“Are you ready for some football?!” Not so much.
I am a big fan of college football. Specifically, Georgia Bulldogs football. When I was a senior in high school and looking at colleges, I was accepted to UGA. My question to my dad was, “Do they have a good football team?” Up until the following fall, I had only followed Clemson and UVA, my parents’ alma maters.
Imagine how I celebrated in my sophomore year as one player became synonymous with the Dawgs: Herschel. The National Championship came to Athens, Georgia. This year, Georgia is ranked by the coaches at number 4. Hopes for that repeat championship are pretty high.
I’ve been a football fan all my life. My dad coached my brother’s teams for years. To make sure I didn’t feel left out, and since I had zero interest in being a cheerleader, my father taught me how to understand the playbook, which I memorized. I paced the sidelines and kept stats. I offered play options, defense and offense, to help the team. At least that is how it felt, when Dad looked over to me and I gave him a quick summary so he could call the play. And my love of the game was born. I once could throw a spiral better than many, boys or girls.
But I am not ready for football this fall. Several years ago, I learned more about the issues around concussions. Check out the 129 footnotes on this Wikipedia article. I began to wonder if it was appropriate to cheer for the bulked up men to bang it out up and down the field.
Years earlier I began to think about the money involved. I found myself angry that every year I received multiple calls from UGA for academic donations, while the salaries of the coaches went up along with the money from their side endorsements.
Not to mention, students had to get tickets through lotteries while more seats were sold to non-students year after year. I wondered if it was appropriate for these kids to be used for the coaches’ and universities’ enrichment while I cheered “Goooo Dawgs, sic ‘em.”
Now, CoVid.
And, Black Lives Matter.
Many of these players are Black, and from towns all over Georgia, and elsewhere, where economic hope is minimal. Football has always been their way out and up. But it is always at the mercy of the white college presidents, sports directors, coaches, and, most importantly, fans. Fans like me — white, and willing to put out money to watch these young men risk their cognitive abilities, their neurological future, and today, their very lives, putting it all on the line of scrimmage so we can sing and chant ourselves into a frenzied and united community of Damn Good Dawgs.
Am I ready for football? Not so much. I’ll miss it, a little, but I hope it is cancelled. We can do better, on so many fronts, but especially in terms of protecting them, from CoVid, Concussions, the stadium where we sing “Dixie,” for the field hands, and basically, from the rest of us. We can do better. It’s time for change.
Timeout! Blow the whistle, NCAA, and call the season.
bevfriedlander 