Running back to what…..!

Noticed last week that when the NFL lockout was lifted many players rushed back to their respective ball clubs to begin working out. Some were so eager to get back they arrived before the team facilities opened and had to wait until the doors were unlocked to get in. I don’t want want to sound like a disgruntled former player but I’ve been there myself having gone through a strike and a lockout, I know what the glee was all about. It was not about the game, it was all about the money! That is what they were running back to. For all who beg to differ, i dont want to burst your bubble but you certainly don’t know professional athletes!

As each player ran back to his team I hoped each would read the poster that should now be in every NFL locker room. Last year the National Football League finally acknowledged that concussions and head trauma sustained in practice and games could lead to serious neurological issues later in life. The League made that acknowledgement by placing posters in locker rooms around the country. While I hope every player is aware of the poster and is now fully informed of the risks of dimentia, alzheimers and ALS later in life from concussions sustained in today’s games it is more warning than John Mackey and countless others like him who were strong willed football players got when they played “back in the day”. Many of those who never got the memo are either now living a life of being cared for by others or have passed away like John Mackey
several weeks ago.

Knowing what I know now, at the end of the day, the gray matter of the brain is much more valuable than a two year 50 million dollar contract that can be rescinded or voided after a player sustains multiple concussions (can you say former Eagle and Giants killer
Brian Westbrook).

There is no “if” but there is a strong “when” players of this generation begin to experience memory loss or lose their personal dignity I hope they can at least remember what they were running back to in 2011 when their lockout ended.