[Oe List ...] Theological Justification for Football

[Tim Wegner]

Bill wrote:

> When it 
> was time to go home the doctors informed me that because of the injury and 
> its long term affects I would not be allowed to play football anymore. (at 
> this point I died) About a week later Mariana said to me - "Bill you have to 
> get a new life." Like what, I asked. She replied "You still have a four year 
> scholarship - Why don't you take this opportunity to get an education". 
> Three days later I did. (my rebirth).

That's an interesting story Bill! And a great witness illustration.

Seems to me that signing up for football (or many other active 
endeavor's) means accepting risks of injuries such as yours. For 
example, my son broke a leg in two places in a soccer match. It goes 
with the territory.

However, I was talking about something far more ominous. Football 
players, especially (but not exclusively) professional football 
players, expose themselves to a risk they probably don't know they 
are taking.  Many concussions add up to the onset of dementia and 
other debilitating problems long before they reach old age. This 
happens in very substantial numbers, it's not at all rare. The NFL, 
and fans (like those of us here) sweep this under the rug and deny 
it. I am not preaching to others, I'm a fan too. But the more I know 
what they are doing to themselves, the harder it is for me to watch.

Just google "football demntia". One quote from a study:

"Retired players with three or more concussions had a five-fold 
greater chance of having been diagnosed with mild cognitive 
impairment and a three-fold prevalence of reported significant memory 
problems compared to those players without a history of concussion, 
he said. Physicians had diagnosed 33 players with Alzheimer´s. The 
higher prevalence of the memory-destroying disease was more 
noticeable in the younger age groups -- those below age 70 than in 
those over that age."

Tim