With the unfortunate passing of Junior Seau and the very bizarre way in which former NFL player Dave Duerson took his life, questions like the one above are an inevitability. In fact, some very intelligent people are currently participating in a live debate about forever banning our favorite fall pastime. You've got Buzz Bissinger and Malcolm Gladwell in one corner and Tim Green and Jason Whitlock in another, debating college football's merits and benefits vs. the dangerous and potentially brain altering way the game is now played. No matter how this debate unfolds (and it won't end tonight) you can undoubtedly use it as a proxy for the high school game all the way down to the Pop Warner. If nearly fully developed men can't play this game without killing each other, what chance do 7 year olds and their still developing brains have? The question is not if college football will be banned (NO), but instead how the NCAA will respond. Regardless of how it does, your eyes will likely bleed when it does.
There isn't a more stupidly reactionary governing body than the NCAA, and that says so, so much. If they pass a rule, it's got about a 4000% chance of being uniformly hated. Whatever they do will make the game worse and Mark Emmert be absolutely flabbergasted when it's challenged in any way by the media. I attempted to envision this implausibly stupid rule change and how it would affect the Michigan - Ohio game this year. Prepare yourself, Michigan fans, the Ohio game will be settled in one of two ways this November. (SPOILER ALERT: Both end well for Michigan)
While one team's QB fighting the other team's QB in sumo suits is one way to curtial dangerous football-related activity, it is not the only way. As you might have guessed, coach on coach pillow fights are also an option under consideration:
But before a ban is discussed you have to realize that college football is going nowhere. It's going nowhere for the same reason that cigarettes and alcohol can still be sold and cars that go over the speed limit can be produced. Your government and similar powers that be are willing to protect you from yourself to point that it affects their constituent's bottom lines. College football, cigarettes and cars that go fast make money, regardless of how much potential damage they cause. The argument will always go, "If you're worried about the effects, don't smoke, drive fast or play football. No one is forcing you to do any of those things." Whether I agree with that point is immaterial and if you care to hear the point debated by smart people, there will be transcripts all over the internet tomorrow morning. My opinion is also unimportant because I'm forver biased by my love of the game. I'm just a man making gifs, don't blame me for the pillow fights and sumo suits.
Back to the Michigan Wolverines Newsfeed