Well, when the other news of the week involves an economy in contraction, an increase in unemployment, and a Democrat Senator molesting poor Dominican underage hookers, this football stuff is a conveniant distraction for a left leaning media.

How do you know no one here in the newsroom “never played football”? That fact isn’t true.

Lima, most of the most outspoken critics of player safety HAVE BEEN former players, genious.

Also not a fact you can be 100 percent certain of.

People end up with life altering disabilities when in automobile accidents. As a society, we have done everything we can (and continue to strive towards) to making driving safer. We build safer cars, we encourage people to keep those cars in good working order, and we (hopefully) teach the next generation of drivers safe driving habits. We have traffic laws with stiff penalties if you are caught breaking them. Does that ensure that there will NEVER be an accident when you head out on the road? By no means! By it significantly lowers the risk of getting hurt or hurting someone else. But nobody expects a parent to withhold the keys from Junior once he’s proven he can drive safely and take car of the car. Its a right of passage. Just as football, to many young men, is a right of passage. Just as with driving, consistent enforcement of rules, technology, and safe execution are the key. It is, however, a parents decision as to whether they can safely play the game-or safely drive. Every kid is different.

When demolition derbies become the normal daily commute, then you can draw the comparison between football and driving a car.

Jamie-Mike does pose a valid question that may need clarification. I’ve always assumed that the Our View articles are not necessarilly one reporter’s opinion, but a summary opinion of the editing board??? How does that work?

Mike-You’re reading way too much into my comparison, but I’ll humor you. A GMC Yukon would be your linebackers while your smart car may be your 5’8″ kicker. Just the same, you never want to jump into a Yukon with a false sense of security. You still want to keep it in good working order, obey the traffic laws, and practice defensive driving. Interesting to note, that my observation is that its the BIGGER players that are sustaining more of the head injuries. The league has done quite a bit to protect kickers, QB’s, and even receivers. Maybe the league has allowed a culture where bigger players develope a false sense of security. It seems to me that the majority of stories I hear are of the guys who spent their careers DOING the hitting, not the ones who spent their career BEING hit. I would predict that there are more head injuries among DB’s, LB’s, and linemen, then there is among QB’s, WR’s, and even RB’s.