campus and broadcasting networks are gearing up for the usual <a href="https://www.nfl.com/schedules/">Thursday-to-Monday coverage</a>. But the impacts of climate change have undeniably worsened in recent years, converging in a cluster of disasters each summer and fall — also known as prime football time.</p>
<p>With the U.S. <a href="https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2021-north-american-wildfire-season/">West Coast fighting fires</a>, and the country’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58429853">south and northeast drowning in storms</a>, it begs the question of whether it might be time to reschedule football.</p>
<p>Right now, more than 42,000 Californians have been relocated due to fire that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fires-environment-and-nature-california-18d949a81e52a85198e1089f711aae5c">experts warn could burn for months</a>. Last week in Louisiana, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8149897/hurricane-ida-katrina-similarities/">Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 storm</a>, the strongest hurricane to hit in the state in over 150 years. </p>
<p>Neighbouring states have been similarly impacted: the smoke from wildfires has spread <a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-fires-maine-wildfires-air-quality-55fcb718dfc973e45483a14fc9745311">as far east as Maine</a>, and Ida drenched the entire East Coast, leaving parts of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/09/02/nyregion/nyc-storm">New York City under water</a>. Combined, these disasters could directly impact half a dozen NFL teams, and more than 20 NCAA <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/sports/football/fbs">Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs</a>. </p>
<p>While some minor adaptations have occurred, such as the Louisiana State (LSU) Tigers <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32104669/lsu-tigers-football-relocating-houston-practice-ahead-hurricane-ida">relocating temporarily</a> to Houston, the University of Nevada Wolf Pack <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32039488/nevada-wolfpack-moving-training-camp-stanford-due-poor-air-quality-caused-wildfires">practising at Stanford</a> and the Fresno State Bulldogs <a href="https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/college-football/fresno-state-establishes-contingency-plan-in-case-players-cleats-melt-on-field/">announcing a contingency plan</a> in case players’ cleats melt on the turf due to heat, it’s clear bigger response strategies are needed when it comes to sport and climate change.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1432498489783726080"}"></div></p>
<h2>Beating the heat</h2>
<p>To date, the only hard-and-fast weather policy in college and professional football is for <a href="http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/rulebook/pdfs/20_Rule17_Emergencies_UnfairActs.pdf">lightning and flooding</a>. Despite losing high profile athletes like <a href="https://ksi.uconn.edu/about/korey-stringer-institute/">Korey Stringer</a> (Minnesota Vikings) and <a href="https://thejordanmcnairfoundation.org/about-us/">Jordan McNair</a> (University of Maryland) to heatstroke in 2001 and 2018, no rules have been adopted for heat. </p>
<p>The number of sports-related exertional heat stroke (EHS) deaths has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-014-9240-0">more than doubled since 1975</a>. American football has had the greatest number of EHS fatalities in the U.S. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://nccsir.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5614/2021/03/Annual-Football-2020-Fatalities-FINAL.pdf">National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research</a>, heat illness was the third most common cause of sports-related fatalities in U.S. high school and college football players between 1990 and 2020. </p>
<p>The Center for Disease Control has identified heat illness as the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5932a1.htm">leading cause of death among high school athletes across sports</a>. Regardless of age and competition level, the first few weeks of training are when the greatest number of EHS and exertional heat illness events (like heat exhaustion and cramping) occur. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nccde.org/DocumentCenter/View/5395/NCAA-Prevention-of-Heat-Illness">NCAA</a> and <a href="https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/health-and-wellness/player-care/preventing-and-treating-exertional-heat-stroke">NFL</a> have adopted guidelines for preventing and managing heat-related illnesses, which include a heavy focus on hydration and acclimatization. However the schedules they’ve adopted for football season places their athletes’ pre-season and early season training in the hottest months of the northern hemisphere’s calendar, even for northern states.</p>
<h2>Escaping hurricanes and fires</h2>
<p>In 2017, half a dozen <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/9/9/16275926/hurricane-irma-harvey-cfb-chedule-changes">college football games in the FBS were cancelled</a>, and several more postponed and relocated due to Hurricane Irma, which swept the Southeastern U.S. </p>
<p>That same year, at the NFL level, a Miami Dolphins game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20603309/nfl-officially-postpones-sunday-tampa-bay-buccaneers-miami-dolphins-game-due-hurricane-irma">postponed several weeks</a>, eliminating the players’ regular season break. Just one year later, Hurricane Florence rocked the eastern seaboard and caused several college and professional football programs to <a href="https://www.jaguars.com/news/hurricane-dorian-forces-changes">reschedule or cancel practices and games</a>. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2019/08/27/tropical-storm-dorian-tracker-games-affected-florida-state-boise-state">did the same</a> and in 2020, <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/hurricane-delta-college-football-games-weather/5efb35akecb21m27je55ic3aa">Hurricane Delta moved several college football games</a> in an already limited season due to COVID-19.</p>
<p>On the U.S. West Coast, wildfires are burning more land each year, emitting smoke and polluting the air. Researchers established long ago that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(86)90344-6">athletes are at higher risk of inhaling pollutants</a> because during physical activity, more air is inhaled through the mouth, bypassing nasal filtration systems. Pollutants are also inhaled more deeply during play and can diffuse into the bloodstream or lodge themselves in the body’s air tracts. Poor air quality can also slow the game, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/698728">impede referees’ decision-making abilities</a> and cause discomfort for fans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A football player stretches on the field surrounded by teammates" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419882/original/file-20210907-5388-1s7mrcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The New Orleans Saints were recently displaced by Hurricane Ida, forcing the team to take up practising 500 miles away in the home of another NFL team.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A game changer</h2>
<p>Over the years, the primary response to hurricanes and wildfires has been to delay or postpone games. In some cases, teams have relocated temporarily — uprooting athletes from their classes and families, moving games out of their home stadiums. </p>
<p>Football programs serve as a <a href="https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/event-cancellation-what-is-one-game-worth-to-your-institution/">financial lifeline</a> and cultural centrepiece for many colleges. With only eight home games per season and lucrative broadcasting deals on the line, it’s difficult for universities to afford the financial losses associated with cancellations. </p>
<p>Researchers at the University of Louisville <a href="https://doi.org/10.18060/24922">identified the potential for athletic departments to anticipate natural disasters and purchase cancellation insurance</a> to recuperate some of the losses. But after a hard financial year due to COVID-19, football programs nationwide are hesitant to spend extra money for insurance or forgo the profits of a game.</p>
<p>Pushing the season back by four weeks could avoid the bulk of these challenges, which typically surges in August and early September. While the football community may not like the idea of waiting a few extra weeks for Opening Day, and there will be implications on the back-end of the season, this solution would minimise in-season disruptions and risks to athlete health. </p>
<p>If leagues insist on playing <a href="https://www.rookieroad.com/football/bowl-games/">bowl games</a> over Christmas and New Year’s, they could consider cutting games from the season or playing through the exam period in December, which is usually quiet. Based on the injury rates in football generally, losing one or two games a season could also benefit player safety and prolong careers.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/">this most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report</a>, conditions are likely to worsen in the coming years, and with it, the future of American football will change. Football will be forced to adapt to the rapidly changing environment; nothing — not even sport — is safe from the effects of climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeleine Orr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It might be time to reschedule football season. With rising temperatures, poorer air quality and a worsening hurricane season, climate change threatens the future of the American sport.Madeleine Orr, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1594762021-04-21T15:44:20Z2021-04-21T15:44:20ZEuropean Super League collapse: US football owners badly misread supporter culture in England<p>Barely two days after it was unveiled, the European Super League (ESL) is dead in the water. All six of the English clubs who made up the 12 founding members of the proposed breakaway competition pulled out, following loud opposition from everyone from the FA to Uefa to the UK government to fans. With the owners now hastily apologising and trying to make amends, the ESL founder and Juventus chairman, Andrea Agnelli, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/21/european-super-league-vows-to-reshape-after-english-clubs-pull-out">has conceded</a> defeat. </p>
<p>There is much discussion about what exactly the owners of these 12 clubs were hoping to achieve with their ESL announcement, but it surely wasn’t this debacle. One aspect of this story that is particularly noticeable is that American owners figured heavily in the English end of the breakaway, with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United all controlled from the US. </p>
<p>While England and the US have a lot in common, the design and administration of field sports is not one of them. This very short-lived super league has demonstrated just how big these differences are.</p>
<h2>Place power</h2>
<p>The franchise model of the US is as much about cooperation off the field as it is competition on it. Things that would be unconscionable in England are commonplace in the US. Relocation is probably the best example.</p>
<p>Beginning in 1936, the National Football League’s Los Angeles Rams have also been called the Cleveland Rams and St Louis Rams. Most recently, the NFL’s Oakland Raiders <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/12/15/21020536/las-vegas-raiders-oakland-explained-relocation">have shifted</a> to Las Vegas (they also had a stint in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s). </p>
<p>And it doesn’t end with American football. In baseball, the Salt Lake City Trappers <a href="https://www.deseret.com/1992/12/3/19019425/trappers-proud-of-their-part-in-triple-a-plan">were forced</a> to move several hours away to Pocatello, Idaho in 1993 and then Ogden, northern Utah in 1994. This was because the Portland Beavers, who played in a superior league, did a deal with Salt Lake City officials to move to the city and use the Trappers’ baseball park. The Beavers renamed as The Salt Lake City Buzz, and following several more name changes, they are now known as the Salt Lake City Bees. </p>
<p>English football fans do not tolerate this kind of thing. In June 2012 the Malaysian owners of Cardiff City announced that the club would be changing from their traditional blue jerseys to a new red kit, emblazoned with a dragon rather than the bluebird that had first appeared in the 1960s.</p>
<p>Outrage immediately ensued from the supporters. The blue of Cardiff, first worn around 1908, was not for changing. A statement issued by the club at the time, focusing on broadening the club’s appeal to “international markets” and “major and significant” investment, did nothing to appease the fans. The red jersey had to go.</p>
<p>Following two and a half years of pressure from fans, Cardiff City announced on January 9 2015 that the “club will wear a blue home kit and red away kit next season (2015/16)”. The crest was also going to be redesigned to feature the traditional bluebird. So much for Welsh dragons. </p>
<p>Around the same time, Hull City supporters entered a protracted battle with the Allam family, which owns the football club. Hull’s chairman, Assem Allam, a British-Egyptian industrialist, was seeking to change the name to Hull Tigers. After more than two years of protests and disagreement, a vote confirmed that the change had been resisted. The fans had won again.</p>
<p>What both owners apparently failed to appreciate were the historical roots of these clubs, stretching back more than 100 years. Supporters have deep emotional attachments to club colours or names that are intertwined with customs, habits and ways of behaving. </p>
<h2>Why the ESL got relegated</h2>
<p>The owners of England’s big six clubs seem to have made a similar mistake on a massive scale. The idea that six clubs, all members of the oldest set of interconnected leagues in the world, could simply walk away from nearly 140 years of tradition, league design and competitive behaviour as well as unravel 70 years of European competition by moving to a system with no promotion or relegation, was never going to work.</p>
<p>The sanctity of promotion and relegation is what sets European football apart from most American team sports. A super league in which the biggest teams automatically took part would have had devastating consequences for domestic leagues: weakened teams, meaningless fixtures, reduced attendance demand – the list goes on. </p>
<p>While the fallout from this is yet to be known, almost everyone agrees that European football needs to change to reflect the modern game. There are too many international commitments for players, and the group stages of the Champions League have become largely uncompetitive. This is down to both the seeding of the draw by Uefa and the large number of top clubs in the competition, many of whom appear every year, since three or four clubs from each league qualify each season. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/04/21/future-champions-league-will-revamp-work-will-breakaway-rebels/">new Champions League system</a> that is due to begin in 2024-25 looks like a move even further in this direction. It will expand the competition in a way that will make it possible for two or three more big clubs to qualify even if they don’t finish in the top four places in their domestic league the previous season (or win the previous year’s Champions League or Europa League). </p>
<p>It means almost twice as many European matches each year and moves closer to a system in which the biggest clubs are always guaranteed to qualify – though clearly not guaranteed enough from the perspective of the breakaway 12. It is not clear whether they these teams will now accept this system or insist on further negotiations with Uefa. </p>
