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Culverhouse's advocacy opens 'can of worms'

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2009

It's admirable that Gay Culverhouse wants to help permanently injured football players, including those past, present and future ("NFL players 'need an advocate,'" front page, Oct. 29).

It is no secret that the medical science of diet, training and conditioning has built the biggest, fastest and strongest athletes we have ever seen, thus competition is as good as it's ever been.

With violent sports like mixed martial arts on the rise, it's plain that many people like the violence.

So how do you make games like football and hockey safer for the players without limiting the competition and the excitement?

Unlike the inherently dangerous sport of auto racing, you can't artificially limit speed and add soft barriers around the course to make the competition safer for the participants.

You can only add so much padding and protection to a player before you impede his mobility.

I'm sure the National Football League and National Hockey League have the resources to fund the long-range care of their injured athletes, but what about amateur, high school and college programs, as Culverhouse points out?

Post-concussion syndrome and its effects seem to be a relatively recent area of study, but with injuries to high-profile players such as Tim Tebow of the University of Florida, the public is learning more about the dangers.

The biggest questions still remain:

Can giant sports industries be held accountable for workplace safety issues and the associated litigation, just as coal companies were for black lung disease or ship and boiler manufactures for mesothelioma?

With as much disdain as many Americans have for "big business" and its supposed mistreatment of the working man, will billion-dollar sports entertainment industries get the benefit of the doubt from their loyal fans because, as many think, six-, seven- and eight-figure salaries nullify the inherent risks of the job?
Culverhouse seems to have opened an interesting can of worms that would seem like an open and shut case were it in any other industrial venue.

But will anyone else dare to challenge the people's bread and circuses?

S. HEMINGWAY

Tampa

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