Why I Feel Like an All-Pro Hypocrite as a Fan of the NFL

I love the game that helped me end up paralyzed.

If you would have told the South that there would be no SEC football this year if masks were not worn by anyone outside of the home, we would not be experiencing this second wave of the Coronavirus! This thought came from a meme, but truer words have not been written. I love football even though it is definitely a factor in the terminal diagnosis I received in 2012.

In a year that has ruined everything we know as normal and taken over 250,000 lives, the NFL has somehow figured out how to deliver its perfectly American product with little interruption. Of course. it’s different without 60,000 fans jam packed into the stadium, but from a TV point of view, it’s pretty much the same!

I play fantasy football. I watch every minute of every Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. I have even been a season ticket holder before the signing of Tom Brady! So, yeah, it’s probably safe to say that I am a fan. But should I be?

After I watch a violent hit or a guy clearly get knocked out, I cringe. Figuratively, because I am completely paralyzed from ALS, a disease that is extremely common among retired NFL players. I will say that the NFL has dramatically changed their stance on head trauma since I was diagnosed in…