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In this op-ed, Teen Vogue features contributor Fortesa Latifi argues ahead of the 2023 Super Bowl that the dangers of football outweigh the benefits.
Invite me to your Super Bowl party, and I promise I will be the least fun person there. Why? I don’t think football should exist.
It’s not necessarily controversial to say that football is a dangerous sport. We know that it often causes long-term harm to its players, some of which can only be truly understood after their deaths. Risks to players' health include concussions, traumatic brain injuries, arthritis, and potentially cardiac events. So, when I see an NFL game, all I see is a series of possible traumatic brain injuries and concussions, ready to derail a life. I have a traumatic brain injury, so I know just how much is at stake. It leaves me to wonder, is it really worth it to watch these players risk their lives and their health when, for so many, neurological disorders and other health risks lie on the other side?
In September, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa fell backward, hitting his head against the field before stumbling to his feet. Tagovailoa was reportedly evaluated for a concussion, but ultimately returned to the field for the second half of the game. Just days later, fans wondered if Tagovailoa would play in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Chris Nowinski, a former college football player and WWE professional wrestler, neuroscientist, and the the CEO of Concussion Legacy Foundation, tweeted that it would be a massive step back for concussion care in the NFL if the injured player was allowed to play. “If he has a 2nd concussion that destroys his season or career, everyone will be sued & should lose their jobs, coaches included,” Nowinski wrote. “We all saw it, even they must know this isn’t right.”
Tagovailoa did play, and during the game he was thrown to the ground, where he hit his head then immediately raised his hands with his fingers flexed, seeming to display the “fencing response,” an involuntary gesture that can be a sign of brain injury. Tagovailoa was taken off the field on a stretcher as shocked fans watched. In the aftermath of the injury, NFL concussion protocol was changed so that any player showing ataxia (the medical term for poor muscle control, which post-concussion can present as unsteadiness or slurred speech) is not allowed to return to the game. As fans, commentators, and former players continued to argue about the protocol around head injuries, the NFL released a report that showed a significant increase in regular-season concussions in 2022, which ESPN writer Kevin Seifert called “a sobering outcome that aligned with a season-long public conversation about head injuries.” According to the report, 149 concussions were suffered over 271 games in the 2022 season, an 18% increase from 2021.
When I saw the video of Tagovailoa stumbling after his first injury, I started crying and my husband quickly changed the channel. As someone with a life-altering brain injury that has colored every day of my life since it happened, I felt sick watching what I felt was the aftermath of a concussion (though it hasn’t been confirmed that Tagovailoa suffered a concussion after that hit, when video showed him stumbling after his head bounced off the ground). When Tagovailoa returned to the field for the second half and then was concussed in a game just days after the first hit, I breathlessly scrolled Twitter while digging my nails into my palm. One concussion is bad enough and can actually make you more susceptible to a second one – and repeated concussions may result in a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease, the symptoms of which include impulsive behavior, suicidal thoughts or behavior, and difficulty thinking.
One of the difficulties in research into CTE is that it can only be diagnosed after death. In a study of former football players who donated their bodies to science after death, 99% of NFL players showed signs of CTE, though the authors of the study cautioned that the data may be self-selecting as each of the athletes in the study had shown symptoms during life, prompting families to donate their brains for post-mortem research. The research found that all the men experienced the behavioral and cognitive symptoms associated with CTE, including, as Science magazine reported, “impulsivity, depression, apathy, anxiety, explosive rages, episodic memory loss, and problems with attention and higher order thinking.”
I know many people make the argument that these players know what they’re getting into but I find that absurd on a few different levels. First, we’re constantly learning more about just how prevalent concussions and traumatic brain injuries are in the NFL – and how far-reaching the effects of such injuries can be – so is it really fair to say these players understood the magnitude of their choice to start playing football as children and adolescents? And the racial dynamics of being an NFL player, where you literally put your body on the line for your job, cannot be ignored. The 32 NFL team owners, none of whom are Black and only two of whom are not white, profit massively off the labor of players, nearly 70% of whom are Black. And in a country where upward mobility for Black children is much less likely than it is for white children how can we ask gifted, young Black football players to turn away an average $2.7 million per year salary in the NFL? A better question is: Why must such a famously lucrative career for Black men require they put their bodies – and brains – on the line?
And I get it – the NFL has changed their concussion protocol as a result of Tagovailoa’s injury. Some high school coaches are limiting tackling during practice to minimize potential head injuries. And, football is an American pastime and an important cultural touchstone in many families and communities. I get it. I really do. Football means a lot to a lot of people – but I just don’t think it’s worth it. I don’t think football can be made safe enough to justify its continued existence, especially as we learn more about the short and long term health ramifications. I don’t think the NFL should exist. And I think if you had to live one day in the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury, you wouldn’t be able to stomach watching football either because all you would see are hits that could result in concussions and brain injuries that will ripple through the lives of these players and their families for years, or maybe forever.
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