<p>Whether the collapse of the ESL could now change the direction of travel to reduce the dominance of the top clubs in this system is an interesting question. The fabric of the game and the wishes of supporters throughout Europe should be protected, though there is not much sign of opposition to the Champions League reforms. </p>
<p>At any rate, Uefa and the breakaway clubs are co-dependent and will inevitably have to come back together. The European Super League was not the answer but it may still act as the catalyst for a way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159476/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Butler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two days after 12 of Europe’s leading clubs broke away to launch a new competition, they appear to be back in the fold.Robert Butler, Director of the Centre for Sports Economics and Law, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1459872020-09-17T16:54:09Z2020-09-17T16:54:09ZNFL concussion lawsuit payouts reveal how racial bias in science continues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358468/original/file-20200916-20-1s9eygt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3091%2C2141&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seattle Seahawks quarterback Rick Mirer (3) is sacked for a seven-yard-loss by Kevin Henry (76) of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter of their NFL game on Dec. 26, 1993. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photos/Gary Stewart)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first week of the 2020 National Football League (NFL) season occurred amid a growing <a href="https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29536768/storm-liberty-honor-breonna-taylor-prior-wnba-opener">social justice movement</a> in professional sport. While other athletes <a href="https://theconversation.com/nba-playoffs-to-resume-after-boycott-over-jacob-blake-police-shooting-145150">protested police violence</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54088453">honoured Black victims</a>, the NFL games included a “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/11/us/nfl-chiefs-texans-unity-spt-trnd/index.html">moment of unity</a>” against racism. Slogans “<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/09/01/nfl-end-zone-social-justice-slogans-end-racism">End Racism</a>” and “It Takes All of Us” <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/behind-the-t-shirt-and-message-nfl-players-will-be-wearing-in-week-1/">featured prominently</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, two former players, Najeh Davenport and Kevin Henry, have accused the NFL of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/sports/football/nfl-concussion-racial-bias.html">discriminating against Black players</a> seeking compensation through the league’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/sports/football/judge-announces-settlement-in-nfl-concussion-suit.html">concussion settlement</a>. Both men — who are Black — allege race-based adjustments to neurocognitive test scores resulted in their ineligibility for dementia-related payments. </p>
<p>Having studied <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sociocultural-Examinations-of-Sports-Concussions/Ventresca-McDonald/p/book/9780367134501">responses to brain injury</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479518761636">degenerative brain diseases</a> among <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659019879888">former NFL players</a>, we acknowledge this latest criticism is only one of several problems with the league’s concussion settlement. Davenport and Henry’s complaint, however, highlights inequalities beyond workplace compensation. It is an example of how racial science continues to harm Black people by upholding racist beliefs about white superiority. </p>
<p>If Black lives matter, science — like the criminal justice system — needs to reckon with the fact that its <a href="https://theconversation.com/proposed-1920s-orphanage-study-just-one-example-in-history-of-scientific-racism-37015">struggles with racism</a> are not a thing of the past.</p>
<h2>NFL concussion settlement</h2>
<p>In response to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 4,500 ex-players in 2012, the NFL agreed to a settlement of <a href="https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/press-release-2.pdf">US$765 million</a> in 2014. The final agreement allowed for up to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/nfl-concussion-settlement-wins-final-approval-from-judge/">US$1 billion</a> in compensation for retired players with serious medical conditions linked to repeated head trauma. </p>
<p>The settlement <a href="https://theconversation.com/nfl-settlement-fails-to-address-impact-of-collision-sports-17686">has been criticized</a> for a variety of reasons. It precluded further investigation into the NFL’s conduct and delivered a relatively small award compared to the league’s annual revenue. </p>
<p>More problems arose when ex-players began filing claims. Revelations about <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/23324920/court-documents-lay-another-ugly-allegation-nfl-concussion-deal">conflicts of interest</a>, <a href="https://deadspin.com/report-predatory-lenders-are-preying-on-nfl-concussion-1818660618">predatory lenders targeting applicants</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/sports/football/nfl-concussion-lawsuit.html">significant payment delays</a> came to light. </p>
<p>To date, retired players have received around $720 million for neurocognitive problems, including more than $300 million for dementia. However, more than two-thirds of the approximately 3,000 dementia-related claims have been denied. Davenport and Henry’s claims raise questions about how racial biases may contribute to the low rate of dementia-related awards. </p>
<h2>Scientific discrimination</h2>
<p>Davenport and Henry’s legal complaint describes “a discriminatory testing regime” where doctors can apply different baseline standards: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Black former players have been automatically assumed, through a statistical manipulation called ‘race-norming,’ to have started with worse cognitive functioning than white former players.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The use of race-norming in neuropsychology seeks to account for historical trends showing Black people may have lower average scores on cognitive tests than white people. The rationale for creating lower benchmark scores for Black people is to prevent them from being subject to overdiagnosis of cognitive impairment. </p>
<p>Race-norming adjusts for racial biases within the cognitive tests, but <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13854040590945346">it does not eliminate them</a>. The practice glosses over the <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Dt4sq0oHX_wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA79&dq=related:CRJpMg_fZ6kJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=imqn7yVqUN&sig=YRM1TTv_EGOO2uPJgQWqJ23UcOs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">diversity of experiences</a> and can perpetuate sweeping ideas about inherent differences between racial groups. </p>
<p>In the NFL’s case, the lower average baseline makes it harder for Black award applicants to demonstrate they have suffered severe cognitive impairment compared to their white counterparts. The complaint emphasizes Davenport and Henry would have qualified for awards had this race-based requirement not been in place. <a href="https://apnews.com/ce3318eb5ede5763d9e5d4651322cc3c">Four U.S. lawmakers have written to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell</a>, expressing concerns that the assessment process violates equal protection requirements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a player holding a football runs past a player from another team" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358469/original/file-20200916-24-1p63xzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Green Bay Packers’ Najeh Davenport breaks away from St. Louis Rams’ Rich Coady (25) for a 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter on Nov. 29, 2004, in Green Bay, Wis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenging racial science</h2>
<p>The issues in the NFL concussion awards reflect broader concerns around the misuse of race in medicine and science. In early September, a letter published in <em>Science</em> called on the U.S. National Institutes of Health to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd4842">address the misguided tendency to analyze race categories as if they are indicators of inherent racial differences</a>. The focus on race overlooks how racism interacts with other inequalities. </p>
<p>Environmental, social and structural disparities — not biological characteristics — are drivers of poorer health outcomes in Black, Indigenous and other communities of colour. By using the category of race to stand in for cultural, socioeconomic and educational experiences, the NFL’s baseline for measuring neurocognitive damage is an inaccurate representation of differences between groups of players. It is an instance of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243919841695">biosocial determinism</a>,” which misrepresents how societal conditions affect discrepancies in brain health and function. </p>
<p>The concussion award assessments demonstrate how science can buttress deceptively simple biological explanations and downplay the impact of systemic inequalities. </p>
<h2>Why sport matters</h2>
<p>Sport has been — and continues to be — an influential space in which race-based claims have shaped perceptions of athletes’ bodies and their abilities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oppressive-seeds-of-the-colin-kaepernick-backlash-66358">The oppressive seeds of the Colin Kaepernick backlash</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Myths about the biological superiority (and intellectual shortcomings) of Black athletes influence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690218809317">media coverage</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322042000250475">player scouting</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/04/27/nfl-draft-profiles-are-full-of-racial-stereotypes-and-that-matters-for-when-quarterbacks-get-drafted/">evaluation practices</a>. “<a href="https://thesocietypages.org/engagingsports/2019/10/09/race-and-social-class-in-college-football-positions-why-black-quarterbacks-are-economically-poorer-than-black-running-backs/">Stacking</a>” Black players into different positions than white players is still common in football. </p>
<p>Sport science <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43609445">has long bolstered</a> misguided beliefs by offering <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02614360801902257">measures</a> that seemingly validate cultural stereotypes about racial difference. Davenport and Henry’s legal complaint highlights how the NFL continues to use racial science even as the league claims to promote support racial justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145987/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Ventresca has previously received funding from the Integrated Concussion Research Program at the University of Calgary. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Henne receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian National University Futures Scheme.</span></em></p>In the NFL, anti-Black racism shows up in the disparities between concussion settlements to injured athletes. The amounts of the payouts are determined using assessments that rely on racist science.Matt Ventresca, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Communication, Media, and Film, University of CalgaryKathryn Henne, Professor and Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1030812018-09-28T10:35:01Z2018-09-28T10:35:01ZIs it immoral to watch football?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238179/original/file-20180926-48656-1kbmh7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What ethical issues should you consider when watching football?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisbrooks/1408419587/in/photolist-39sw5k-aw9o55-5rEnmC-d69ttj-5rCejv-aw9sbG-5ruiJQ-5ryARg-t4TFG-dmjbEM-cg2HUo-2Z57qp-3dZUCN-dcDbMf-5pHskA-6NRPXZ-34Nmv4-g9GL2W-8Me6Zd-gHUwQn-cg2KBu-6NQgkZ-8Afe1P-ayJapD-gNgxBV-ayMcF5-dmj3xZ-ayJWNM-6NRBVp-giHQcH-bUkcwT-gNgPs3-c2MX9Y-t4U8X-2Z8THA-gHVBHC-djnBAy-b4ALrR-d83anY-ayLN63-LrEJ2-bzbNrj-5mpaSE-dmj7WZ-ayMtry-92rxFQ-7nrs4o-8Katiq-djnAqw-cg2Vo9">Chris Brooks/flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For a large swath of Americans, fall means football. But, as in previous years, this season’s football has been mired in controversy.</p>
<p>Most notable of these has been the Colin Kaepernick case. Kaepernick has <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/04/25/leaked-tapes-nfl-owners-players-october-meeting-kaepernick-collusion-case-donald-trump">accused the NFL</a> of colluding to keep him off the field because of his protests against police brutality and racial inequality during the playing of the national anthem. A recent ruling has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/sports/colin-kaepernick-collusion-case-nfl.html">granted him a full hearing</a> in the dispute. </p>
<p>And this hasn’t been the only controversy. Scientific findings have shown that regular practice of football increases the <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cte-brain-damage-football-players-top-science-stories-2017-yir">risk of brain diseases</a>. Allegations regarding the <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2014/10/21/violence-of-football-is-becoming-too-difficult-to-justify/">intrinsic violent nature of the game</a> and an increasing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/11/02/turned-off-nfl-fans-too-angry-too-commercialized-and-too-stupid-expensive/">commercialization of the sport</a> have been the subject of recent headlines as well. </p>
<p>For fans who consider the sport from an ethical perspective, all these issues raise a question: Is watching football morally problematic?</p>
<h2>Football injuries</h2>
<p>At its core, football demands skill and tactical acumen. Indeed, as philosopher <a href="http://www.miqols.org/howb/authors/biographies/alex-michalos/">Alexis C. Michalos</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00948705.1976.10654110">said more than four decades ago</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“There’s something admirable about the performance of an excellent running back, a scrambling quarterback or a defensive player with the knack of being in the right place at the right time. Anyone who has tried to match such performances must admire them.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, in the way it is currently practiced, football is seriously dangerous for players. </p>
<p>Repetitive brain trauma makes football players highly vulnerable to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurogenerative disease. A 2017 study found that <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/most-football-players-who-donated-their-brains-science-had-traumatic-injury">99 percent of deceased NFL players</a> who had donated their brains to scientific research suffered from this disease. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238371/original/file-20180927-48653-x1kb2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The risk of injuries for football players is comparatively higher.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/merelymel/2835102176/in/photolist-5jwD71-oSXUh2-6YhJjv-dZVg9T-6XZcCv-nYyHWe-nWSvQQ-omnrTR-9zJBbK-at4gWG-bef2zz-axkeWV-axnVLm-6YmKNy-2E8NSZ-nvUs9r-8juoMw-dGgub7-2fdxi-9gMd8k-bLexs8-qdiuYL-7e8tsx-5rtZow-7eftpb-7ecmqb-dgdvZe-9KK9FP-bUPJY7-qhweCK-38h83m-59eKdT-7dXkiz-quNK6Z-ebydtC-nWTBdP-pxZ64Y-7svUjp-7dXk6e-ock6pU-ce7Zoq-9d5tvb-bUPBbo-4btkVW-oecA5S-dR4czn-oeKhQW-97xkBG-97ufrv-5de1Eo">Melissa Doroquez/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, football players <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3418954/">suffer the most injuries</a> among athletes.
