A NASCAR driver understands that anything can happen during a race; his
car could flip at 200 miles per hour. A boxer knows when he goes in the
ring what’s happening to his body. Just like them, we understand this is
a dangerous game with consequences not just in the short term, but for
the rest of our lives. All of us NFL players, from wide receivers to
defensive backs, chose this profession.
I disagree with Sherman's confidence in the NFL players' knowledge of the risks, especially as it pertains to concussions. They may understand the risks in an abstract sense, but regarding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) that is not enough. Consider the following roundabout example.
About 45% of my diet consists of frozen pizza. My affinity for frozen pizza used to be accompanied by the belief the oven mitts are a little too cumbersome. For the sake of expedience I would often remove the pizza from the oven with my bare hands. After burning myself a few times I learned that ovens are hot and the risk of burning myself is too high to not use an oven mitt. More importantly, I gained the knowledge of the pain associated with touching 400 degree metal. But what of pain or discomfort that cannot be immediately associated with an experience? This takes us back to the issue of concussions.
Most NFL players know from experience what sprains, tears, bruises, and broken bones feel like. But do they know what it's like to be unable to remember years of their life? Or live in a constant state of depression? The problem with CTE is its symptoms are unlike ailments football players are familiar with. Furthermore, because you do not experience the effects of CTE until well after your playing days are over it impossible for NFL players to truly understand this unavoidable risk of playing football.
All of this is not to say that accepting the risk of the unknown should be disallowed in sports. Every decision ever made by anybody comes with unknown risks, so this concept is nothing new. Even so, you cannot say football players know the risks when, in fact, is impossible to know them. To simply dismiss this as a choice ignores the more pertinent epistemological question, and in doing so discourages players from performing the necessary analysis that will allow them to better decide if playing football is a risk they want to take.
I disagree with Sherman's confidence in the NFL players' knowledge of the risks, especially as it pertains to concussions. They may understand the risks in an abstract sense, but regarding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) that is not enough. Consider the following roundabout example.
About 45% of my diet consists of frozen pizza. My affinity for frozen pizza used to be accompanied by the belief the oven mitts are a little too cumbersome. For the sake of expedience I would often remove the pizza from the oven with my bare hands. After burning myself a few times I learned that ovens are hot and the risk of burning myself is too high to not use an oven mitt. More importantly, I gained the knowledge of the pain associated with touching 400 degree metal. But what of pain or discomfort that cannot be immediately associated with an experience? This takes us back to the issue of concussions.
Most NFL players know from experience what sprains, tears, bruises, and broken bones feel like. But do they know what it's like to be unable to remember years of their life? Or live in a constant state of depression? The problem with CTE is its symptoms are unlike ailments football players are familiar with. Furthermore, because you do not experience the effects of CTE until well after your playing days are over it impossible for NFL players to truly understand this unavoidable risk of playing football.
All of this is not to say that accepting the risk of the unknown should be disallowed in sports. Every decision ever made by anybody comes with unknown risks, so this concept is nothing new. Even so, you cannot say football players know the risks when, in fact, is impossible to know them. To simply dismiss this as a choice ignores the more pertinent epistemological question, and in doing so discourages players from performing the necessary analysis that will allow them to better decide if playing football is a risk they want to take.
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