This Work Will Cause the Early Onset of Dementia

Anyone up for a job with the above warning attached? There are lots, of course, in the National Football League. Although the NFL has always downplayed the harm caused by head injuries, it’s finally putting out notices and brochures that comport with overwhelming medical and scientific evidence. Concussions, particularly multiple (two or more) concussions, cause permanent brain damage. The league continues, however, to take a hard line on disability claims of former players who now have dementia and related-conditions.

Is it possible for someone to play in the NFL and not sustain multiple concusions? Perhaps kickers, but everyone else runs as fast as they can and hits as hard as they can. While I like to watch pro-football, it’s amazed me for a long time that a player is not killed in every game.

Why take this kind of chance? Money is the obvious answer. But only a small percentage of NFL players make a lot of money. Those are the ones we hear about, and sometimes, fans seem to believe that all of the players are multi-millionaires. That’s simply not the case. I understand a player’s love of the game and the rush that must occur when you’re playing on an NFL team, but once it’s clear that you’re never going to make the big time, it doesn’t make sense to work in a job where your employer now says, “The long-term consequences of what you’re doing are dementia and depression, and it can change your life and your family’s life forever?”

As I’ve noted before (here and here), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should become involved. OSHA seems more concerned about ergonomics and and grease on a plant floor. As exciting and popular as pro-football is, it creates exactly the kind of jobs OSHA was created to regulate.