A study of the injury rates among high school student-athletes estimated that the injury rate for football was twice that of soccer or basketball. </p>
<h2>Culture of violence?</h2>
<p>In his blistering 1991 poem “<a href="http://www.haroldpinter.org/poetry/poetry_football.shtml">American Football</a>,” British writer Harold Pinter, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in literature, depicts the sport as “deliberately” violent. Aimed at satirizing the violent character of the Gulf War, Pinter portrays war and football as being intimately connected. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=z3_i9-AAAAAJ&hl=th">scholars</a> who study the <a href="https://www.brockport.edu/academics/kinesiology/faculty/torres.html">ethics of sport</a>, we would argue that while football does require the use of bodily force, it is not that football is inherently violent. Sport philosopher <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/profile/20042/502/jim_parry">Jim Parry</a>, for example, contests this claim by defining violence as involving <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Ethics-and-Sport/McNamee-Parry/p/book/9780419215103">“intentional hurt or injury to others</a>.” </p>
<p>It is not inherent violence but a culture of violence around the sport that is troubling. </p>
<p>Nate Jackson, a former football player, describes in his 2013 memoir, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062108036/slow-getting-up/">“Slow Getting Up,”</a> that for most of his colleagues, the main rewards of the sport relate to violence. For instance, one of the main lessons players must learn to be successful is “decide what you’re going to do and do it violently.” </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://perival.com/delillo/delillo.html">Don DeLillo</a> compellingly <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/16/lifetimes/del-r-endzone.html">captured the rhetoric and ethos of violence</a> surrounding football in his 1972 novel “End Zone.” Gary, the book’s running-back narrator, describes football in militaristic language that resembles warfare. </p>
<p>Furthermore, far from being ideologically neutral, some commentators argue football appeals to conservative values. <a href="http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1113&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=48">Registered Republicans have been found more likely to be NFL fans</a> than registered Democrats. Perhaps this could explain President Donald Trump’s denunciation of players who decided not to stand for the pregame national anthem. </p>
<h2>More about money?</h2>
<p>As for its commercialization, consider the following: In the last decade, the NFL has raked in billions in lucrative broadcasting rights deals. Verizon paid <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/verizons-2-billion-nfl-streaming-deal-benefit-ad-business-2017-12">over US$2 billion for five years</a> for the right to stream NFL games across its digital platforms.</p>
<p>It is true, as philosopher <a href="https://philosophy.nd.edu/people/emeritus/alasdair-macintyre/">Alasdair MacIntyre</a> contends, social practices <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/after-virtue-9781780936253/">need institutions to flourish</a>. In turn, institutions require financial resources to accomplish that goal. The problem, however, comes when institutions pursue those resources at the expense of the very virtues and values that define those practices. </p>
<p>In the case of football, it could be argued that the form and skills that make it appealing are now a model for revenue generation. In doing so, its inherent virtues and values have been deemphasized, in favor of market values. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/oh150/oriard/biography.html">Michael Oriard</a>, a former football player and historian, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/commercialized-and-professionalized-oriardmichael-bowled-over-big-time-college-football-from-the-sixties-to-the-bcs-era-chapel-hill-nc-university-of-north-carolina-press-2009-pp-352-3000/1DB5C482DD67E9EF592982D44D2A7EF1">contends</a>, the story of NFL football “is necessarily about money, lots of money. Professional football has always been about money.” The commercial aspect has become even more prominent as a result of its commodification as a television product. </p>
<p>These days the litany of television commercial breaks has not only <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanberr/2018/08/28/the-nfls-ratings-probably-will-continue-to-decline/">negatively impacted</a> the length and pace of games but also driven fans’ attention away from football. Indeed, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000794543/article/roger-goodell-outlines-plans-to-improve-pace-of-game">league worried</a> about the impact of commercials in the flow and pace of the game. </p>
<h2>What are the ethics?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238192/original/file-20180926-48659-1vm5hbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Football is an important part of America’s shared culture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robandsunshine/97222696/in/photolist-9AhVo-pbHr21-pbJfzN-4q93xQ-pVzvEr-q8nrec-qH5nW7-dRFRyV-HuFGnu-5W6Gvs-245HZ5Z-dS3vVE-4q5uCH-qXmW5h-9g9BM8-9xWPKN-NcnsNy-qJDdiX-4P9mx-qzUiXi-pVzvEB-qHEeAR-s9jx2h-d7xzjC-dQKq9M-dNx7Np-7BuUGw-RMaCtX-qJDd8B-dNCHmd-52BC5x-5Zgog7-r5Xp8e-5WTE2U-qWqZjJ-Tmqt2R-Dj1UGe-fQnfE6-26vzoxg-oC8Cp3-jJCuZS-j8tGKR-EzdFHt-ksexL-pRae4g-9v22f-pRaUqc-a6nyK-9gkFNw-rcMksP">sunshine.patchoulli/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historians point out that the Super Bowl is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2017.1348756">America’s largest shared cultural experience</a>. It could be argued that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00948705.1997.9714536">football fans learn to speak and shape their national identity</a> by, among other things, engaging in the sport. Football, in other words, embodies and reveals the main values of the culture, playing a key role in shaping the way in which Americans imagine their common national identity. </p>
<p>Considering all the morally problematic aspects surrounding football, it is worth asking: Is this the kind of social practice around which Americans should imagine and build their national identity? </p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This piece is part of our series on ethical questions arising from everyday life. We would welcome your suggestions. Please email us at <a href="mailto:ethical.questions@theconversation.com">ethical.questions@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Football plays an important role in American culture. Experts point out some ethical questions you might consider asking this season.Francisco Javier López Frías, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Penn StateCesar R. Torres, Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Sport Studies and Physical Education, The College at Brockport, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1027072018-09-05T06:33:26Z2018-09-05T06:33:26ZNike’s courageous new ad campaign mixing racial politics with sport will be vindicated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234973/original/file-20180905-45178-oi2dsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NFL player Colin Kaepernick, centre, started a protest against police violence by kneeling during the US National Anthem in 2016. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">JOHN G MABANGLO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sports apparel giant Nike stirred up controversy on Monday when it unveiled its “Just Do It: 30th anniversary” advertising campaign. It featured a variety of superstar American athletes including the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/taking-a-knee-national-anthem-nfl-trump-why-meaning-origins-racism-us-colin-kaepernick-a8521741.html">polarising quarterback Colin Kaepernick</a>, who started the Bend the Knee protests in the NFL in September 2016. </p>
<p>The protests had initially targeted police violence against people of colour but broadened into a wider protest against US President Donald Trump after he said any player who knelt during the anthem was a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/22/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-protests">“son of bitch”</a>. Trump, who continues to suggest that the NFL should withhold the kneeling players’ <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/398146-trump-demands-roger-goodell-make-a-stand-on-players-kneeling">salaries</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/04/donald-trump-colin-kaepernick-nike-ad-campaign-response">said the new Nike ad</a> was a “terrible message … that shouldn’t be sent”. </p>
<p>Nike’s ad featured a powerful black and white photo of Kaepernick telling consumers to “believe in something. Even if means sacrificing everything.” The hastag #JustDoIt struck a chord, trending for 24 hours on Twitter. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1036695513251434498"}"></div></p>
<p>There was an immediate <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad-ridiculous-he-has-sacrificed-nothing-opinion-1104855">backlash from conservatives</a> against the Nike advert. On social media, fans posted images and videos of burnt Nike jerseys and shoes using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23JustBurnIt&src=tyah">#justburnit</a>.</p>
<p>In a tweet that went viral, country musician John Rich showcased socks with the <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1036751396002050050">Nike swoosh cut out</a>. Nike’s stock price tumbled, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/04/nike-shares-tumble-after-company-reveals-new-ad-campaign-featuring-colin-kaepernick.html">losing 3% percent in market value</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1036751396002050050"}"></div></p>
<p>Not all the response to the Kaepernick ad has been negative. Many people support the NFL protests, and celebrities like the rapper Common, and Russell Crowe (along with Serena Williams, who is sponsored by Nike) joined in the #justdoit conversation online. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-us-sports-stars-are-taking-a-knee-against-trump-84605">Why US sports stars are taking a knee against Trump</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Corporate activism</h2>
<p>Perhaps no company is more aware of the power of popular political activism than Nike. In the 1990s, a popular consumer boycott in response to Nike’s environmental and labor practices severely undermined the company’s profits. </p>
<p>In joining forces with the Bend the Knee movement, Nike joins a host of companies taking on <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/137252/whats-driving-corporate-activism">progressive political causes</a> including LGBT rights, tax reform, and free speech. Most recently, in the US, the sporting goods retailer <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/02/28/dicks-sporting-goods-bans-sales-assault-weapons-after-parkland-florida-school-shooting/380382002/">Dick’s</a> stopped selling assault weapons after a student killed classmates in Florida with a gun purchased from one of their stores. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinemoorman/2018/09/04/big-brands-and-political-activism-what-do-marketers-think/#27e802b57cc9">Marketing experts are divided</a> over the wisdom of companies engaging in political action. Activism can show consumers that companies care about more than profits, but as conservatives’ reaction to Nike shows, taking a stand can be risky.</p>
<p>Over the long term, Nike probably hopes to benefit from this stand: its key demographics in the US and worldwide are younger and blacker than the people protesting them. <a href="https://twitter.com/b_schaffner/status/1036987938008166405">Younger Americans are said to strongly support</a> Kaepernick’s protest, and they are the biggest consumers of Nike products. Nike also knows that consumers develop brand loyalty early in their lives and maintain it for a long time. </p>
<p>Nike probably also faced considerable pressure from athletes who are increasingly using their personal brands to engage in politics. Basketballer Lebron James, Nike’s biggest spokesman in the NBA, has feuded with the Donald Trump and <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/lebron-james-vs-president-donald-trump-a-one-sided-battle/">condemned his policies as racist</a>. Michael Jordan has <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/trump-lebron-james-tweet/index.html">sided with James </a> against the embattled president.</p>
<p>Conservatives that want to avoid athletes and clothing retailers affiliated with Bend the Knee will find it <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/4/17818148/nike-boycott-kaepernick">increasingly hard to do so</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://operations.nfl.com/updates/the-game/nfl-announces-the-2018-regular-season-schedule/">NFL’s return this weekend</a> will only reignite the debate over the anthem protests. With almost the whole sports world seemingly arrayed against their politics it is easy to understand why some Republicans, like Fox News Host Laura Ingram, just want athletes such as James to “<a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/02/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-fox-news-laura-ingraham-shut-up-and-dribble-donald-trump-response-uninterrupted-video">shut up and dribble</a>.”</p>
<p>Colin Kaepernick and other athletes (while no doubt being handsomely paid by Nike) are boldly speaking out. In the future, Kaepernick and Nike will be vindicated for their bravery.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Rathbone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nike has provoked a conservative backlash by using NFL player Colin Kaepernick in its latest campaign. But the move should be applauded.Keith Rathbone, Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1007042018-07-30T10:33:50Z2018-07-30T10:33:50ZI’m an economist riding a bike across America, defying what the data says about cycling’s safety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229666/original/file-20180727-106502-1gg0jss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cycling can be more dangerous than it looks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Downhill-Mountain-Bike-Race/f5f2ee2182664a29ba56c00c17c29657/151/0">AP Photo/Kevin Clifford</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s summer, a time when many people who might have spent the winter hibernating get outside and start being more active by doing things like playing sports and going for bike rides. </p>
