This Can't Be Life

Interesting Top News stories on ESPN.com. Witness:

1. Delhomme to have season-ending elbow surgery.
2. Green suffered most severe type of concussion.
3. Ankle to sideline Bucs RB Pittman for 6-8 weeks.
4. Texas' Sweed out for year.
5. USC's Booty hurting. (Headline guy has been waiting for this all year)
6. Spinal cord injury ends career for Hawks' Strong

The first headline on the page is about the NY Yankees' Roger Clemens' injury. That means 7 of the top 11 stories are about injuries, and 6 of them are football injuries.

We need to do better. Especially in a sport like football, where the careers are short and there's a higher-than-it-should-be chance that any play could make that even shorter, where they push the players through school and put virtually no emphasis on any other life skills, I really think we should take a step back. I know it's fun to watch guys tackle each other and body slam each other, but something has to give.

I'd say maybe the guys need to be in better shape, but I'm not sure you can ever be strong enough to bear having a 300 lb man dive head first into your knee. Instead, it might be worthwhile for the NFL to consider changing the tackles that are allowed. I know I said Travis Johnson was being insensitive yesterday, and he was, but I see his point. These guys just don't have other viable options if their careers end tomorrow. And it's because of the high likelihood of injury that their pay is tied to the games actually played and to the few number of years that they will probably be on top of their sport (less so for QB's and WR's).

I know the NFL is working to improve post-career options, but it needs to start when they are in school. Even college is too late. It should start all the way back in elementary school. This may be falling on deaf ears, but if you're an educator and you have an opportunity to intervene in the life of a young football player and make him well-rounded, please take it.