There's no other way to frame this. That man died and the way his paper is written is that his life is worth $0
Gladiator content has come a long way since the days of publicly feeding prisoners to lions, but as wealth and connectivity expand, delicate tastes and sensibilities creep into our daily lives. The global moment is a shakily held self-reassurance that we trust the institutions that hold up the status quo that surrounds us, and watching people be devoured by ornery beasts has been replaced with games compared to chess, with colorful fields and distinctive uprights.
It does not change that the status quo of the game is bodies slamming together. The game is training to the brink of injury and continuing to push. The history is well known, impact after impact that deteriorates the brain. The status quo that intakes NFL Players is rife for harvest of men willing to sacrifice their bodies in the same way career plumbers or carpenters wear out their joints over their career. Men who may have few opportunities to self-improve in the society they did not choose. This has long been the case in our history; but plumbers and carpenters are not objects of public spectacle. They do good work, but they have no billion-dollar shrines. They can be paid well, but are not often handed multi-million dollar contracts.
Scott Wartman, The Enquirer
It is not hard to begin to wonder why data around the life span and quality of life of these players is hard to find. We can make forecasts with informed decisions, and there is no shortage of stories of heartbreak. Anecdotal reports from scores of families about neuro-degenerative diseases and heart problems; not to mention physical injury and mental stress. No, the institution that is the NFL has long quieted the reports of the widespread effects it has on the men it exploits as a matter of public spectacle.
We have some, nonetheless. A comparison betwixt players of the MLB and players of the NFL found that NFL players die on average 7 years sooner than their baseball counterparts. MLB players train just as hard, but in completely different areas. They are subject to league, game, and career pressures causing surely comparable mental stress. There are no spearing tackles in baseball, mind.
For Authors
They made a movie about it too.
Meredith Wadman
To be clear, this piece does not advocate for the extinction or any truly impactful changes to the game itself, simply a rule change in the institution that is the NFL. Time and time again the NFLPA, the organization acting as the NFL player's union, has long divvied up benefits, making concession against rookies for the benefit of veteran players. Contracts are often perceived as lucrative enough that these damages should not, or do not matter.
You know anything about Damar Hamlin's contract? Or how NFL vesting works?
We can grab numbers and quotes from a variety of sources, but a core component of this argument is that this specific case is simply indicative of pressures from an already long-standing and widespread problem. The actual numbers of Hamlin's contract do not matter. What matters is that he's a rookie in year two of a multi-year contract.
According to Spotrac, in 2021, Damar Hamlin signed a 4-year contract worth $3,640,476.
The contract included a $160,476 signing bonus, $160,476 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $910,119.
In 2022, Hamlin was set to earn a base salary of $825,000, but his injury now means his future paychecks from the NFL may be coming to an end.
According to CBS, there are very few negotiable items with rookie contracts.
bawintern1
Big-money contracts catch great attention, but the vast bulk of NFL players compete essentially on year-to-year contracts, with an average career of just over three seasons. It takes three campaigns for an NFL player to qualify for pension benefits, and a player must have competed for a minimum of three seasons before qualifying for the five years of post-retirement health insurance provided by the league. Hamlin, a sixth-round pick in his second season, is on a four-year, $3.6 million contract that is not guaranteed, like many NFL deals.
Damar Hamlin situation rekindles questions over NFL player contracts …
archived 6 Jan 2023 18:54:32 UTC
If this young man is neurologically capable he will be under immense financial pressure to subject his body to the same conditions that triggered his cardiac arrest.
To feed his family, he may play again.
The fact that he is capable of communication at all is not the typical out-of-hospital cardiac arrest scenario. What was demonstrated here is the importance of early and correct decisive intervention, cardiac monitoring, and prompt transport to definitive care. A healthy young athlete stands ever more with advantage to these conditions.
Progress in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is debatable, but we're beginning to at least gather the data we need.
For Authors
Comilla Sasson
There's no other way to frame this. That man died and the way his paper is written is that his life is worth $0
Better get back up and play, son. Whichever way the risk works out he may play an entire career and never suffer an ill event ever again; but how would you bet on your heart spontaneously restarting a second time? Maybe further from trained medical professionals that second time.
Bills; strike until your brother is valued. Sit until he is covered.
Teams; Stand for your peers.
League: Perish.
