memes

There are a lot of very valid criticisms of American football. I love it, sometimes in spite of myself, but I won’t fault anyone who thinks it’s an overly-managed made-for-TV snoozefest with no rhythm whatsoever. For better or worse, though, those helmets and pads do not make it any less of a violent “manly” sport. Far from it: they are the way Americans make ourselves feel better about watching a literal bloodsport with a ball.

The way the game moves and the ruleset reward explosive impacts, and the unlimited substitutions mean players are selected and trained to optimize delivering and enduring that violence instead of, say, actually running for 80 minutes. The result is a dozen hits a game that would make a “biggest hits of the season” compilation video for rugby or Aussie rules. Also chronic traumatic encephalopathy.