<p>While raising your heart rate and exercising your muscles is unquestionably a good thing, being more active – particularly after a long stretch of inactivity – has a downside: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28629991">increased risk of injury</a>. </p>
<p>This led me to wonder, how safe are the sports and other activities performed by a typical weekend warrior – or anyone really? Which sports are the most dangerous? </p>
<p>I am personally interested in the answers to these questions because I am now two-thirds into a <a href="http://blogs.bu.edu/zagorsky/">3,000-mile cross-country bicycle trip</a>, from Seattle to Washington, D.C. When people I meet along the way learn a middle-aged man is pedaling alone along highways, gravel roads and bike trails, the first question they usually ask is: “Is it safe?”</p>
<p>Given the near misses and <a href="http://blogs.bu.edu/zagorsky/2018/07/17/day_18_19/">one crash</a> on loose gravel I have had since I set out a month ago, I tell them my own experience suggests it is not the safest activity. Nevertheless, as an economist, <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com/">I</a> am trained to understand personal experience is no substitute for looking at actual data.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229712/original/file-20180729-106502-u1k6ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author prepares to enter the Snoqualmie Tunnel, an abandoned railroad tunnel through the Cascades now used by bicyclists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jay Zagorsky</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tracking injuries</h2>
<p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/">Consumer Product Safety Commission</a> is the government agency that gathers data and makes rules to help reduce the risk of injury or death when using equipment like a bike, golf club or even a treadmill. </p>
<p>The agency tracks specific types of injury from every kind of sport and makes this available online via the <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/es/research--statistics/neiss-injury-data">National Electronic Injury Surveillance System</a>. This database not only tracks sports-related injuries but also those from contact with any kind of consumer product from ATVs to workshop tools.</p>
<p>Its focus, as the name implies, is on ensuring products are safe. The agency estimates that using faulty consumer products costs the U.S. more than <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/About-CPSC/">US$1 trillion a year</a> due to damage, death and injuries. </p>
<p>The injury surveillance system has tracked injuries since 1979. It counts only injuries that resulted in a person ending up in a hospital emergency room. Those that people take care of at home or leave untreated are not counted.</p>
<p>The data are released in aggregate form and also as <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Research--Statistics/NEISS-Injury-Data/Instructions-for-Using-the-NEISS-Estimates-Query-Builder">individual case records</a> without people’s name or geographic location. For example, among the first injuries reported in 2017 came on New Year’s Day, when a 21-year-old white man visited the ER after boxing with a friend while drunk and getting punched in the face. He was treated for his head injury and released.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229664/original/file-20180727-106508-1nnf1px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Relatively few people get injured riding horses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Horses-Helping-Kids/c31f782894e24776be3db5c66e92336b/71/0">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The most dangerous sports</h2>
<p>Perhaps unfortunately for me, the database shows that what I’m doing – bicycling – is indeed quite dangerous. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/2017-Neiss-data-highlights.pdf">An estimated 455,000 people</a> were injured while using a bicycle in 2017 and ended up in an emergency room, the third-highest in the sports and recreational equipment category. The estimate comes from actual data reported by hospitals and then statistically adjusted based on U.S. Census data. </p>
<p>The most dangerous sports or recreational activity, according to the data, was simply going to the gym and using exercise equipment, which resulted in an estimated 526,000 trips to the ER last year. Basketball came second, with an estimated half-million injuries.</p>
<p>Bike riders, basketball players and gym rats freaked out by these figures could take up a safer hobby, such as horseback riding, which resulted in a comparatively low 49,000 ER visits in 2017.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229669/original/file-20180727-106511-1srmdk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Football is the most dangerous sport after adjusting total injuries based on the time Americans spend playing various sports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Overgrown-Field-of-Dreams/f8f6fab3d8c74ba2b377509880489c38/66/0">AP Photo/Carlos Osorio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What about football?</h2>
<p>Some readers may be wondering, where does football – which <a href="https://www.popsci.com/how-dangerous-is-football-cte">some consider</a> the most dangerous sport – rank? Or hockey for that matter, with all its fighting and sharp ice skates? </p>
<p>The problem with using the commission’s aggregate data to compare the dangers of various sports and activities is that participation rates vary. One reason few people are injured horseback riding is that relatively <a href="https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2017/sports-and-exercise/home.htm">few people ride horses</a> compared with the much <a href="https://www.sfia.org/press/433_Over-26-Million-Americans-Play-Basketball">greater number who shoot hoops</a> in their driveway or at the neighborhood playground.</p>
<p>This problem can be overcome by using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ <a href="https://www.bls.gov/tus/">American Time Use Survey</a>, which provides information on how much of each <a href="https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2017/sports-and-exercise/home.htm">day people spend exercising</a> in different activities. One notable datapoint: Only about <a href="https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2017/sports-and-exercise/pdf/sports-and-exercise.pdf">1 in 5 Americans</a> got exercise of any kind on a typical day in 2015. </p>
<p>While the two databases don’t match perfectly, there is large overlap.</p>
<p><iframe id="baCRA" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/baCRA/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The most common types of exercise are walking and using exercise equipment and weights, which I consider going to the gym. Using the gym figures as a baseline, it is possible to compute a participation adjustment figure for each sport. For example, the data show 2.5 times more people go to the gym on a typical day than play basketball. This means basketball injury figures need to be increased by 2.5 times to make a fair comparison of being hurt in the gym versus being hurt on the court.</p>
<p>After making these adjustments, the most dangerous activity rankings change quite a bit, and going to the gym is no longer number one because it is so popular. Rather, football with a comparatively low 341,000 estimated injuries in 2017 becomes the most dangerous sport. Hockey comes second and – again unfortunately for me – cycling is still third. </p>
<p>The adjustment is not perfect because we should also adjust for the amount of time spent in the activity since the longer people spend doing something the more likely it is that an injury could result.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the message is clear for those of you thinking about taking your bike out for a spin on a lovely summer day – or trudging across the country: Be careful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The warm summer months encourage more of us to get outside and exercise, whether by shooting hoops or riding a bike. But there’s a downside: higher risk of injury.Jay L. Zagorsky, Senior lecturer, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/913582018-02-06T18:23:42Z2018-02-06T18:23:42ZIf football is so deadly, why did 103 million people watch the Super Bowl?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205131/original/file-20180206-88772-mtdke7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A hit from Malcom Jenkins sidelined the Patriots' Brandin Cooks for the night.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the second quarter of Super Bowl LII, the party stopped, if just for a second.</p>
<p>Tom Brady found Patriots wide receiver Brandin Cooks downfield with a 23-yard completion. Cooks spun around then got laid out by the Eagles’ Malcolm Jenkins, who was going full speed, leading with his shoulder.</p>
<p>Right in the middle of football’s biggest game, there it was: another reminder of the NFL’s <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/">concussion crisis</a>. NBC commentators Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels seemed to struggle with the fact that the play was legal. </p>
<p>That’s where we are these days. No one knew quite what to say as Cooks looked like he had been knocked out by an absolutely routine part of the game, which sidelined him for the night.</p>
<p>For all that, I doubt the uncomfortable few minutes while he was treated on the field – viewers had no idea how badly he was hurt – caused more than a few fans to turn away. Based on my experience as a sports editor, my hunch is most of the tens of millions who watched had already come to terms with the game’s violence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205155/original/file-20180206-88795-1x2rjud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will Smith’s portrayal of forensic neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu (pictured) in the film ‘Concussion’ helped bring the issue of CTE to national attention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Concussions and football</h2>
<p>The problem of head injuries in football has gotten widespread attention over the last decade. </p>
<p>In 2015, for example, Will Smith’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io6hPdC41RM">Concussion</a>” chronicled the work of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who identified the prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in football players. A Newsweek headline at the time asked: “Can a Will Smith movie change the way America views football?” </p>
<p>The answer then was no, in part because the <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/2016/01/concussion-adds-to-will-smiths-growing-list-of-recent-box-office-disappointments-whats-going-on-160185/">movie’s box-office performance</a> was meh. </p>
<p>If fans and commentators ask a similar question today – can the concussion problem put football out of business? – the answer would still be no, but a qualified one. The health risks of the game aren’t enough on their own to kill the sport.</p>
<h2>Americans still (mostly) love football</h2>
<p>There are two reasons why football won’t go out of existence, despite a consistent flow of head injuries.</p>
<p>The first is popularity and the financial strength it yields.</p>
<p>While <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/nielsen-1034-million-watch-super-bowl-52856810">Super Bowl ratings</a> were down, Philadelphia’s thrilling 41-33 upset of New England still drew 103.4 million American viewers. That makes it the <a href="http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/super-bowl-lii-ratings-1202687239/">10th most watched event</a> in television history, behind eight other Super Bowls and the final episode of “M.A.S.H.”</p>
<p>Not only that, the NFL <a href="http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/more-tv-news/the-100-most-watched-tv-programs-of-2017-super-bowl-li-laps-the-field/">dominates</a> TV ratings all year. Little wonder league revenue has almost doubled this decade, <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/03/06/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL-revenue.aspx">to roughly $14 billion</a>. The NFL is shooting for $25 billion by 2027.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205157/original/file-20180206-88769-1gmyuir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Motor racing is more dangerous than football and has resulted in many fatalities over the years, yet the sport remains popular.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Greg Huey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Smoking, drunk driving and … football?</h2>
<p>That leads to the second point.</p>
<p>The implication of that Newsweek headline is an argument that goes like this: “If fans only understood the dangers of concussions, they would turn against football, as they did against smoking or drunk driving.”</p>
<p>But the issue is not about awareness. The New York Times reported powerfully on it as early as 2007, and a Frontline documentary in 2013 sparked a national discussion. While there is definite concern, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/poll-nfl-remains-as-popular-as-ever-despite-head-injuries-other-concerns/2017/09/06/238bef8a-9265-11e7-8754-d478688d23b4_story.html?utm_term=.6bbfea7bd97b">as polling data show</a>, most fans haven’t been ready to pull the plug – at least not for that reason.</p>
<p>It’s the same for players. The Associated Press interviewed 100 a couple of seasons ago and <a href="http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/ap-survey-concussions-not-most-nfl-players-chief-c/nqJGM/">found only 39</a> were more worried about the long-term effects of concussions than other injuries. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s this simple: We’ve always known football was risky, and now we know more about what that means. But if everyone knows the risks involved, then everyone should be free to do and watch what they like. There are other examples of sports and activities in a similar vein – motor racing, hockey and boxing, to name a few.</p>
<h2>Behind the decline</h2>
