Into the Fire

Professional football is taking some critical hits. No, not helmet-to-helmet. On a "defenseless" receiver. Or brushing against the facemask of a quarterback. They're coming directly from the political arena, and of course it's the leftwing branch of government who wants to continue to make the sport "safer" and provide more "guilt-free" viewing for the general masses. Since, of course, all of us who watch these professional athletes bash each other can't possibly be admiring the fortitude and athletiscism of these elite players who are the best of the best compete in a game they love to play without guilt. Of course not.

Number one, most of these athletes (and the majority of them have completed a four-year education at a recognized or acclaimed university), according to the left – and specifically the POTUS – are too stupid to realize that playing professional football could be harmful to their health. Therefore, the game must be toned down to accommodate less injuries and their foolishness, ignorance, and overall stupidity. That's the right thing to do since these young adults who enter the professional football arena just can't be trusted to take care of themselves in light of the fun and potential fame and fortune they could achieve while playing this sport.

With lawsuits from the Junior Seau family and retired players who suffer from physical symptoms often indicative of multiple concussions or head injuries, the NFL is now in a difficult position regarding the safety of its players. Recent studies have amplified the information about head injuries and promoted the latest requirements for players who indicate symptoms of concussion during a game. The adjustment to how hits may be administered on an opponent is in operation but still in the formative stages while producing legitimate and also unnecessary penalties on the field. Football fans have had to endure ridiculously bad calls in the name of "safety". Fines have been leveled for penalties and other penalties have been deemed "mistakes", the evidence of those being non-fines to the player who was penalized.

Interesting that the game of football is under such scrutiny for its violence when this administration has just given the green light to female combatants on the front lines. Hmm. 

Professional football is not a girly game. It's a man's game. Athletes who are gifted with the required skills to achieve positions in the NFL are capable of realizing the risks to their bodies (and brains). Like most of us when we're young, probably some of these men figure "it won't happen to me" until it does. The thing is they can't wait to get back to the game. To be cleared to play whether it's from a concussion or a leg/arm/muscle/tendon etc. injury which requires slight or extensive rehab is their foremost goal. Why? Because they love the game, the competition, the winning, the fighting for their position. It's a man thing. It's admirable. And while the latest knowledge and understanding is learned, developed, and employed for the players' safety, can we just keep the ridiculous metro-sexual pontificating of the president out of the game? It's been toned-down enough. Any more and it becomes a girly game. Sissified. Which might appeal to the president, but it won't appeal to the fans of football. Or the professional players who love the game.

Father, please protect us all from the control of man. Help us to rightly answer to you, to accept responsibility for ourselves, our wrongdoing, our individual choices. Lord, help us to serve you above all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.