Is American football morally defensible?

[EgonSpengler]

To clear up what I was talking about when I said that I was specifically talking about tie between universities and sports exploitation.

It is my understanding that american universities reserve a number of places for so called sports scholarships. And this is basically some sort of program where they give you a scholarship but only under the condition that you play in their sports team putting in all the effort of a professional athlete for free. Like, I am not even sure they test the people for actual qualifications beyond athleticism. And that this is done with no care to the actual education of the individuals and with absolutely no compensation as a sort of giant money making scheme. They even seem to have an entire sports league for that stuff.

Which is a bit wild for me because I am used to most universities not even having sports as a possible class. Like not even elective. And why would they? Why would say a math or biology or art degree or a university specialized in them offer sports as an option? That's like stocking petrol in a candy store. Instead, if people want to go into sports they attend specialized sports programs such as the one you described.

I think I understood what you meant. All I was saying is that if you think American universities are unusual among profit-seeking organizations in their exploitation of the people who generate said profits, I have a bridge to sell you. I don't even know for sure that they're particularly bad, in that regard, or are just kind of run-of-the-mill profit-seeking institutions. Also, the sentence where you say "some sort of program where they give you a scholarship" is self-contradictory. If they're giving you a scholarship, you're not doing it for free, because one of the big problems in this country is the cost of education, especially higher education. The argument in support of some of these athletics programs is that they give kids a chance to go to college who might not otherwise have one. And I think that may be true. But that's a problem with our education system.

Your question about whether student-athletes get a good education while they're playing sports is valid, although it may be more worth pointing that particular barb at American high schools, before American universities. I think even U.S. state schools (e.g. public schools) get pretty solid funding streams, and provide decent educations. But (some) people arrive at American colleges and universities needing remedial classes to make up for the lack of education they received in high school. Some years ago, there was a case pitting a high school in a well-to-do town against its neighbor in a poor and working-class town next door. I forget what the claim was, but I remember Justice Samuel Alito Antonin Scalia writing against the poor school that while American students are entitled to an education, they are not entitled to a good one. Yup, that sounds like the U.S. That checks out.

 

[EgonSpengler]

CNN, 24 Sept. 2024 - Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre says he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

Age 54.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Any time the brain bashes against the inside of the skull, that can't be good.
There is just no way to protect the brain 100% in an impact.

Legendary fighter Ronda Rousey had to quit MMA because her brain got so damaged from repetitive injuries that a single blow to the head would give her a fresh concussion.

Ronda Rousey Reveals That Years of Concerning Concussions Led to Her Abrupt Retirement from Fighting

Ronda Rousey said in an Instagram Live on Thursday that she retired from fighting in 2016 because of years of concussions, marking the first time she addressed the reason for her retirement in the 8 years since she left MMA

people.com

“So much had to do with having so many concussions when I was in judo before I even got into MMA, I couldn’t talk about it at all when I was doing MMA because it would literally put a target on my head, and I might not have been allowed to compete any further."

If high schools ban football for safety reasons, what will the colleges and the NFL do to recruit money-makers?

No one will miss boxing or MMA if they vanish for safety.

 

[Voidwalkin]

If high schools ban football for safety reasons, what will the colleges and the NFL do to recruit money-makers

College football would be history.

The NFL would probably switch to Euro style youth academies. That they haven't already suggests to me that there must be an unspoken gentleman's agreement amongst the owners to maintain college ball as a minor league development pipeline, free of cost.

Any team running a youth academy would create much higher caliber players. A 22 year old can be Peyton Manning on day one if he's already had 15 years of professional study. That they haven't gone this route yet is probably the result of a determination college ball drums up enough general football interest to keep it, maybe?

I don't think it would be the end of the NFL. Might get shady, though.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Legendary fighter Ronda Rousey had to quit MMA because her brain got so damaged from repetitive injuries that a single blow to the head would give her a fresh concussion.

Which just goes to show that the contact sports without deliberate hitting (punching, kicking) can still rattle you. And I think the compounding effect of repetitive impacts is becoming more and more alarming, the more its effects are scrutinized. I think there's also some realization about how much of this happens during practices. Someone like Rousey had probably been thrown to the mat tens of thousands of times by the time she was 18 years old. She could have hit the mat hard enough to "ring her bell" hundreds of times by the time she went to college. One of things you learn in contact sports is to stay in action when you're briefly stunned. In MMA, you'll often see a fighter who's been KO'd wrap his arms around the leg of the referee who's just stepped in to call an end to the fight - grabbing hold when they're 'out of it' just becomes second-nature. And that's not learned from the handful of times a year that they compete, that's learned in the gym, while practicing.

Any team running a youth academy would create much higher caliber players. A 22 year old can be Peyton Manning on day one if he's already had 15 years of professional study. That they haven't gone this route yet is probably the result of a determination college ball drums up enough general football interest to keep it, maybe?

Definitely. NCAA football is waaaaaaaaay more popular than any minor league in any other sport. The NFL's annual Draft Day is one of the biggest days in sports.

 

[Kyriakos]

I can understand the (somewhat twisted) allure of violent sports, and american football appears to be a team sport which covertly links to the same emotional pool. There's also the stereotype of being in the highschool team (again not really there in most other countries, regarding team sports).
As for MMA, isn't it just people beating the [] out of each other, for richer people to profit and gradually allow a few fighters to get some money? Same with boxing.