Knocking heads together
Leaving mana-a-mano ‘fighting’ (viz. boxing and mixed marital arts contests) aside because some might argue they’re so patently dangerous to brain health that the argument is slam-dunk unanswerable, what might be termed full-on ‘physical contact’ team sports – e.g. American football, rugby union and rugby league – are currently also struggling to come to terms with some unpalatable truths about their potential effects upon the medium-to-long-term effects upon their participants’ mental health and even personalities.
These concerns go way beyond riffs upon the straightforward inevitability that the human body – like any organism, or indeed elastic band – contains a myriad of inherent but ultimately finite abilities to stretch, exercise and regenerate itself and thus may gradually over time wear parts of itself out.
Down through the history of Man legions of individuals – whether world class in their field, or simply occasional athletes and/or games players who participated solely for recreation and fun – have accepted and borne with degrees of resigned fortitude the aches, pains and sometimes even chronic conditions that years, even decades, of ‘taking part’ caused them.
In the scheme of things, the phrase ‘they come with the territory’ is acutely apt in this particular case and – as any of us who have ever donned vests, jerseys, shorts, football or rugby socks and boots or trainers will no doubt testify – the vague notion that in some as yet far-off day the joys of chasing and/or kicking a ball around with youthful exuberance in the company of your mates will probably result in the odd infirmity or two to go along with the stories you tell your descendants of your personal derring-do on the field(s) of play is accepted as a given … but perhaps not for the moment, and, of course, ‘in the moment’ is a land everyone inhabits during their youthful years.
It is also worth mentioning here the range of different human reactions to the potential effects of their actions.
Public health authorities can and do issue warnings about alcohol and drug use, lifestyle choices in terms of diet and obesity … and the rest … but at the end of the day we all make our personal choices.
These could be at the relaxed end of the spectrum – in line with mantras such as ‘a little bit of what you fancy does you no harm’ and ‘all things in moderation’ – but they could also prompt a determination avoid ‘unheathly things’ and instead eat well and take exercise in order to keep our bodies (or ‘temples’) as fit and healthy as we possibly can. This attitude might be characterised as an adherence to the theme that ‘quality of life’ is as (or more) important than longevity.
Way back in history – I’m hazarding a guess here, but say it was in the late 1980s – when in a US research study a bunch of university/college athletes were presented with the proposition of the ilk:
“If we told you that we could give you an illegal performance-enhancing substance that would be guaranteed to (1) be 100% undetectable by the relevant authorities; and (2) deliver you an Olympic track and field gold medal … but would also mean that you died upon your 30th birthday … would you take it?”
The response to the survey – and some might regard this as shocking, some might not – was that a large majority (I don’t now recall the exact figure but let me suggest here it was of the order of 75%) indicated that they’d take the illegal drug, even if this meant they’d die on their 30th birthday.
I’d guess this attitude stems from the human condition’s natural obsession with both mortality and immortality; with ‘leaving their mark’; with ‘being remembered’; and even (cue Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in the back of the taxi with Rod Steiger as his older brother Charley in the 1954 movie On The Waterfront complaining “You don’t understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am ….”) seeking an identity, self-esteem or even perhaps personal validation by securing a place in the hearts and minds of others, whether that be among their own family or the public at large.
But to return to my topic today.
Statistically, careers in elite American football, rugby union and rugby league are inevitable short. As short as three and a half seasons may be the overall average, so those who manage to play for five years, or seven, or even nine, at the very top are – by definition both remarkable and lucky, especially given the attrition rate and cumulative effects of playing as often as players in these sports (that involve such violent physical ‘hits’) are required to.
In July 2017 the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study conducted by neuropathologist Dr Anne McKee into the brains of 202 former American football players, 111 of whom had played in the NFL. Of those 111, 110 were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (or ‘CTE’), the degenerative disease caused by repeated blows to the head. CTE causes typical symptoms such memory loss, confusion, depression and dementia. The age range of those surveyed was from 23 to 89.
Four years previously (in 2013), the NFL authorities had reached a proposed US$765 million settlement with over 4,500 former players who claimed that the NFL had not warned them sufficiently or at all about the potential adverse long-term effects of playing American football.
Today an interview with England rugby union full back Mike Brown is reported in many of the newspapers. In it he supports the work of the Rugby Players Association – the player’s union – which is mounting a campaign against Premiership Rugby’s plan to introduce an 11-month playing season (September to June, with internationals being played in July, thus leaving just one month – August – between seasons).
It’s a classic case of the employers (the English Premiership clubs) wanting more games in order to generate more money … versus basic player welfare. The clubs might argue they are not guilty of ‘greed’, i.e. their goal is more a case of seeking a way out of permanent penury – this isn’t football with its billions of megabucks after all – but might it be a downward slope to ‘killing the golden goose’ (the players)?
The players meanwhile are cashing in on the growing success of the English Premiership, in which many worldwide stars want to play because of its television success and the money it generates.
Here’s a link to one of the reports of Mike Brown’s interview, as posted today upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN
Meanwhile I wish to return to an incident that occurred during the Premiership match I watched live on television Saturday afternoon between Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints.
At 51 minutes into the game the Saints wing threequarter and Welsh international George North was put away in the clear and Dominic Ryan, the Leicester back row forward who had not long before taken the field as a substitute for another player, made a desperate but failed attempt to tackle him into touch.
North did not score a try as a result – the pass to him was judged to be forward – but there was clear on-screen evidence that Ryan had been knocked out in trying to make his tackle.
The new Premiership protocols for this season are far more stringent than last term’s (and have been praised for being so) but, after a period being examined by the Northampton physios and doctor, instead of being led off the pitch for an automatic mandatory 10 minutes’ worth of observation as he should have been, Dominic Ryan was simply ‘dusted down’ and allowed to go straight into the resulting scrum, looking a little bit dazed as he did so.
As all this was going on the BT commentary team, which had remarked upon the fact that Ryan’s collision with North had left him temporarily spread-eagled face-down on the ground, first paid tribute to the new head injury ‘protocols (which, like me, they automatically presumed would now cause Ryan to be taken off the field by the medical staff for an assessment) … secondly, went to puzzlement when this didn’t happen … and then, as Ryan made his way to the resulting scrum-down, they gradually began questioning why he wasn’t going off. Finally Austin Healey, the commentating pundit actually came out and said it, asserting “They’ve got this completely wrong”.
And they certainly had.
Premiership Rugby needs to maintain a tight rein on player welfare – and particularly its arrangements for dealing with potential head injuries that may involve concussion of any description or degree. Failure to do so may result one day in a ‘class action’ lawsuit like that which has occurred in America football.
