In the bloody figurative war now being waged on the sport of football, author Daniel J. Flynn has entered the conflict on the side of America’s Game.
“Looking around at the growing number of growing fatsos, I’m reminded that the most dangerous activity is inactivity,” Flynn told The Daily Caller in an email interview about his new book, “The War on Football: Saving America’s Game.”
“We should be encouraging sports, not slobs.”
Flynn is the author of numerous books and a contributor to The American Spectator. Despite the recent media obsession with how dangerous football supposedly is, he says “[f]ootball players actually outlive their peers outside of the game.”
“The federal scientists looked at every player who competed in the NFL in five or more seasons between 1959 and 1988. Based on prevailing death rates among the comparable population in society, the scientists expected to find 625 deaths. They found 334,” he said.
“Less than 1 percent of the 3,439 players died from the neurodegenerative diseases that football’s critics obsess over. But heart disease, cancer, respiratory illness, and other more prolific killers claimed way fewer lives among the player cohort than among those in society.”
Flynn even pushes back against the notion that football is more dangerous than other sports.
“The weekend before last, a fan died from a fall at Candlestick Park. Not a single player — in Candlestick Park or any NFL stadium — died from a hit that weekend,” he said. “In fact, in the 90-plus years of NFL competition there has never been a player who died from a collision. The NHL can’t make that claim. The Winter X Games can’t make that claim. NASCAR can’t make that claim. Horse racing can’t make that claim. Major League Baseball can’t make that claim. Every human activity carries risk.”
Still, the media drumbeat about the dangers of football is having an effect on the sport, says Flynn.
“Youth football participation was down 6 percent last season,” he explained. “I’ve talked to league presidents who have been forced to contract the number of teams and coaches who struggle to field the requisite number of players on game day required by the rules. There isn’t an epidemic of brain injuries among kids. There is an epidemic of obesity and lethargy among teens. Football can serve as an antidote to that. The war on football is a war on public health masquerading as a crusade for public health.”
Prodded by TheDC, Flynn compared the War on Football with America’s other raging figurative war: the War on Christmas.
“Football and Christmas are incredibly popular in America,” he said, “yet both inspire a small but vocal group of detractors. I’m not familiar with too many Christmas Scrooges. But in writing this book I’ve become acquainted with quite a few football Scrooges who want to take the ball and go home. It’s a free country. Celebrate Christmas or not. Play football or not. Players and spectators should be allowed to make their own decisions without moral scolds intervening.”
See below TheDC’s full interview with Flynn about his book, the future of football and much more:
What is the War on Football and is it being launched by the same people responsible for the War on Christmas?
The war on football is the effort to abolish football or redefine it as a game played with flags rather than pads. This sentiment has inspired school board members to propose banning the game at the high school level and state legislators in Illinois, Texas and New York to restrict the game in various ways. In the Empire State, for instance, an assemblyman introduced legislation to ban the game for kids under 11. Such actions have been prodded on by irresponsible public intellectuals whose ignorance of the sport has not served as a restraint from frequently opining on it.
Football and Christmas are incredibly popular in America, yet both inspire a small but vocal group of detractors. I’m not familiar with too many Christmas Scrooges. But in writing this book I’ve become acquainted with quite a few football Scrooges who want to take the ball and go home. It’s a free country. Celebrate Christmas or not. Play football or not. Players and spectators should be allowed to make their own decisions without moral scolds intervening.
The book’s subtitle is “Saving America’s Game.” I’m a football fan, but it’s worth asking: why is the game worth saving?
Woodrow Wilson, a coach who took his executive talents to the Oval Office, held that football “develops more moral qualities than any other game of athletics.” I’m inclined to agree. It’s great preparation for life. It teaches youngsters to get up after they get knocked down, that hard work and not mere talent wins, and to keep fighting until the final whistle. Football is a metaphor for life.
Your book addresses several “myths” that critics of football often raise. Let’s go through a couple of them. One is that football is incredibly unsafe. Why is that a myth?