<p>Still, <a href="https://www.si.com/tech-media/2018/01/04/nfl-tv-ratings-decline-ten-percent-colin-kaepernick-thursday-night-football">the NFL has undeniably suffered</a> a ratings decline. </p>
<p>There are several reasons for this, from the erosion of cable television, to controversies such as what <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000911869/article/roger-goodell-concerned-about-nfl-catch-rule">constitutes a catch</a>, to the National Anthem protests that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/us-sport/national-football-league/donald-trump-nfl-players-protests-racial-inequality-kneel-anthem-colin-kaepernick-a8006806.html">prompted the president to attack</a> the NFL. I asked a class of 15 students recently if they knew someone who stopped watching because of players taking a knee. Five raised their hands, <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/nfl-viewership-down-and-study-suggests-its-over-protests/">something confirmed</a> by national surveys.</p>
<p>The bottom line: Head injuries don’t appear to be behind the ratings drop. And it could reverse in an instant, perhaps by a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-sports-gambling_us_5a25ffa8e4b07324e84022a5">Supreme Court decision</a> legalizing sports betting. That’s all it might take to
boost fan interest and <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/gambling-nfls-boogeyman-league-got-3b-despised-thursday-night-football-013900476.html">the league’s bottom line</a> – with $25 billion around the corner.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Affleck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What happened after Brandin Cooks took a massive blow during Super Bowl LII helps explain why NFL’s concussion crisis isn’t killing the sport’s popularity.John Affleck, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/911332018-02-05T13:39:30Z2018-02-05T13:39:30ZSuper Bowl: how bots, brands and the alt-right highjacked the event on social media<p>The Philadelphia Eagles’ <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/42940719">stunning defeat</a> of the New England Patriots in this year’s Super Bowl will have fans talking about the game for years to come. As one of the biggest events in the annual sporting calendar – with <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/super-bowl-2018-ratings-how-many-people-will-watch-new-england-patriots-798749">around 100m people</a> tuning in to watch it – the social media buzz around SB52 was huge. The event normally generates <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/06/super-bowl-posts-on-social-media-are-up-from-last-year-but-didnt-top-2015s-record-numbers/">around 27m tweets</a> – but it’s only sometimes about American football. </p>
<p>Mostly the chatter is about other things, including popstars and politics. In collaboration with Mentionmapp Analytics, a Twitter analysis tool, we examined what the social media conversations were about, plus who was leading and influencing them. Over the last week we have tracked and analysed relevant #Superbowl52 or #SB52 hashtags, Twitter accounts and message content. Bots, brand jackers, big shots, as well as traditional businesses all bossed the social media space. </p>
<p>Bots – web robots – are essentially software applications that run automated scripts, enabling simple tasks to be repetitively undertaken. The Super Bowl is fertile territory for them, as they can easily use event hashtags to draw peoples’ attention to brands and products. In particular, we saw a preponderance of betting bots churning out promotional offers and Super Bowl odds linked to gambling businesses.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"959532201779122177"}"></div></p>
<p>Bots were also used to generate political propaganda posts. A number of automated messages promoting often extreme views were shared through the SB52 hastags with a wide audience. Although not exclusively an extremist phenomenon, America’s alt-right seems to have dominated in this regard, with many of its advocates trolling the event. </p>
<p>Several times during the week before the Super Bowl, the right-wing internet celebrity Laura Loomer loomed large in our analysis. In particular, her concerns about the Muslim community in Minnesota (where the event was staged) and the threat of terrorism garnered widespread attention among large numbers of Twitter users. As the game approached, the alt-right in general became even more vocal, gatecrashing the Super Bowl social media party by discussing it in an overtly political way.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"957803754333417477"}"></div></p>
<p>Brand jacking involves someone or something appropriating the online identity of another social media entity, with the intention of using its brand assets for their own purposes. Big events like the Super Bowl have <a href="https://www.mnsuperbowl.com/official-partners">official partners</a>, which pay a premium for the right to be associated with the show, including things like using official logos in their communications. Brands such as Michelob used Twitter to both create and sustain conversations around the event.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"958000664898027521"}"></div></p>
<p>But a number of brands do not pay for this privilege. In traditional media, marketers might refer to this as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-ambush-marketing-campaigns-2012-6?IR=T">ambushing</a>. Plenty of businesses used the Super Bowl to promote their products – simply through using the hashtag or even going so far as to use official logos in their communications. We saw a number of bars and restaurants doing this to advertise their products during the game, even though they have no legal right of association. Others, which had nothing to do with the Super Bowl also jumped on the bandwagon, from web developers to <a href="https://twitter.com/IGN/status/960336002295328769">video games companies</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"958806401094107136"}"></div></p>
<p>Another person influencing the social media buzz, pretty much every day before the Bowl took place, was Kris Wu. Wu is a big shot Chinese-Canadian singer and former K-pop sensation. He recently signed a deal with the NFL to be an ambassador for the sport in China, which the NFL sees as a lucrative new market for American football. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"960064265708232705"}"></div></p>
<p>As well as his half-time performance, Wu is also performing at a ten-day music festival in Minneapolis to mark the Super Bowl. It will be streamed by one of China’s biggest social media platforms, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-tencent-became-the-worlds-most-valuable-social-network-firm-with-barely-any-advertising-90334">Tencent</a>, and will showcase both the NFL and telecoms giant Verizon to the China market. </p>
<p>Television adverts shown during the Super Bowl have historically been the marketing <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-seahawks-vs-broncos-ads-are-the-super-bowl-stars-22553">showpiece</a> of the event – to the extent that they have become part of its heritage and are eagerly awaited by viewers. But, as the world has shifted online and social media has enabled interactivity, so people are now talking about them on platforms like Twitter. </p>
<p>Whether it was armchair alt-right antagonists or China-focused cheerleaders championing corporate America, our analysis of social media conversations shows that the Super Bowl is a massive talking point. Who does the talking and what they talk about might not have anything to do with sport and can even be somewhat sinister. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that the conversation is often driven by vested interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bots, brand jackers, big shots, as well as traditional businesses all bossed the Super Bowl social media space.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordAlex Fenton, Lecturer in Digital Business, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847252017-09-28T09:50:30Z2017-09-28T09:50:30ZTrump’s national anthem outrage ignores decades of Supreme Court rulings<p>When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/27/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest">chose to remain seated</a> during a pre-game national anthem in protest against racial injustice and police brutality last year, his action caused widespread controversy. Now Donald Trump has reignited that controversy by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JMnfmxA_Qo">suggesting at a rally</a> that National Football League (NFL) players who take similar action should be kicked off their teams:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b*tch off the field right now, he’s fired? He’s fired!’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-connection-between-take-a-knee-protests-and-citizens-united-84645">fallout</a> was immediate. Stephen Curry, player for the Golden State Warriors, responded that he did not want to attend an event at the White House honouring the team’s success. Trump fired back by publicly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/sports/stephen-curry-trump-nba-.html?_r=0">withdrawing the invitation</a>. In response, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/41381896">teams, players, and managers</a> across the country (and at the London-based NFL games) followed Kaepernick’s example and kneeled, or stood, with arms locked in protest as the anthem was played before their games. </p>
<p>And so the debate rages on. But if anyone defending the players’ right to kneel (or <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/takeaknee?lang=en">#TakeAKnee</a>) needs some backup for their arguments, there’s an obvious place for them to look: the judgements of the US Supreme Court, which has heard a number of major cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance and the treatment of the American flag, all touching on the obligations of patriotism and the right to refuse to participate in national rituals. And more than that, the court is generally
<a href="http://democracyinstitute.la.psu.edu/documents/PollReportJusticeReappointmentfinal.pdf">supported by the people it serves</a> – even when they <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-trumps-america-is-the-supreme-court-still-seen-as-legitimate-84242">disagree with its decisions</a>.</p>
<p>So as the Trump-NFL national anthem controversy continues, let’s look at some of what the court has said on this subject over the decades.</p>
<h2>Compulsory unity</h2>
<p>In January 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II, West Virginia’s State Board of Education adopted a resolution requiring the state’s children to salute the flag as part of their daily school activities. Much as did <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912280282224525312">Trump</a> in his <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912037003923005440">recent</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912443924979077120">tweets</a> about players’ refusal to stand for the national anthem at sporting events, the board argued that the salute would “honour the nation represented by the flag” and that refusal to participate would be “regarded as an act of insubordination”. </p>
<p>The board’s actions were inspired by a ruling two years earlier. In <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/310us586">Minersville School District v. Gobitis</a> (1940), it was found that a compulsory flag salute and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance did not violate the constitutional rights of Jehovah’s Witness children, who objected to the actions on the grounds that it violated their faith’s requirements not to worship graven images. The <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/personality/landmark_minersville.html">fallout from that decision</a> included laws and resolutions similar to West Virginia’s, increased reports of physical assaults on Witness children, and threats to send non-conforming children to reformatories. </p>
<p>But the backlash wasn’t long in coming, and in 1943, the court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/319/624/case.html">reversed its decision</a> in <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/west-virginia-v.-barnette-the-freedom-to-not-pledge-allegiance">West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette</a>, holding that such compulsory activities did violate the US Constitution. </p>
<p>The court recognised that the flag symbolised adherence to the government and that national unity was an important value: “National unity as an end which officials may foster by persuasion and example is not in question.” It also noted that the case involved an emotional issue and was difficult “not because the principles of its decision are obscure, but because the flag involved is our own”. But the court also argued that “to sustain the compulsory flag salute we are required to say that a Bill of Rights which guards the individual’s right to speak his own mind, left it open to public authorities to compel him to utter what is not in his mind”.</p>
<p>Recognising that the Board of Education had acted in good faith, the court nevertheless issued a stark, eloquent warning: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Struggles to coerce uniformity of sentiment in support of some end thought essential to their time and country have been waged by many good as well as by evil men … Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The justices also had a message for those who saw the children’s refusal as a threat to American patriotism and unity: “To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds.”</p>
<p>Individuals might disagree with the actions taken, the court argued, but that does not mean such actions threaten the nation’s future, strength, or unity. In fact, the freedom to disagree is at its strongest when such disagreement touches on the most controversial issues.</p>
<h2>Protecting contempt</h2>
<p>Those most upset about players who choose not to stand for the national anthem might also do well to revisit a 1990 case, <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/inside-the-supreme-courts-flag-burning-decision">Texas v. Johnson</a>, in which the court struck down a Texas law banning the burning of the American flag. </p>
