Junior Seau, arguably one of the NFL’s greatest linebackers ever to play the game, shot himself in the chest yesterday. This follows on a series of recent suicides of NFL players Dave Duerson, Terry Long, and Andre Waters. To this, Charles Camosy at Catholic Moral Theology asks: “When will we seriously debate the ethics of supporting American football?”
Most throw their hands up and say, “Well, they know what they’re doing, and they’re certainly well-compensated for doing it.” It’s not as though these players don’t realize the potentially dangerous or lethal nature of their profession, and most everyone else just wants a team to support, a Superbowl to win, and another beer. But cases like these do trouble, and the long-term physical and psychological damages of professional success in football are increasingly resulting in social maladjustment, physical handicap, early death, and, in this case, even suicide. Dana Dillon, a professor of theology at Providence College, comments:
I haven’t thought much about this…but I think that some of the things that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about prostitution might be helpful for an analysis of this. (Acknowledging the wrongfulness of the act itself, but also the economic forces that push prostitutes into that line of work.) Actually, I wonder if some of the thinking on pornography might also be a way into the morality of commercializing the watching of bodies being used in ways that are contrary to God’s intended purposes.
Read more here.
May 3rd, 2012 | 12:48 pm
[...] Ethics in the NFL – Mark Misulia, First Things/First Thoughts [...]
May 3rd, 2012 | 12:50 pm
First of all, the connection between Mr. Seau’s suicide and the “ethics of football” are tenuous, at best. There could be all manner of reasons (or lack of reasons) for his tragic action, but why you are jumping to his participation in pro football is far from clear.
Second, folks who poo poo contact sports seem wonderfully disconnected with the positive aspects of these games, both for the participants and for the wider audience. As long as we have a common culture, we will always have games to find out who is the strongest, fastest, and most skillful. It is as innate as private property and monogamy.
We may as well question the value of effette intellectual culture in universities that drags down the moral character of simple people that like to watch men hit each other. Hey, there’s lots of suicides in graduate schools, too, right? Let’s have a symposium on the ethics of grad schools.
May 3rd, 2012 | 2:29 pm
Dana is a friend of mine. She’s solid, and a trenchant thinker. Glad you picked her up on this.
May 3rd, 2012 | 9:46 pm
1) Re: “suicides in grad school…” Really?
2) I lack sports interest, and am available to my family weekends I don’t have to work. I am not an ESPN dad. I pay attnetion, hang with my family, have outings, visit relatives, etc. i am connnected to the important things in lofe and recognize what is a distraction. Like sports and TV.
3) For all the comments I write that never get published, AF Zamarro’s dismissal of “effette” intellectuals and suggestion of “poo-pooers” demonstrates that chesty conservative machismo, even if insulting is mistaken for a “contribution” to discussion, based obviously on tribal political affinity.
May 4th, 2012 | 8:52 am
First of all, the connection between Mr. Seau’s suicide and the “ethics of football” are tenuous, at best. There could be all manner of reasons (or lack of reasons) for his tragic action, but why you are jumping to his participation in pro football is far from clear.
Because they are doing an autopsy of his brain to see if he suffers from concussions.
It is already known that football players with a certain type of brain damage from concussions are at risk of suicidal behavior.
This is viewed as a potential ethical problem for the NFL because the issue has been raised before, people have sought to prove correlations, and the question is whether the NFL has adequately addressed the issue.
May 4th, 2012 | 10:03 am
[...] Misulia at First Things chimes in: Most throw their hands up and say, “Well, they know what they’re doing, and they’re [...]
May 4th, 2012 | 4:13 pm
1) Re: “suicides in grad school…” Really?
— Seems to me there are suicides everywhere, are there not? So there must be some in grad schools. Maybe at an even higher rate than the NFL.
2) I lack sports interest, and am available to my family weekends I don’t have to work. I am not an ESPN dad. I pay attnetion, hang with my family, have outings, visit relatives, etc. i am connnected to the important things in lofe and recognize what is a distraction. Like sports and TV.
— I am interested in sports. Love hockey and motocross especially. I too am not an ESPN dad. Haven’t viewed the channel in years. I simply don’t let it stop me from being a dad. If I miss something I miss it, I can deal with that. But if I can enjoy it and not let it get in the way of my family I do that as well. It’s not an either/or situation. Sheesh, I’m sure you have SOME interests which do not involve your family. If not, then you are a rare dad. and I’d bet your kids wouldn’t mind some time alone or with their friends.
3) For all the comments I write that never get published, AF Zamarro’s dismissal of “effette” intellectuals and suggestion of “poo-pooers” demonstrates that chesty conservative machismo, even if insulting is mistaken for a “contribution” to discussion, based obviously on tribal political affinity.
— I’m not a chesty conservative, but neither am I effete. I like sports, and I like many things one might consider “manly”. And I must confess that at gatherings I gravitate towards discussions with men who aren’t afraid to be, well, men. Testosterone is not a poison. And I don’t consider somebody effete simply because he doesn’t like football or hockey. It’s more than that. Many hunters couldn’t tell the difference between a football goalpost and a hockey goal. Yet you don’t find may effete hunters.
May 5th, 2012 | 11:25 am
Yet you don’t find may effete hunters.
True, but you do find many fat, nonathletic hunters.
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact