Is Football an Ethical Sport?

IS PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL AN ETHICAL SPORT?

A Case Study of the NFL’s Stance on Concussions

According to the law of nature, it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another - Marcus Tullius Cicero1

The National Football League (NFL) has grown to become the most popular and profitable sports organization in the United States. Since taking over as the League Commissioner in 2006, Roger Goodell has seen individual team franchise values increase by over 30% and overall league revenues increase from $6.5 billion to $9.2 billion.2 During the same period of time, the average salary for players increased from $1.7 million to $2 million per year.3 However, in the midst of all its success, the NFL has increasingly been scrutinized for its stance on concussions.

In 1994, then Commissioner Paul Tagliabue issued a mandate to form the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) committee, headed by the New York Jets team doctor and a rheumatologist, Dr. Elliot Pellman. Despite having no experience in the field of brain injury, Dr. Pellman was tasked with overseeing the league’s policy on head contact and when asked about his position on concussions, he told Sport Illustrated: “Concussions are part of the profession, an occupational risk.”4 Players also seemed to believe the idea that concussions were just a hazardous byproduct of the game. When Troy Aikman, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, received a concussion severe enough to spend a night in the hospital in 1994, he later told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “I didn’t know what planet I was on. I still to this day have no recollection of ever having played in that game. So whenever I see footage of that game, it’s like somebody else is out there doing it.”5 Troy Aikman continued to play in the NFL for another six years and cited multiple concussions as the determining factor for retiring in 2001.

In 1997, the American Academy of Neurology established new...