Modern-Day Gladiator

I was unable to sleep well last night due to the NFL game of the Bills vs the Bengals. Watching Damar Hamlin collapse was and is a haunting image. It has caused many questions to come to mind about this sport I say I love. When people ask me who my team is I always defer to my alma mater but as the NFL is concerned I just love the game, I don't have a team.

As a former tri-athlete, the game I love the most is one that I never played. I realize, as a spectator, I've become immune to seeing injuries, distant from understanding their struggle, and ignorant of the cost of their sacrifice for my entertainment.

Although I watched the movie Concussion and was moved by what it shared, it didn't stop me from watching or loving the game. But today I have to ask myself why. Today I feel the depth and the weight of the price of entertainment like never before. Today I understand the life aspect.

As I pondered this I thought of the movie Gladiator. Scene after gory scene with a crowd cheering on the "entertainment". Bones breaking, blood spattering, and the picture of pain being enjoyed. Is football the modern-day gladiator? Have we put pads on it with smiling faces but provided the same stadium of pain for entertainment?

Why do we love this sport? Why do we love this game? Do we continue to support, endorse and raise boys to desire this? I don't have the answers, I'm pondering a lot right now, I just need to express myself and my pen is the vehicle for that.

#DamarHamlin #NFL #Football #Entertainment