Is It Moral To Be a Football Fan?
A few years ago my cousin Alex decided to quit his high school football team and I was relieved. I wanted him to pursue athletics, he is one of the few in the Brazeal family who had any talent for it, and I was proud of his success, but from the minute I knew he was putting on pads, I was always afraid of some terrible injury.
But, I love football. I watch college and pro games every weekend during the season. I could spend hours talking about minutia, analyzing the strategies, watching and re-watching slow motion highlight reels or big hits.
If I support football, but wouldn’t participate or want my loved ones involved in it, does that make me a hypocrite? What about boxing, MMA or Nascar? Does being a fan make you a de facto supporter of dangerous sports?
I never played football. I never went to a school with a team. I don’t know that I would have played if I could of. But, I always played on the playground. One Thanksgiving I broke my jaw playing with the guys in the park. It made for a tough winter but it certainly wasn’t life changing.
Dangerous sports never seriously affected the lives of people I love and I’d like to keep it that way.
This idea began to trouble my thoughts after my interview with Elias about the rules of MMA fighting. When he said “we can’t suddenly pretend to be concerned with the safety of athletes.” I felt the sting of that comment. I am a fan of Football, Boxing and MMA. I probably have a couple hundred discussions and arguments about each of them every year. Few, if any, of those conversations are about the health and safety of the players.
If my money is supporting these sports, how responsible should I feel for the people involved? Its often said that these men and women understand the risks involved in their sports when they undertake them. I think this is more or less true. Still, if there were not fans supporting these boxing there would not be a profession for young women to aspire to, if people didn’t pay attention to football young men couldn’t hope for the fame of being a football star.
What is the fan’s responsibility to the athletes she watches?
We regularly hear athletes thank fans for supporting them. We are expected to support in good times and maybe in bad. But should that be enough? This is an idea that fascinates me and I would love to hear from you. So please leave your thoughts in the comments, and if you feel passionately about this write me an email at Northandclark@gmail.com I might feature your guest post here.
Oct 13, 2009
I don’t think the fan has any responsibility to the athletes. While today, many folks aspire to the games because of the money/fame, that was not always the case. I’d listen to my grandfather tell me about growing up in the thirties and being a caddy for a one of the players for the Cardinals and those guys did not make the same kind of sustainable income from the game. They had a “real job” as well as the game. They played for the love of it.
Ultimately I think even if the motivation of the player is money or fame, they walk into the arena knowing the risks as well as the rewards and they accept them both. While injury or possibly even death could ensue, unless you as a fan are paying specifically hoping for one of those things, I don’t see how you could take away any responsibility should something go wrong. Unless of course, you spiked a boxer’s water with a rufi or something. ;)
Oct 13, 2009
I haven’t spiked a boxers drink since I quit the mafia a year ago.
This is a good point. A lot of fighters, and footballers never make any money and never see that as the goal. Sport can be an end in itself. What concerns me is where we draw the line? What is it civil for a person to pay to watch. In this country we don’t generally accept any number of forms of competition as lawful. Dog fighting is in the news a lot, but in many states it is still illegal to do MMA. If athletes volunteered to do it would it be ok to reinstate the gladiators (Roman not American)? What about Russian Roulett.
I’m not saying that these things are the same as football. I’m just worried that the arguement “they walk into the arena knowing the risks as well as the rewards and they accept them both,” opens the door to some things I wouldn’t want to see.
Oct 13, 2009
Eh, I think the extremes you point out are covered by my general understanding that the sport coincide with the law. A fight with death as the intent is against every civil code we have anywhere in the country, so I don’t think we have that to fear.
Oct 14, 2009
I’ve lost track of the number of concussions I’ve had from rugby, hockey, and just hard living. They culminated in a pretty bad brain injury this year. (Concussions are cumulative, and get easier to sustain over time.) Of all these concussions, there are only a few injuries I would trade back. When I forget an appointment or I screw up at work, I have to wonder what to chalk up to personal weakness and what to forgive because of scar tissue in my brain. After these lapses I imagine what I would say to a younger me. Not once, even in fantasy, have I told him to quit sports.
Facing pressure on a regular basis taught me a lot about attitude, and swallowing fear, and when my friends got injured, I had to learn how to cope with guilt. I can’t imagine my life without rugby, and I know half-paralyzed old men who say the same.
But the benefits of a sport are germane to your subject–the point is, I’m glad the opportunity to play was there, and I welcomed people who enjoyed watching it.
However, I have other career options. If you are a football fan, a lot of kids who only see one escape route from a bad neighborhood are going to bang their heads together for your amusement. A lot are going to bang their heads together just for a shot at amusing you, and they will fail.
At some point, it’s important to support people in the risks they take. Whether it’s right to create a market that encourages desperate people to take those health risks is something I’m not prepared to weigh in on.
Oct 14, 2009
Benz! Been too long buddy.
Thanks for your perspective on this. You have certainly been on the receiving end of your share of hits. I know no greater lover of rugby, and what you said gets back to an important point that Charles made and that I have heard a lot since writing this post. How many of the people who sustain injuries in these sports would have gotten the same injuries doing it for the love of the game? There are a lot of us who played sports for free.
Take care of your head and we will talk more soon.
Oct 21, 2009
I think it’s an interesting question. I do think one can support the sport without being immoral because they fear for the safety of those that are involved in it. Because you do worry about your players- when they get smashed up really bad and carried off the field, I hope they are back next week and don’t suffer any permanent injury.
Similarly, I support the armed forces of this country. Granted, not every action they take has always been honorable, but for the most part, I support the men and women who make it their job to protect this country, even when I find their job morally objectionable.
I have a few friends and relatives who serve in the military- my Uncle was a Surgeon for the Army and ran hospitals in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a hero- he put kids back together who otherwise would have lost an arm or worse.
But I worried for his safety every day, and I had the power to magically bring him home, I would have. He loved it- he was so fulfilled, even in the midst of that risk.
I think there is a level of care for our athletes, but I don’t think we can pretend that their safety is our first priority. There is certainly an assumed risk to entering the sport, but I do think that we as fans do not want to see the players injured (at least in football)- we want to see amazing plays and a well played game. That’s why it’s what we talk about, ’cause that’s what we love most.
Oct 25, 2009
Excellent post, what cms do you use in your blog ?
Oct 26, 2009
I’m a wordpress man Batrolo, but I have used a couple of em’.