Richard Sherman is letting his thoughts be known when it comes to the people’s perceptions of the NFL due to the issues with concussions. His attitude? If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
From USAToday:
The same way that no one is making Richard Sherman play football, no one is making fans watch the game. If you think it’s too barbaric, simply don’t watch it. Like many, I don’t watch MMA because I find it too brutal. But there’s not a groundswell of people calling for changes to the sport or looking down upon the people who love it. To each their own.
Sherman’s ending is the perfect conclusion to a strong piece. In it, Sherman covers all the main pro-football points.
1. Players play the game because they want to. Whether for love, money or obligation, playing football is a choice for all these men.
2. Whatever happened in the past with the NFL and concussions is irrelevant to current players. With awareness at an all-time high, players know the risks involved more than ever.
3. The focus on defenseless receivers is leading to indecision, which is just as much a risk as playing fast.
4. Safety measures are necessary, particularly for quarterbacks. “They’re always a premium,” he writes. If the guy who asked Tom Brady, “you mad, bro?” says quarterback protection is necessary, then he means it.
5. NASCAR drivers and boxers risk death too, he writes. I’d also add non-sporting professions like firefighters, police officers, test pilots, astronauts, stunt people and daredevils, to name a few. Why the intense focus on football? Why does Richard Sherman need someone else to save him for the dangers of a game he chooses to play?
The increasing number of injuries that has occurred this past weekend shouldn’t surprise anyone with the new speed of the game, but that's what makes it exciting. Football has risks just like other sports and professions, which Sherman mentioned. Players who have suffered these risks have either dealt with them and came back or left the game for good.
