It has to be bittersweet to be in 2016 and entering the NFL with all of the attention focused on CTE and the terrifying realities former athletes face.
A game you’ve grown up loving and dedicating your life towards suddenly has a lot more uncertainty than it ever has. It’s hard enough to have success big enough to be paid millions of dollars to play a children’s game, only to realize there is a dark cloud over your head that probably spoils a lot of the fun.
If I were in his position, it’s something that would constantly bug me. Whenever I would be innocently having a good time, I would think back to, ‘Oh yeah, my brain might be squash by the time I’m 50’. That’s a harsh reality.
None of that seems to matter to USC linebacker Su’a Cravens who is entering the NFL Draft. Quote via ESPN:
“No, I know I’m going to a game where I’m going to hit and sometimes you’re going to use your head to hit and you might get a concussion, that’s what we sign up for,” Cravens said. “I saw the NFL passed that they’re not going to be paying any more lawsuits on CTE from now on, so if that’s the case, let’s take helmet-to-helmet penalties out. If we know what we’re signing up for, let’s play. That’s how I look at it.”
I understand where he is coming from, but it it’s a big commitment. Being a younger person, I know how easy it is to brush off the future and the importance of your health, but it isn’t the kind of thing you can go back on. The decisions you make know will shape the rest of your life, good or bad
