Was Bob Costas giving cover to the NFL?

Was Bob Costas trying to make the issue gun control when it should have been football head trauma? Football head trauma threatens the very existence of the game. Friends of the deceased Jovan Belcher say he was taking painkillers while dealing with "the effects of debilitating football-related head injuries," according to Derek Flood of Huffington Post.

 

There was a time when TV networks would show the "halftime show" of football games. Eventually the powers that be felt this was drab. So we'd get more football banter along with a maximum allotment of commercials.

Fine, because halftime is essentially idle time when fandom can go to the fridge for another beer, according to the stereotype.

I wasn't watching Sunday night (12/2) when fandom was reminded that halftime needn't be devoid of anything substantial. It was a "halftime show" of sorts. But there was no drum major. We had Bob Costas taking centerstage.

Costas fancies himself a poet laureate of sports. He can come off as pretentious. I suspect there might be a picture of Costas in with the definition of "pretentious" in the dictionary.

Howard Cosell once wore that mantle. Cosell helped make "Monday Night Football" a big deal. It was such a big deal, the entertainment puppeteers decided we need Sunday night football too. And then - gasp - Thursday night football. On Thursday the players are playing without adequate rest. Thus they can be more susceptible to injury.

Actually football players are at risk no matter what their approach. We have allowed these guys to become gladiators. The media are uncovering the dark side of the sport pretty reliably.

Can the American public react as fast as it should?

Costas could have highlighted these concerns from the soap box he's given. He could always say "we don't know all the facts yet."

But the murder/suicide by Jovan Belcher fits into a disturbing pattern. The Kansas City Chiefs linebacker shot and killed his female friend on December 1, then drove to the Chiefs practice facility and killed himself in front of head coach Romeo Crennel and General Manager Scott Pioli in the parking lot.

Left behind is a three-month-old baby girl.

The first alarm bell about such things might have been the O.J. Simpson murder trial. A later civil suit assigned blame to Simpson. We have demonized Simpson. But did we fully understand him?

At a time when we should be connecting the dots, Costas did an op-ed on the air inspired by the horrible-beyond-words Belcher incident. But he didn't highlight head trauma or the desperate things athletes might do to deal with it. He didn't talk about the aggressive behavior which can be a symptom of a brain deteriorating from game impact. He didn't talk about the tremendous toll taken by repeated blows to the head, or the "subconcussive" damage over time which can sneak below the usual detection.

He didn't talk about the "warrior mentality" that causes players to try to disregard symptoms. He didn't talk about the pressure to continue playing because of the huge amount of money at stake. He didn't talk about the intoxicating lure of the game when the players are young.

The players play through pain because football emerges as the best thing going for them. As high schoolers they can find themselves adored. No other pursuit comes close to affording this reinforcement.

Costas could have shed light on all of these angles. It would have been a watershed moment.

But Costas is part of the sports establishment that represents a rolling gravy train. It's a golden goose. Revelations about football are only going to be pulled out if our legal system comes through as it should. Legions of former players are suing. We'll learn more facts.

Costas with his substantial platform could have advanced the discussion. But he's not going to obstruct the cash cow. He won't bite the hand that feeds him. So, I have to ask about his Sunday halftime sermon: Was he putting forth a diversion? Was he giving cover to the NFL?

At a time when football's issues should be zooming to the forefront, highlighted by another tragedy, we're told the issue is
. . .gun control?

Costas is nothing if not smart. He knows full well that there is probably no issue so invested with emotions as gun control in America. His NBC masters surely know this.

Was the Costas presentation a diversion that would almost instantly suck attention away from the pertinent questions (regarding the propriety of football) and revive the gun control debate as if a sudden brushfire?

One can almost imagine the parties to this muttering "whoa Nellie" as they got the script ready.

Now, it's questionable whether Costas was really advocating for tougher gun laws or if he was just speaking generally about our "gun culture." Anyone can give a pass for the latter point.

But Costas' presentation was interpreted as a basic gun control screed. So we saw the totally predictable explosion of emotions. All the Floyd R. Turbos came out of the woodwork.

The talk radio strain of conservatives erupted. The Fox News puppeteers were spoon fed a prime topic for their on-air barking dogs. Fox News did not disappoint.

We heard the asinine argument that  "we shouldn't politicize a tragedy" (by suggesting more firm gun measures). It was the Aurora CO aftermath redux.

The Floyd R. Turbos seem to have the momentum in our culture today. (The name refers to an old Johnny Carson comic character - a parody on hayseeds.)

It's as if conservatism is the default correct political position in America today. Speaking for gun rights arouses no special consternation at all. But speaking for greater controls puts you on the defensive to a great degree. Liberals have to "explain themselves" all the time. All this is ironic when you look at the true intent of voters, the broad expanse of which seems to be quite fine with liberalism (the re-election of Michele Bachmann notwithstanding).

The defensiveness seems to be caused by the media. Here we have what David Frum calls the "conservative entertainment complex." It's nothing short of a huge circus tent. Costas threw them a bone, a bone with lots of meat on it.

Talk radio hosts went to work with an extra bounce in their step. They could salivate over this tidbit from someone they could call part of that horrible "mainstream media." And NBC no less, which has affiliation with the Darth Vader-like MSNBC which has liberal or progressive comment show hosts.

The conservative entertainment complex went to work on the Costas spiel just like those movie gremlins attacking those chicken pieces after midnight. All of which obscured what should have been the main focus of attention: football's horrific consequences for its practitioners.

Frank Gifford said shortly after the O.J. Simpson arrest: "If O.J. did this, that's not the O.J. I know." Well, it wasn't the O.J. Simpson Gifford previously knew, because I would suggest the effects of brain deterioration were being felt at middle age.

Simpson played runningback which meant he spent his whole long career being attacked by defensive players who got their paycheck according to their ability to make tackles. We watched it without asking questions.

We're more likely to be asking questions now. Which we might have done to a much greater extent if Costas hadn't created this diversion - this side road into gun control. Was it a carefully orchestrated and manicured maneuver to protect the interests of pro football?

Where money is concerned, people's normal ethical impulses can break down. The NFL logo might just as well be a big dollar sign. Storming the ramparts of such an institution may be difficult if not impossible. But the NFL cannot exist if kids all over America stop playing the sport. We are seeing progress at that level.

The NFL will do all it can using its vast resources to keep the game alive. Costas is a member of that machine by extension. The "name" media people must have the blessing from up on Mount Olympus.

Costas is "dancing" as if having pistol shots fired at his feet.

The decline of football will be gradual but it will come. In the meantime there will be horrific stories. We get too soon old and too late smart.
Update: Costas appears today (Wednesday) to be fumbling the football, as it were, continuing to discuss the subject. He stumbles with some facts where gun control is concerned. He also sounds a bit regretful about having done anything Sunday. This is unbecoming a big name media person like Costas. The apparent impulsivity behind his Sunday speech might also underscore the point I'm making here. Sometimes diversions need to be created quickly.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com