Gregg Williams paid his players to injure opponents. Direct hits to the head, neck, and knees, by players carrying an amount of force similar to an automobile. This tears ligaments, breaks bones, and above all, causes concussions. This, above everything else, is the one thing that would make football intolerable. Fixed games, steroids, players with criminal records, instant replay, more commercial breaks, the two-point conversion, expansion—none of these things would even approach the impact of the NFL allowing this to continue.
I'm never loath to quote superhero comics when making a serious point. They deal with issues of such exaggerated importance they'll occasionally give us a moment of really profound wisdom. Here's a chance to use Uncle Ben's best line, from Spiderman: "With great power comes great responsibility." Usually that's the kind of thing that comes up in political situations, but it's almost never applied so literally. These guys carry enormous power on the field. Literal force: they clobber each other. We understand that that creates a risky game, where injuries are a part of life. Legitimate moral questions are raised even in the day-to-day experience of football, and the answer to those questions is deeply tied to the NFL's ability to assume the responsibility created by the violence of the game.
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