SmashMouth

The first week of the 2010 NFL regular season has a lengthy injury list:

Kevin Kolb – Philadelphia Eagles quarterback (concussion)
Matt Moore – Carolina Panthers quarterback (concussion)
Charly Martin – Carolina Panthers wide receiver (concussion)
Kevin Boss – New York Giants tight end (concussion and neck injury)
Stewart Bradley – Philadelphia Eagles linebacker (concussion)
Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions quarterback (right shoulder injury)
Leonard Weaver – Philadelphia Eagles fullback (torn ACL right knee)
Jamaal Jackson – Philadelphia Eagles center (torn biceps, right arm)
Jason Peters – Philadelphia Eagles left tackle (sprained right knee)
Chase Blackburn – New York Giants special teams captain (injured knee)
Paul Posluszny – Buffalo Bills linebacker (potential long-term knee injury)
Connor Barwin – Houston Texans defensive end (right leg injury)
And this is only the first week of the season. Fifteen more to go, not counting the post-season.

Everyone who plays the game, coaches the game or watches the game knows that injuries – often serious one – are an occupational hazard in football: from high school all the way through college and the pros -- for those who make it that far. This occupational hazard is understood, especially, by the players. During the season, as well as during the off-season most of them work hard, conditioning their bodies to absorb the brutal punishment that is intrinsic to the sport.

However there is no way to condition the head to absorb a jarring blow or a fall on it, even with a thick helmet on. Concussions are among the most serious injuries a football player can sustain but they are not the only ones. Injuries to nearly every other part of the body happen too, and they happen frequently. Oftentimes a player won’t acknowledge an injury and will continue playing with it until it is no longer possible to do so.

Yet despite the frequency of injuries that occur during the course of a 16-game regular season, the NFL and the team owners appear close to making a decision to expand the regular season to 18 games in 2012. Following a meeting of league officials and team owners late last month, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was quoted as saying, “We want to do it the right way for everyone, including the players, the fans and the game in general. There's a tremendous amount of momentum for it. We think it's the right step.”

I disagree. I do not believe this is a wise move to be making at this time.

Until such time as either players advance their current level of performance enhancement and lifestyle management status, the risk/benefit reward is not there, based on the current level of sophistication in the manner in which NFL players and /or teams effective manage the health and performance of their "assets." Tell me any business that would put their "assets" at such risk and convince their board of directors such actions were representative of sound business practices. Unless the "assets," in this case the human beings (players) were expendable, albeit the "stars," who should be protected at all cost to preserve the business.

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