The Appearance of Mischief

So, on the same day the NFLPA and Tom Brady file their appeal in the Great Pigskin PSI Conspiracy Caper, the NFL gets outed for not caring as much about traumatic brain injuries as originally promised. Several million dollars less than originally promised. Depending on who’s doing the counting. Details are so boring. If you watch any police procedurals on TV, you know the appearance of mischief is the first sign of mischief. Of course the NFL wanted to control the concussion discussion! That’s clear from the millions of dollars they have spent and of course from their over-familiarity with the curriculum vitae of neuroscientists.

Incredibly, Tom Brady is almost certain to serve a 4-game suspension for being “generally aware” of something that didn’t actually happen.

Hey, I get it. It’s an arbitrary and godless universe. I should expect professional football to be perfect. On the cosmic scale it’s much closer to organized crime than it is to… well, okay, everything is pretty much clustered around organized crime on the cosmic scale. Anyway, I’ve achieved a fatalistic, Zen-like attitude toward Deflategate. I do sometimes pretend that’s just a reverse jinx; that I’m pretending to be indifferent but really I care and may kill a hobo if Brady’s appeal isn’t heard. But really I don’t care. At least, I don’t think I care. I mean, Brady should do whatever he thinks is right. It’s his stuff. I’m not saying he should stop fighting. Whatever. I’ll still respect him in the morning but...

But haters gonna hate. I don’t think anybody’s changed their minds about Brady because of Deflategate. If you hated Brady before and thought he was a cheater because the Patriots cheat and Brady is a Patriot, then you still hate Brady and think he’s a cheater because the Patriots cheat and Brady is a Patriot. The second half of that AFC Championship against the Colts didn’t change your mind. Or winning his fourth Super Bowl. Or almost beating the best defense in the NFL in their house without an offensive line the year after that in the AFC Championship.

Am I still supposed to believe Tom Brady had to deflate footballs in order to win?

And I’m supposed to ignore science?

Which brings us back to neuroscience.

Speaking purely as a fan, of course I want to see everything done to ensure the safety of the players. Football - and the NFL needs to lead on this - needs to legislate blows with and to the head out of the game. Period. Full stop. Just do it. The game will still have plenty of contact and perhaps even more spectacularly athletic plays. Plus, you know, fewer traumatic brain injuries.

Throw flags, throw players out of games, fine head coaches and fine team owners for the recidivist behavior of their employees. Do anything and everything until players change the way they play the game; until they tackle with their shoulders, target the runner’s belt buckle, wrap their arms and slide down.

That could happen.

If the NFL wants it to happen.

Why wouldn’t they? The players long-term health is at risk.

Instead of trying to control the agenda, why not just let the scientists do what scientists so? Why not have the very best researchers work on this?

Why not spend on concussions what you spent on Deflategate?

I mean, I think we’re all “generally aware” of the problem here.