<p>In concurrence with the decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/491/397/case.html">expressed his difficulty</a> with the case: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The hard fact is that sometimes we must make decisions we do not like. We make them because they are right, right in the sense that the law and the Constitution, as we see them, compel the result. And so great is our commitment to the process that, except in the rare case, we do not pause to express distaste for the result, perhaps for fear of undermining a valued principle that dictates the decision. This is one of those rare cases.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“I agree,” Kennedy continued, “that the flag holds a lonely place of honour in an age when absolutes are distrusted and simple truths are burdened by unneeded apologetics.” But, he argued, “it is poignant but fundamental that the flag protects those who hold it in contempt”.</p>
<p>Kennedy’s words have a particular message for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23boycottnfl&src=typd&lang=en">those</a> who see the players’ actions as an affront: sometimes those same American values demand you accept actions of which you don’t approve. You don’t have to like the decision to kneel during the national anthem, but you do have to accept that people have the right to do so without fear of retaliation.</p>
<p>The court has time and again recognised that the American people think differently about issues, and that they can express those differences so long as others are not prevented from exercising their own right to reply. Those caught up in the current debate should take heed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Long does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump-style views on freedom of expression and patriotism have been found wanting many times before.Emma Long, Lecturer in American Studies, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/740012017-03-07T16:37:22Z2017-03-07T16:37:22ZBlurred lines: building winning athletes in sport or just plain bullying?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159744/original/image-20170307-14963-wl6ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C157%2C2314%2C1474&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-basketball-player-gets-yelled-by-73625269?src=I674ALtngvziV6I9CPCGrw-3-48">ARENA Creative/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying can take place in all manner of settings, from the school yard to the boardroom. Recently there has been an increase in allegations associated with sport, particularly around athletes competing at the highest level. </p>
<p>As one <a href="http://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/fulltext/2011/09000/Canadian_Academy_of_Sport_and_Exercise_Medicine.1.aspx">Canadian sporting body put it</a>, bullying is a pattern of behaviour that occurs when there is an imbalance of power between peers, and in the absence of provocation. It is a definition that may make you think cases of bullying in sport are limited to the relationship between coach and athlete. </p>
<p>But it has even been suggested that the behaviour of spectators toward players in the Australian Football League <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/sydneys-goodes-a-victim-of-workplace-bullying-says-lawyer-20150729-gin0wu.html">could be defined as bullying</a>. And although not labelled as such in the media, it wouldn’t be a huge leap to interpret as bullying <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/772388/Martin-O-Neill-slams-player-power-game-following-Claudio-Ranieri-Leicester-sacking-New">the alleged player power</a> that ousted Claudio Ranieri from his managerial role at the English Premier League champions Leicester City.</p>
<h2>Performance enhancing?</h2>
<p>If nothing else, these stories make it clear that we have yet to agree on the limits of acceptable behaviour when managing those whose goal is to be the “best in the world”. Ask athletes, coaches and practitioners if bullying was ever OK in sport and the resounding response is, “no”. But then the caveats start: “well, sometimes, maybe, yes. It depends on what you mean by bullying”. </p>
<p>This may not be surprising. When an athlete pursues a goal which demands total dedication to elite performance, then coaches and team mates will at times take them out of their comfort zone, and deliberately challenge the athlete’s beliefs about their limits. This may even involve them being coerced into something they don’t want to do, or which they think they are incapable of.</p>
<p>It can take many forms, and opens up some ethical questions. Consider that studies have shown that athletes who are told their training session will be shorter than it is actually planned to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28182509/">will perform better</a> during the session. One study showed that endurance runners given a placebo <a href="https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/a-placebo-can-make-you-run-faster/?ref=health&_r=1">will push harder</a> and improve their times if they are told it is a performance- enhancing drug. Few would support tactics such as deception among the general workforce to make employees work harder. Despite this, their use in sport appears to be accepted despite the fact that athletes appear to have little choice in the matter.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159740/original/image-20170307-14932-q31lf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Competition for the top step can be brutal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/athletics-podium-three-winners-573891421?src=I1PZYIvKV17rSpO2qohLjw-2-11">Gena Melendrez/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How many of us would accept being told that our working day was being shortened only to be told it was a ploy to enhance our productivity? To get the best out of athletes, coaches and team mates must strike a balance between reinforcing positive behaviour while challenging aspects which require improvement. At what point the latter becomes bullying may be entirely subject, as uncomfortable as this is, to the individual’s perception – and likely, the results such tactics achieve. </p>
<h2>Something cooking</h2>
<p>We can show the importance of perception when discussing bullying by switching from pitch to the kitchen. We have become used to aggressive and shouty chefs on our TV screens, and this group’s behaviour has led to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517711002159">some surprising findings</a> about conduct we would ordinarily consider unacceptable behaviour in the workplace. Verbal bullying is perceived to be necessary to ensure the kitchen team performs optimally in stressful situations. In fact, the extreme behaviour that characterised the cooking and preparation environment in that study was cited by chefs themselves as a vital step in forming a cohesive team that exhibited high morale, got the job done and communicated effectively. </p>
<p>Acknowledging that this created a stressful environment, those that handled the pressure were idolised. This may ring true with those who have heard athletes extol the virtues of persevering despite setbacks, surviving unsavoury working conditions early in their career and dealing with often harsh criticism. Retired professional footballers have highlighted the benefits of their early career training and the undertaking of jobs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/feb/03/the-secret-footballer">not intrinsically linked</a> to being a footballer, including cleaning boots and sweeping the stands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159742/original/image-20170307-14966-1x6qi6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Letting off steam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/motion-chefs-chinese-restaurant-kitchen-587875190?src=Ps9euxpqZupheQeSKdCh-w-1-16">hxdbzxy/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sporting organisations, however, are not ambitious restaurateurs, so should they be allowed to develop a culture that might deliver success, but which is at odds with what would be considered acceptable within the wider population. This is clearly a particular issue for organisations that receive funding from the public purse. </p>
<p>Governing bodies and those who fund sport should consider what is the stronger governor in terms of investment: the culture of the organisation or its success? The former is sometimes a precursor to the latter, but this may not always the case, especially as by definition, not everyone can be a world champion. Employers must decide whether the pursuit of resilient, and successful athletes may require them to break employment law and employees (athletes) must decide whether they are willing to accept this. The challenge that sport faces is to draw the lines clearly enough for the rest of us to see.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Methods used to get athletes to their peak would be unacceptable outside of the stadium, but success papers over a lot of cracks.Neil Gibson, Director of Sport, Performance and Health, Heriot-Watt UniversityKevin O'Gorman, Professor of Management and Business History, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/645252016-08-31T02:20:31Z2016-08-31T02:20:31ZWhy Colin Kaepernick is like George Washington<p>If you haven’t heard by now, the star quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick, <a href="http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-donald-trump">refused to stand</a> for the national anthem over the weekend. </p>
<p>This wasn’t the first time, and he <a href="http://www.espn.com/blog/san-francisco-49ers/post/_/id/18957/transcript-of-colin-kaepernicks-comments-about-sitting-during-national-anthem">plans to continue</a> until conditions for people of color improve: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’ll continue to sit. I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed.… When there’s significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent…I’ll stand.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>His has already been a controversial tenure as successor to Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young as the face of one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. He doesn’t fit the mold.</p>
<p>For starters, he’s black. (OK, biracial. But in America, he’s considered black.) Further, after achieving some success, reaching a Super Bowl a few years ago, and two consecutive conference championship games, his play has been bereft of consistency lately. He may lose his starting job to <a href="http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/158997152/blaine-gabbert-rebirth-49ers-jaguars-bust">Blaine Gabbert</a> – someone who, on his best day, is average by NFL standards. To top it all off, he now plays for a coach, Chip Kelly, who’s been <a href="http://www.phillyvoice.com/chip-kelly-eagles-racist-boykin-mccoy/">accused of racism</a>.</p>
<p>This is what makes his stand so amazing. With <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/colin-kaepernick-contract-2014-12">millions of dollars at risk</a>, he took a principled stand, one that quite literally may cost him dearly. Yes, he’s willing to sacrifice, something that’s the essence of patriotism. More on that later.</p>
<h2>Taking a stand by refusing to stand</h2>
<p>After observing the continued oppression of people of color in the United States, a country in which “freedom and justice and justice for all is stressed,” the quarterback decided to take action. He wants America to honor its promise to all Americans, not just the ones who are white. He says he will stand for the national anthem once things improve: when the country realizes the principles <a href="http://www.espn.com/blog/san-francisco-49ers/post/_/id/18957/transcript-of-colin-kaepernicks-comments-about-sitting-during-national-anthem">represented by the flag</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, this isn’t the first time a famous athlete has taken a public stand on the gap between American values and social practices in the U.S. The late, great <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/muhammad-ali-vietnam/485717/">Muhammad Ali</a>, at great personal sacrifice, refused to serve in the U.S. military because, as he stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[the Vietcong] never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ali was subsequently stripped of his championship belts, and was banned from making a living during the prime of his boxing career. </p>
<p>Likewise in 1968, a time during which the country was polarized over race, two track stars added fuel to the fire. During the Olympics of that year, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each of whom won medals in the 200-meter race, each raised <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/olympic-athletes-who-took-a-stand-593920/?no-ist">a black-gloved fist</a> on the podium as the national anthem was played. It was a means of protesting continuing injustice in the U.S. </p>
<p>They, too, sacrificed, as they both experienced <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/18/sport/tommie-smith-1968-olympic-games-reflection/">financial hardship</a> resulting from their actions.</p>
<h2>Why the quarterback’s critics are wrong</h2>
<p>So how did America react to Kaepernick’s one-man protest?</p>
<p>Let’s begin with the less thoughtful comments. As soon as the news broke, I knew it’d be just a matter of time before the word “nigger” would start flying in the quarterback’s direction. </p>
<p>My priors were confirmed. Here is some of the immediate reaction on Twitter.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"769550527524966400"}"></div></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"769573917501435905"}"></div></p>
<p>These folk are easily dismissed on the grounds that intolerance of any kind is inconsistent with American values, of which tolerance is one. </p>
<p>These people undermine themselves. </p>
<p>Others, like <a href="http://theralphretort.com/colin-kaepernick-is-a-rich-pompous-piece-of-trash-for-insulting-the-usa-8027016/">blogger Ethan Ralph,</a> have leveled another criticism, one ultimately rooted in class, that goes something like this. America’s been good to him: He’s rich, after all! Since America’s been so good to him, the argument continues, he has no reason to criticize it. </p>
<p>Wrong.</p>
<p>First, such people don’t consider his life story, including whether he’s ever been victimized by prejudice.
