The article that I read, On The Defensive, debates whether watching football is ethical. Football has been around for decades but new technology has enabled scientists to discover the danger of concussions. Kaminer asks if the evidence of long term and fatal effects of brain injuries in football is enough to say that it is morally wrong to take part in the sport.
Football is a violent sport and coaches, players and fans know this. The fans go wild if a player is hit hard as big hits are praised. The New Orleans Saints paid their players to hurt their opponents. Football has taken steps to stop concussions with increased fines and suspensions for helmet to helmet hits. However the smaller hits over long periods of time have proven to be just as damaging and are impossible to avoid.
This is a sensitive topic because football is the most popular sport in America. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest advertising events of the year and even helpin times of crisis (i.e. New Orleans Saints post-Katrina). Football is a moneymaking machine and the economy benefits from bars and restaurants to the thousands of jobs it enables. There are many positives in football but does that make it okay to watch athletes shortening their lives for entertainment?
Kaminer knows that most people that enjoy football are not the ones going to the games when she asks if watching football on T.V. is ethical. Even if one does not enjoy the violence, by watching at a bar or at home, one is giving in to the sport and indirectly supporting the violence.
Kaminer wrote this to try and connect ethics with football. This is an interesting debate because of the new studies. In the 1940s, people thought that cigarettes were healthy and ethical. Nowadays, no one believes that smoking cigarettes are ethical. So can football be the new cigarette? Kaminer does not seem like a big football fan but talks with famous speaker and writer, Malcolm Gladwell who watches football even though he knows that the players will die prematurely.
The intended readers for this debate are for Americans that enjoy football. This topic would not be suited for Europeans (one could substitute rugby) because they do not enjoy American football. The reader’s relationship with football will shape how one feels about this article. A guy who has never watched a game of football will most likely agree because of the simple fact that athletes get hurt and injured for entertainment. A huge football fan like myself would really have to think because it questions your beliefs. I have been going to Jets games since I was four, I cannot be objective when thinking of football because it is so important to me.
Kaminer uses sources such as Alan Schwarz and Malcolm Gladwell who have studied the topic before. The sources are used to provide proof for the statements about athletes health. The social aspect of football is interesting because of the popularity of the sport. This would not be as interesting if it were American soccer but football’s influence is everywhere. Tim Tebow is a polarizing figure and the NFL pre-season draws thousands of fans. I enjoyed this article because it really made me think about the game of football.
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