Editorial

Mark Cuban Has A Great Point On Why The NFL Is In Decline

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban gave a great explanation to the Dallas Morning News Tuesday night about why the NFL is in decline.

“But they still have bigger strategic problems in that people don’t want their kids to play football,” Cuban told the newspaper. “That’s huge. That impacts how much football kids will watch. And how much football families watch.”

“The NFL is going through the innovator’s dilemma,” he said. “They’re getting disrupted at their own hand by not dealing with certain issues.”

The league should “come clean on CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] and deal with it,” he continued. “And it’s not just about reducing [concussions]. Until something’s solved, I’m not going to let my son play tackle football. I’ll let him play touch football or flag football, but there’s no chance of letting him play tackle football.”

Ladies and gentlemen, Cuban’s point is one hundred percent right, and I’ve witnessed the change in real time. When I was a kid, pretty much everybody played football to some extent. Some played throughout high school, and some only played for a year or two. It wasn’t necessarily expected, but it was certainly the norm.

Times are certainly changing. I know plenty of parents who agree with Cuban, who won’t even consider letting their kids near a tackle football game out of fear of head injuries. Football is a naturally violent sport that comes with the possibility of concussions. This isn’t exclusive to football. I’ve been hospitalized for many concussions, none of which occurred during a tackle football game. Football does, however, seem to produce lots of them.

If kids don’t grow up playing football, then they’re likely not going to be as interested. This obviously doesn’t apply to everybody. For example, I only played a year of tackle football, but remain one of the biggest football fans on the planet.

The NFL should be way more worried about a perception of head injuries destroying the league than anything else.

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