Thirty skateboarders died from collisions last year. Two football players, both competing in adult leagues, died from hits last season. Football is a rough game. It’s not for every kid. But there are all sorts of activities that parents allow children to partake in that pose more risks than football. It’s also worth noting that our game is much safer than our dads’ game. An average of 23 players died from football hits during the 1960s. Less than four players have died per year from hits over the last decade. Football is safer than it’s ever been for its players. Ironically, this comes at a time when football is endangered as a sport as it has rarely been in its tumultuous history.
You also call the claim that football players live shorter lives a myth. How so?
Everyone from George Will to Malcolm Gladwell to LZ Granderson has been duped by the urban myth that NFL players live shorter lives than their peers. The sense that football retirees died in their 50s was so strong that it prompted the NFL Players Association to petition the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct a mortality study. The federal scientists looked at every player who competed in the NFL in five or more seasons between 1959 and 1988. Based on prevailing death rates among the comparable population in society, the scientists expected to find 625 deaths. They found 334.
Football players actually outlive their peers outside of the game. Less than 1 percent of the 3,439 players died from the neurodegenerative diseases that football’s critics obsess over. But heart disease, cancer, respiratory illness, and other more prolific killers claimed way fewer lives among the player cohort than among those in society. Perhaps the most shocking finding involved player suicides, which you’ll have to read “The War on Football” to discover.
How has all the attention on football being unsafe affected participation in the sport?
Youth football participation was down 6 percent last season. I’ve talked to league presidents who have been forced to contract the number of teams and coaches who struggle to field the requisite number of players on game day required by the rules. There isn’t an epidemic of brain injuries among kids. There is an epidemic of obesity and lethargy among teens. Football can serve as an antidote to that. The war on football is a war on public health masquerading as a crusade for public health.
You claim people are making money off of portraying football as dangerous. How so?
Walk into a health food or sporting goods stores and you’ll be shocked at the quack products promising to protect athletes from concussions. Snake-oil salesmen capitalize on parental fears by hawking everything from $150 mouth guards to anti-concussion sports drinks. The recently settled player lawsuit against the NFL, which featured among its litigants hundreds of men who never actually played in an official NFL game, surely exploited the portrayal of football as a dangerous game for profit. A few academics pushing unsubstantiated claims that football causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy, though outnumbered by responsible brain scientists who admit that there hasn’t even been a randomized study on the subject yet conducted, gin up fears to the benefit of their grant income. Football bashing has become big business.
Comparatively though, one would imagine that football is among the most dangerous professional sports in America, no?
The weekend before last, a fan died from a fall at Candlestick Park. Not a single player — in Candlestick Park or any NFL stadium — died from a hit that weekend. In fact, in the 90-plus years of NFL competition there has never been a player who died from a collision. The NHL can’t make that claim. The Winter X Games can’t make that claim. NASCAR can’t make that claim. Horse racing can’t make that claim. Major League Baseball can’t make that claim. Every human activity carries risk. Looking around at the growing number of growing fatsos, I’m reminded that the most dangerous activity is inactivity. We should be encouraging sports, not slobs.
Finally, what does the future look like for football?
It’s truly a tale of two footballs these days — the best of times and the worst of times. Football as spectator sport is alive and well. The NFL’s revenues approach $10 billion this year. “Sunday Night Football” is a ratings juggernaut that rolls over everything in primetime. Several college stadiums are among the largest cities in their states on fall Saturdays. But football as a participatory sport suffers. Remember that the most watched leagues aren’t the most played-in leagues. Participation in youth football is down dramatically and participation in high school football is down slightly — but significantly it’s down for the first time in almost two decades. Activists guilt-trip parents into believing that football plays as organized child abuse. If youth football’s player exodus continues, there won’t be any youth football left. That’s a terrible gift to leave to posterity. “The War on Football” is an effort to equip parents with the facts so they no longer allow to their fears to govern their decisions with regard to football. Football is safer than ever. Football is good for you. Football is America’s Game.
