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When this issue of safety comes up I wonder why the NFL is being assigned responsibility for protecting the players when the players have the ability to define

When this issue of safety comes up I wonder why the NFL is being assigned responsibility for protecting the players when the players have the ability to define rules to protect their own safety through their union. The union should fund studies, provide their own doctors and trainers, and fight for the rights to ensure the rules of the game align to their findings and keep their members as safe as they want to be.

themartorana 10y ago
It's not that they're being assigned responsibility so much as actively campaigning against it - which puts them squarely in the middle of the issue. If the union was fighting for safety while the NFL was remaining quiet it'd be one thing. But when the organization is actually working to make the game more dangerous, they've squared off against the players.
balls187 10y ago
It's a good question, and I suspect that it's because the players who could influence that decision (the leaders and highly paid super star athletes), are not incentivized to sour their relationship with the NFL and the team owners over the health and well being of all players. That is, their individual goal is to maximize the money they make while they play, and fighting for better working conditions may run orthogonal to that. The NFLPA has a lot of good intentions, but without the support of the league stars, it's difficult to make any reason progress.
- KevinEldon 10y ago
  I think you're probably right and wonder then if it's not the players themselves who are to blame (at least when the fans/public gets "outraged" about this issue). It's awkward to assign (some) blame to the same class that contains the victims, but it seems in their own pursuit of wealth they might be forfeiting their own safety. Owners would care about the short-term safety of players so that they can realize their investments, but really don't have any long term incentive to care care about player health.
  - balls187 10y ago
    When you factor in that many of these athletes are young it makes sense why they aren't necessarily looking out for the long term self interest. It doesn't take too much searching to find once highly paid athletes having to work menial jobs post career, as they didn't take care of their finances. And, I'd say there is blame all around: Team owners (and by extension the League) wanting to maximize profits. Players want to maximize salaries. And the fans willing to continue to support the NFL as is.

themartorana 10y ago

It's not that they're being assigned responsibility so much as actively campaigning against it - which puts them squarely in the middle of the issue. If the union was fighting for safety while the NFL was remaining quiet it'd be one thing. But when the organization is actually working to make the game more dangerous, they've squared off against the players.

balls187 10y ago

It's a good question, and I suspect that it's because the players who could influence that decision (the leaders and highly paid super star athletes), are not incentivized to sour their relationship with the NFL and the team owners over the health and well being of all players. That is, their individual goal is to maximize the money they make while they play, and fighting for better working conditions may run orthogonal to that. The NFLPA has a lot of good intentions, but without the support of the league stars, it's difficult to make any reason progress.

KevinEldon 10y ago
I think you're probably right and wonder then if it's not the players themselves who are to blame (at least when the fans/public gets "outraged" about this issue). It's awkward to assign (some) blame to the same class that contains the victims, but it seems in their own pursuit of wealth they might be forfeiting their own safety. Owners would care about the short-term safety of players so that they can realize their investments, but really don't have any long term incentive to care care about player health.
- balls187 10y ago
  When you factor in that many of these athletes are young it makes sense why they aren't necessarily looking out for the long term self interest. It doesn't take too much searching to find once highly paid athletes having to work menial jobs post career, as they didn't take care of their finances. And, I'd say there is blame all around: Team owners (and by extension the League) wanting to maximize profits. Players want to maximize salaries. And the fans willing to continue to support the NFL as is.