Commissioner Goodell and CTE

 

My sons played Pop Warner football back when they were young.

I remember, once or twice, them getting their bells rung.

Not quite a concussion (because neither one's that fast.)

Thankfully, their football playing days are in the past.

Coaches for our high school's team will stop my youngest son

(16 at 250; he is over 6 feet 1)

"Kid, we need you on the team," the football coaches say.

I can't, in good conscience - now, allow the boy to play.

Not with all the evidence that those who play the game

May sustain brain damage and that tackling's to blame.

Maybe that's the explanation for the recent news;

Players hitting people hard enough to leave a bruise.

What is not as clear is why Commissioner Goodell

Has been guilty of some recent stupid moves, as well...

Moves that make you wonder what is going through his mind.

If he thinks the NFL can weather this, he's blind

The New England Patriots - In Memoriam; Junior Seau

Junior Seau (1969 -2012) in happier times.  Photo credit: Reuters

Chargers, Dolphins, Patriots (the team for which I cheer)

Mourn the loss of Junior Seau; loved when he played here.

At the age of 43 - with 20 as a pro -

Seau's not the first to take his life this way, you know.

Football fans around the world, when told how Seau died,

Saddened - but not really shocked - to learn by suicide

(Junior, not too long ago, had driven off a cliff)

Faced the truth that penalties for players are too stiff.

Seau must have thought so too; he left his skull intact.

Pretty sure the autopsy will show that it's a fact

After one has played the game as long and hard as he

Almost every tackle does the brain an injury.

Don't know how we fix this; only know it must be done

Before other players blow their chests out with a gun.

I love football just as much as any other fan

But we have to change the game...  We owe it to the man.