<a href="http://www.craveonline.com/site/553013-colin-kaepernick-gets-personal-in-gq">He has</a>. This feeling <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/ellis-cose-revisiting-rage-77957">doesn’t disappear</a> when one “makes it.” Second, real patriots are <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0198293585.001.0001/acprof-9780198293583">required to care</a> about one’s countrymen – regardless of one’s station in life. </p>
<p>Another set of critics, including former teammates, claim that the quarterback is <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/vikings/2016/08/28/alex-boone-rips-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-49ers/89514450/">disrespecting the military</a> when he fails to stand for the anthem. </p>
<p>Wrong again. </p>
<p>The critics swing and miss on this big time. The military fights to protect American values and beliefs. Protest and dissent are “as American as apple pie.” In fact, America is founded on dissent and protest. In short, if these people have an issue with the quarterback, they should also be pissed off with the likes of George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.</p>
<h2>Why the quarterback is right</h2>
<p>Ultimately, American patriotism is about a commitment to the values on which a country is founded: freedom, equality and tolerance, among others, absent interference from others. But patriotism doesn’t end with commitment. It also entails the willingness to sacrifice one’s self-interest for the common good, so that the American dream is available to all. </p>
<p>Washington and his colleagues were so committed to the idea of America, they were willing to sacrifice their lives so that the rest of the colonists could pursue their dreams – well, the white ones, anyway.</p>
<p>Likewise, in the 1960s. Ali, as well as Smith and Carlos, were so committed to social justice that each did irreparable harm to their respective abilities to earn a living. </p>
<p>Colin Kaepernick is no different. In his fight for social justice, he’s willing to sacrifice millions in salary and endorsements, and perhaps even his career, to make life better for his fellow Americans. </p>
<p>So, who’s the real patriot: the quarterback, or his critics?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64525/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Like George Washington, Colin Kaepernick is willing to sacrifice for America.Christopher Sebastian Parker, Professor of Political Science, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/567762016-03-28T10:07:10Z2016-03-28T10:07:10ZAthletes look for an edge in a new place: virtual reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116431/original/image-20160324-17817-iy2wju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indiana University football coach Kevin Wilson explains VR-enabled training to his players</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Indiana University Athletics</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Virtual reality (VR) appears ready to take the entertainment world by storm in 2016. In addition to the much-hyped <a href="https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/">Oculus Rift</a>, major corporations such as Facebook, Sony and Samsung are poised to release high-quality VR headsets to the public this year. After years of VR being discussed as the “next big thing,” this may be the year consumers will be able to get their hands on actual products.</p>
<p>It turns out some athletes have already begun exploring the promise of VR. Sports teams – both <a href="http://lbszone.com/2016/02/05/can-super-technology-help-teams-get-super-bowl/">professional</a> and <a href="http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2016/03/college-basketball-plays-virtual-reality-it-isn-t-slam-dunk-yet">collegiate</a> – are taking advantage of the unique qualities of VR video to understand games in new and unique ways. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Virtual-reality-gives-athletes-a-new-view-on-6778059.php">Stanford’s STRIVR system</a>, for example, provides services for its teams as well as for Clemson University and several NFL teams.</p>
<p>As a researcher and teacher of new media technology in sports journalism, I have had my opinion on VR changed dramatically over the course of the last year. My initial feeling was that VR was little more than a new fad that would fade, along the same lines as <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/03/3d-tv-without-glasses">3D television</a>. But after using the technology and seeing its applications, I have changed my mind completely on it. VR technology is a radical departure from traditional video presentation, and it has myriad applications in both consumer media and in athletic practice.</p>
<p>We are already seeing certain sports take advantage of these applications. At the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology at Indiana University, five sports teams actively use VR, including men’s basketball and football. According to Cuban Center videographer Patrick Dhaene, that number is expected to double next year.</p>
<h1>VR and sports training</h1>
<p>Coaches and players have been using regular two-dimensional video for multiple generations, generally relying on a wide camera angle to capture the entirety of a formation or play. This can make players feel distant from the material they are studying. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A traditional football team training video session.</span></figcaption>
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<p>With VR, however, the player is able to put on a headset and experience a play from a much closer vantage point – as if they are inside the play as it takes place.</p>
<p>A quarterback wearing a VR headset can take a simulated snap and physically turn his head left or right in real time as the play progresses, helping him learn both the progressions of his wide receivers and the positioning of the defense.</p>
<p>Players can use VR to help memorize plays and formations <a href="http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/8/19/FB_0819154546.aspx">without having to step onto the field</a>, by repeatedly watching different aspects of looped plays within the VR headset. Coaches enjoy the benefits of players using VR to experience play repetitions, <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/03/14/vr-sec-football/">without the potential for injury</a> that comes from being on the practice field.</p>
<h2>How it works</h2>
<p>The video that athletes and coaches see in a VR environment is constructed differently than normal video. Providing the user with an immersive environment requires different types of lenses and cameras, and computers must aid in production.</p>
<p>The typical VR video consists of <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/8/9261745/gopro-google-odyssey-virtual-reality-camera">footage from multiple cameras</a>, shooting and recording in sync with each other. These cameras are generally fastened to a “rig” that holds the cameras in place. The rig is then anchored to a pedestal, allowing it to remain motionless during filming.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116432/original/image-20160324-17857-ft6jxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A virtual reality camera rig.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Indiana University athletics</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>To make a VR film of a football practice focused on the offensive side of the ball, for example, the camera rig is stationed near the quarterback in the backfield. Each play is then run as normal, with the quarterback taking the snap, going through his progressions and making a pass. </p>
<p>Once the practice is over, the real work begins for the video crew.</p>
<p>For each play, a VR producer must assemble the footage from all the cameras into a single 180- or 360-degree visual field, a process known as “<a href="http://wistia.com/blog/producing-360-video">stitching</a>.” This is arguably the most important part of the VR process, as improper stitching can render the video unusable.</p>
<p>After a play is properly stitched, players can view it through a VR headset, allowing them to concentrate on different areas of the play. Quarterbacks can even turn their heads away from the line of scrimmage and watch themselves throwing the ball, in order to evaluate their mechanics.</p>
<h2>Does it help?</h2>
<p>Academic research on the effectiveness of VR-aided sports training is still in its preliminary stages. Comments from both college and professional athletes who have experienced VR-aided training have been almost uniformly positive. But only now are scientists entering a stage where broader adoption of the technology will allow proper evaluation of the mental and psychological impacts of VR.</p>
<p>There are certain limitations to VR in the sports training environment. Camera rigs and production computers are expensive to purchase and <a href="http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2016/03/college-basketball-plays-virtual-reality-it-isn-t-slam-dunk-yet">difficult to learn how to use</a>. Rigs generally must stay stationary during filming, because moving rigs tend to produce video that causes motion sickness in users. And the need for a pedestal makes capturing in-game VR footage for instructional purposes difficult. </p>
<p>Furthermore, VR isn’t a panacea for real-world practice. Using VR-aided training is unlikely to lead to consistently perfect throws or defenders who sniff out every play before it starts.</p>
<p>However, the comments from players, coaches and VR specialists show a tremendous amount of potential, allowing players an unprecedented perspective on the game that extends on-field practice time into the film room. As the technology continues to mature, we should expect the teams using it to be operating with a competitive advantage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Galen Clavio serves as the academic liaison between The Media School at Indiana University and the Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology. In this role, he works with Cuban Center officials to provide effective educational experiences for students using VR and other technologies.</span></em></p>Virtual reality technology is a radical departure from traditional video presentation, with myriad applications in both consumer media and in athletic practice.Galen Clavio, Associate Professor of Sports Media; Director of the National Sports Journalism Center, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/542082016-02-05T21:33:20Z2016-02-05T21:33:20ZSuper Bowl advertisers spend $5 million for 30 seconds: is there a better use for that cash?<p>The Super Bowl is not just the biggest and most-watched event of the year in the United States, it’s also one of the most important for advertisers, who shell out an estimated US$5 million for every half-minute of air time. </p>
<p>Indeed, the ads are almost as well watched as the game itself, offering companies spending an <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2613135-super-bowl-commercials-2016-latest-info-on-ad-costs-leaks-and-movie-trailers">estimated $377 million altogether</a> a chance to get a laugh, burnish their brands and reach more than 100 million people with their corporate message. </p>
<p>But what if a brand took that large chunk of cash and bought something else with it? Is there a better way to spend it that could both be good marketing and do more for humanity? </p>
<p>Audi, which along with its parent company Volkswagen <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-audi-emissions-idUSKCN0VE19L">is accused</a> of using software to allow its vehicles to emit excess emissions, for example, <a href="http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/super-bowl-50-ad-chart-buying-big-game-commercials/301183/">bought 60 seconds</a> in the first quarter. Is a minute of product-oriented advertising really the best way it has to restore its image when the essence of its brand is in question? </p>
<p>This is not to say that the <a href="http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/super-bowl-50-ad-chart-buying-big-game-commercials/301183/">40-some advertisers</a> that have already bought ad time need a new message to repair their brands. Rather, the question for me – with one foot in sport marketing research and the other in public policy – is whether they could do more for society and for their own reputations (typically the purpose of advertising) if they were to take a different tack. </p>
<p>In other words, be brave advertisers! Here’s how.</p>
<h2>Branded benefits</h2>
<p>This isn’t a novel idea, of course. There are plenty of examples of brand-sport relationships diverting their advertising value to society and benefiting in the process.</p>
<p>Hublot, a Geneva-based luxury watchmaker, did just that after it signed on as a sponsor of UEFA’s Euro 2008 soccer tournament. Rather than use its allocated stadium advertising space to trumpet its brand, it <a href="http://www.sponsorship.com/iegsr/2011/08/22/Sponsorship-Watch--Luxury-Timepieces.aspx">promoted its values instead</a> by donating all of this valuable space to Unite Against Racism, a program that seeks to counter discrimination in European football. </p>
<p>This sweeping gesture had a <a href="http://www.sponsorship.com/iegsr/2011/08/22/Sponsorship-Watch--Luxury-Timepieces.aspx">ripple effect</a> as other teams, sponsors and federations took on the social responsibility message. Moreover, it was a meaningful and positive gesture for the watchmaker as well. </p>
