Despite his job title, Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley doesn’t think football is a sport human beings should be engaging in. There’s enough irony here to fill the Atlantic.
During a radio interview on WGR 550, Whaley shot down the notion that star Bills receiver Sammy Watkins was “injury-prone,” opting instead to suggest that injuries are a mere normal occurrence of an inhumane sport.
This is the game of football. Injuries are part of it. It’s a violent game that I personally don’t think humans are supposed to play.
Regarding Watkins, Whaley’s response was less holistic. “We trust in our medical staff and we trust in each individual athlete to do what they have to do to get back on the field.”
The concept of football being a dangerous sport, or a sport too unsafe to be held up on the pedestal on which it currently resides, as America’s most lucrative and essential sport, has heightened significantly over the last year due in large part to Concussion, a Golden Globe-nominated movie starring Will Smith. The film, based on GQ‘s heralded Game Brain feature, chronicled neurologist Dr. Bennet Omalu‘s efforts to make the NFL aware of its “concussion problem,” many of which were shot down by NFL officials. Omalu has stated (and proved) that the disease he postulates emanates from concurrent concussions, CTE, has claimed the lives of several former players. Some of these same players were denied the proper post-career care or support from the league.
