By Bob Hulteen
I wasn’t watching the Monday Night Football game last night, … because I had already lost this season’s office Fantasy Football championship a day earlier. But, while finishing up a late supper, my social media feeds exploded with people calling for prayer for a player I had never heard of before: Damar Hamlin. And, soon thereafter, posts that chastised the NFL for even considering going on with the game started appearing. So, I googled to see what had happened.
Tragically, a 24-year-old safety had collapsed after the tackling of another young man in a game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. After about ten minutes of CPR, an ambulance rushed the young man to the hospital. Fears arose about whether he had even survived the hit. We later found out that he had experienced cardiac arrest.
“It appeared that the NFL Commissioner’s Office was trying to coerce the two teams into continuing the game.”
Before joining the synod staff (and its Fantasy Football League), I hadn’t watched a football game for five or six years. The incredible violence on and off the field had turned me off to a sport that I otherwise enjoyed. The NFL seemed uninterested in addressing the crisis facing retired players with brain injuries. The concussion protocols were not in place or followed. The misogyny of players who took out their frustration and anger on their partners was unacknowledged and unaddressed. I decided I couldn’t support the NFL with my time or money.
But, the synod’s Fantasy Football league was a fun new experience. Although I barely knew the names of players at the start, I quickly became immersed in the rules of the game and spent many an hour following the stats and adjusting my lineup. (More on that later.)
BY LATE LAST night, I was really captivated by the fact that the NFL seemed to balk on discussion of postponing or cancelling the game. It appeared that the NFL Commissioner’s Office was trying to coerce the two teams into continuing the game. Sportswriter Mike Silver reports that he talked with people who had knowledge of the incident, and they said that the NFL’s first impulse was to keep playing. He also heard that Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow was told to warm up, but he refused and walked off the field.
Could the NFL officials force teammates who had just experienced the trauma of a fallen comrade to continue? Did the decision makers truly not see the distress of the players on the field, gathered in prayer?
“Tragically, a 24-year-old safety had collapsed after the tackling of another young man in a game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.”
I have increasingly become aware, partly through the Fantasy Football experience, of the fact that football (and maybe now most sports) are driven by sports betting. The advertisements are all over the Fantasy leagues, but they overwhelm television commercials during games as well. FanDuel, DraftKings, Lucra, Prize Picks – clearly there is a market for gambling in this country.
And, as someone who listens regularly to KFAN, a local sports radio station, I can say that there is a push to make such sites more easily accessible, as well as to legalize gambling in Minnesota. The jocks also talk incessantly about making a quick trip down to the casino in Iowa to bet, longing for the day when they don’t have to travel to do so.
So, when we wring our hands at the fact that the Commissioner’s Office can’t make a call on the game, let’s be wise enough to admit that sports betting on this game – the over-under, the individual play of quarterbacks and receivers, the record of any specific team – influence just how decisions are made.
As I write this blog, Yahoo Sports released this explanation of where it is with the Fantasy Football feature it offers:
Yahoo Fantasy is waiting for the NFL’s decision on the resolution of the Bills-Bengals game, which was suspended when S Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest. Once the NFL shares their (sic) plans for the game, we will make a determination on how to proceed with Week 17 scoring. While we understand this game impacts fantasy league championships, our main concern is Damar’s health at this time. We ask for your patience as we await updates. Our thoughts are with Damar, his family, and the Buffalo Bills.
Yahoo Fantasy, it is increasingly evident to me, offers an “entry-level drug” into sports betting. Can you imagine what bookies and their more institutionalized counterparts are thinking and doing right now?
SO, WHY DO I care whether gambling drives decisions about players’ health and their well-being? Well, first and foremost, I hope because that is the human response.
But, I also have to admit that I personally have a problem with gambling. In my late teens, I discovered that I had a real proficiency with card games; I won a decent amount of money at legal gaming establishments. At 19 I realized that if I didn’t quit cold turkey, right then and there, I would probably never be able to. So, I haven’t gone back.
But, to this day I struggle. I have had occasions through my profession to simply need to walk through a casino to get to a meeting room. The lights and sounds immediately activate the dopamine; I jones for a card game.
“I hope that our legislators take into consideration the effects of gambling on individuals and communities.”
The State of Minnesota will consider expansion of gambling in the next legislative session. I hope that our legislators take into consideration its effect on individuals and communities. As we all raise our voices in anguish about the initial insensitivity of the NFL, I want us to remember what drives that compulsion to “finish the game,” no matter what.
And, I hope we follow in the footsteps of the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals players, and pray for Damar Hamlin’s health and future. May we all be committed to the safety of athletes at every level (and all workers in all vocations), especially by thoughtful reflection on changes to procedures and policies that can impact people’s lives.