<p>More recently, BNY Mellon and Newton Investment Management announced that they <a href="http://theboatraces.org/news-article/246/the-boat-races-sponsors-bny-mellon-amp-amp-newton-pull-together-for-cancer-research-uk">would donate</a> their title sponsorship of the Oxford versus Cambridge boat race to Cancer Research UK. As a result, the race to be held on the River Thames in late March will be known as “The Cancer Research UK Boat Races.” </p>
<p>The societal benefits of these actions are clear, but importantly, brands that do good things also benefit.</p>
<p>Research in the U.S. by the <a href="http://www.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=corporate_citizenship&page=noads&rf=0">Economist Intelligence Unit</a> found in 2008 that being a good corporate citizen supports revenue growth, increases profits and offers cost savings. </p>
<p>Similarly, a research review by RBC Global Asset Management <a href="http://funds.rbcgam.com/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-GAM-does-SRI-hurt-investment-returns.pdf">concluded</a> investments in companies with high social responsibility rankings perform just as well as their peers and can even do better.</p>
<p>The Super Bowl itself has already seen some calls for action and delivery of cause-related messages. </p>
<p>At Super Bowl XLVIII, for example, U2, Product (RED) and Bank of America <a href="http://www.conecomm.com/super-bowl-xlviii-cause-commercials">collaborated</a> to benefit the Global Fund, which aims to eliminate AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Also in 2014, Chevrolet used its ad time to support cancer survivors and raise awareness for World Cancer Day. </p>
<p>Consumers, however, seem to want more than just words (and ads). <a href="http://www.conecomm.com/super-bowl-xlviii-cause-commercials">Research</a> by public relations firm Cone Communications shows that 82 percent of those surveyed are more likely to purchase a product from a company that clearly demonstrates results from its CSR initiatives. </p>
<h2>A thought experiment</h2>
<p>What we need to do, then, is imagine profound social investments. My list may not be the same as others, these are issues I think deserve more attention, but that’s the point: to think freshly about how we spend and invest. </p>
<p>In one thought experiment, I imagined that the $5 million slated for a 30-second ad was instead invested in cookstoves. Yes, stoves for cooking. Small three-stone fires are used by <a href="http://www.instove.org">nearly half the world’s population</a> to cook meals, according to InStove, a nonprofit dedicated to relieving suffering by developing renewable technologies. </p>
<p>It doesn’t get a lot of attention, but the firewood harvested for cooking by this method is a major contributor to deforestation and its burning indoors results in 4.3 million premature deaths annually. </p>
<p>A clean-burning cookstove able to use wood and biomass costs only about $1,000 and can serve the needs of an extended family or even a small village. Its high efficiency reduces fuel use by 75 percent to 90 percent and health-harming emissions by 90 percent. Easy math says that $5 million could buy 5,000 cookstoves – enough to supply dozens of countries in Africa and Asia. </p>
<p>This is a trifecta win for the environment, human health and the reputation of a company.</p>
<p>Alternatively, Super Bowl advertisers might band together and – in partnership with a nonprofit – <a href="http://www.oregon.gov/dsl/LW/Pages/Elliott-State-Forest-Alternatives-Project.aspx">buy a vast tract of old growth forest</a> along the coast in the Pacific Northwest. At an estimated $2,000 per acre, 25 minutes of advertising time (at a cost of about $250 million) could purchase 125,000 acres in Elliott State Forest. </p>
<p>Oregon, which owns the land and allows some logging, is considering selling it. Helping a conservation group to buy it would preserve habitat for species that most of us have read about as children such as the Great Horned Owl, save less known endangered species such as the marbled murrelet that prefers to nest in old growth forest and seed stock for plants we have not even named. </p>
<p>Another idea close to my heart: $5 million would go a long way in limiting the trade of elephant tusks. Poachers <a href="http://theweek.com/articles/449437/tragic-price-ivory">reportedly slaughter</a> as many as 35,000 African elephants every year, with only 500,000 estimated to remain alive. One 30-second ad forgone <a href="http://www.fws.gov/international/wildlife-without-borders/african-elephant-conservation-fund.html">could double</a> the total grant contributions toward elephant conservation administered by the African Elephant Conservation Fund in 2014. </p>
<h2>Better for brands and society</h2>
<p>The purpose of this article is not to denigrate the Super Bowl, football, advertising, brands or anything else as American as apple pie. </p>
<p>This is about how wealth might be mobilized to do some of the things we know need doing and some of the things that may not have occurred to us. </p>
<p>It’s also about understanding the relative cost of actions with long-term implications for society and environment and how corporations as “citizens” can communicate and validate their social responsibility record. Corporate social responsibility activities are related to economic performance of firms but claims must ring true.</p>
<p>Socially responsible behavior must be validating and observable in order to influence stakeholder actions and have the positive effect on revenues <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.582/abstract">research shows</a> can happen. </p>
<p>Brave corporate decisions, paired with clever communications, need not cost more for the firm than the millions they freely spend on Super Bowl advertising, but it does require that we think creatively.</p>
<p>Any company needing inspiration or an idea of how to back up their CSR words with actions need look no further than the new <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">United Nations Sustainable Development Goals</a>. For the next 15 years, these goals aim to transform our world. After reading the facts there, only a cold soul would be unable to find a CSR project that deserves a $5 million infusion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>T Bettina Cornwell has consulted with Sport for Good, which has financial support from auto maker Daimler Benz.</span></em></p>Companies can help both society and the bottom line by spending the price of a 30-second Super Bowl spot on something that benefits society.T. Bettina Cornwell, Professor of Marketing, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/541392016-02-05T11:31:22Z2016-02-05T11:31:22ZConcussion: horror of sports-related brain damage is only now emerging<p>Not so long ago, it was a diagnosis that was barely mentioned. Now it feels like <a href="http://fansided.com/2016/02/03/dennis-wideman-diagnosed-concussion-hitting-ref/">there’s</a> a <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/concussion-doctor-believes-o-j-simpson-suffers-from-cte/">plague</a> of concussion in <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3424927/Tech-sector-tackles-Americas-concussion-epidemic.html">modern sport</a>, with endless news articles and commentaries on the injury and its consequences. There are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34780549">calls for</a> heading to be banned in children’s football and for <a href="https://theconversation.com/rugby-is-dangerous-and-were-not-doing-enough-to-protect-children-who-play-it-47974">parents to</a> think again about letting their sons and daughters play rugby. Most recent is an award-winning <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322364/">Hollywood movie</a> on the subject starring Will Smith, imaginatively titled Concussion, which launches in the UK on February 12. So why all the fuss? Should we all be wearing helmets?</p>
<p>Concussions were traditionally seen as causing short-term functional problems like memory loss and impaired concentration. Now people are becoming increasingly aware that they result in structural damage, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3979341/">in particular to</a> fine nerve-cell fibres called axons deep inside the brain. </p>
<p>A further common misperception is that you need to be knocked out to be concussed. In truth, <a href="http://www.momsteam.com/health+and+safety/loss-of-consciousness-not-required-for-concussion-finding">as little</a> as 10% of concussion is associated with loss of consciousness. Concussion is any disturbance in brain function caused by injury, either through direct contact with the head or through whiplash as a result of a blow somewhere else on the body. </p>
<p>The long list of signs and symptoms includes headaches, seizures, memory loss and visual disturbance, of which the commonest is headaches. Symptoms can be delayed, presenting hours or even a day after the event. Yet recent data <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK185336/">shows that</a> concussed athletes remaining in play are at increased risk of further injury. This can include non-brain injuries, although they particularly run the risk of worsening their brain injury if they sustain another blow – <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672291/">including the</a> rare complication “second impact syndrome”, which can lead to severe complications and even death. “If in doubt, sit it out,” is the advice in all sports at all levels. </p>
<h2>Increased dementia risk</h2>
<p>Specialists are becoming more aware of the fact that brain injury, including even concussion, <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-pathol-012615-044116">increases the</a> risk of degenerative brain disease leading to dementia. Originally thought to be exclusive to retired boxers, this dementia was for many decades recognised as punch-drunk syndrome or <a href="https://www.dementia.org/dementia-pugilistica">dementia pugilistica</a>. </p>
<p>But as the new Will Smith film makes clear, just over a decade ago we began to see cases of the same pathology in other athletes exposed to repetitive concussions, including rugby and soccer. The film tells the story of the first case described in American footballers, and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/28/concussion-prevention-football-safety-brain-injury-bennet-omalu-nfl-will-smith">struggle of</a> pathologist Dr Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) to raise awareness of the condition with the National Football League (NFL). </p>
<p>Following the recognition that it is brain injury rather than a single sport that carries the risk of this degenerative brain disease, the condition is now referred to as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). But despite increasing reports of CTE in a growing list of sports, as yet there is no diagnostic test. So far, all cases diagnosed have been at post-mortem examination. This has included over 100 former NFL players, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/sports/football/ken-stabler-nfl-cte-brain-disease.html?_r=0">for instance</a>. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly there have been many more cases of CTE diagnosed as an alternate dementia. With current best estimates <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3716376/">suggesting</a> between 5% and 15% of dementia may be brain-injury related, there are probably many people living now with CTE without knowing it. Do you know a former rugby or soccer player with dementia? With the Six Nations annual rugby tournament <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/six-nations-2016-england-pack-goes-back-to-basics-as-eddie-jones-calls-for-forwards-to-stand-up-a6851911.html">getting underway again</a>, it is a sobering thought. </p>
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<h2>What’s the cure?</h2>
<p>We are inevitably only at the beginning of understanding CTE. This will gradually change through programmes of research in sports concussion and the pathology of CTE like my one in Glasgow. As this knowledge grows, targets for treatments might emerge, which may also help us treat other similar degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.</p>
<p>In the absence of a full understanding of the risk factors and with no diagnostic tests or treatments, CTE is one condition that seems best managed by the mantra “prevention is better than cure”. The simplest and most effective way of reducing the incidence of this form of dementia might just be to lower the risk of concussion and become better at recognising and managing the injury. </p>
<p>In the meantime, while there may be anxieties about the risks of concussion, there remains no doubt about the lifelong health benefits of sport. As such, my view is that we should continue to encourage wider participation in sport, while promoting better recognition and management of the inevitable concussions. This includes being aware that despite all the technology and research invested in headgear, it <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/5/250.long">still provides</a> no meaningful protection against concussion. But if we approach the problem with the best available knowledge, we can get the benefits of sport while reducing the risks from concussion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54139/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Stewart is Consultant and Lead Neuropathologist at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. He receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense (US) and NHS Research Scotland. He acts as an unpaid expert advisor on concussion to World Rugby and the Football Association, and is also patron of the Jeff Astle Foundation. </span></em></p>Once the stuff of tweeting birds and rolling cartoon eyes, bumps on the head are now linked to dementia. Will Smith’s latest movie tells how sports authorities tried to cover it up.William Stewart, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.