I have been a fan of the Cleveland Browns football team since the early 1960’s. I grew up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. We got seven TV stations, and this was a lot in that time period, three from Toronto, three from Buffalo, and one from Hamilton. The CBS station ( from Buffalo ) showed the Cleveland games every Sunday, and so I became a fan. I used to watch them for years, but in recent years I have not watched so much football, but I still love the Browns. I still need to know the score on Sunday.
Football is a violent and dangerous sport. I played the game for four years in high school, and got my helmet knocked off a few times. In our last year, we did not win a game, and we were rocked back and forth many times. In a pre-season game we lost 65-0 , and I was the quarterback of our team.
Malcolm Gladwell ( native of Elmira Ontario ) loved football growing up as well, but he has changed his mind in a big way. The science says that there many concussions happening all the time, and the colleges and pro teams know this, but they still play the game. There have been many suicides by former NFL and college players, and they have done autopsies, and they show these players have suffered from CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy ) . It is a brain disease caused by concussions. Junior Seau, a linebacker for San Diego , was a lively player with a smile on his face all the time . He played the game rough, and after he left the game, he committed suicide brought on by CTE ( according to the autoposy ). The science confirms that with all the violent hitting, the players are just pawns in the game. Gladwell questions why Ivy League schools would still play football, but smart people are not always the most ethical people in the world. It is the free choice of the players, but the schools know the science ?
This year, I think, I have watched more games. I wince at least five times a game, as defensive players lead with their head to try and tackle the offensive player. I think in the sixties, tacklers led with their arms and wrapped them around the running backs, but now the head and helmet are weapons. Defensive backs throw their heads at the other players legs as well. I am so surprised that someone has not been killed on the field. This kind of play has led to players being killed or dying later on after their playing careers are over. I find it too much.
Besides the violence, the Browns have been very bad team. They seem to draft the wrong players, hire the wrong coaches and have a bad front office. On Sunday , they fired their coach after just one year. They have had many coaches and quarterbacks over the last ten years, that they are never consistent, and seem to change their way of doing things all the time. But, I am still a fan.
So, I should not watch football. I do not like the violence, it is way too dangerous and the Browns are so awful, but they are my Browns. Next year, I will propose to rid myself of this addiction.
Fred Redekop December 31, 2019
Ponder Anew 