Prayer After Super Bowl LI

Eternal One,

Once again much of the world you created rejoiced in the face of evil. Thousands spent billions to watch and millions more tuned in to the mayhem of Super Bowl LI.

They rave about how exciting the game was!

• It mattered not that many on the field were able to play only with the help of Toradol or other dangerous drugs to mask their pain.
• It mattered not that so many past players have committed suicide, died young, or live with life-ruining dementia.

We watched anyway!

Some claim: “They knew the risks, and they chose to play.

• Would they have known the risks if the first time they walked on a field, their parents and they had to sign a declaration that told the truth:

“Playing this game is liable to shorten your life or condemn you to live each day with pain?”

• Would they have accepted the risk if we had not glamorized football and conditioned players, from when they were in the cradle, to worship at football’s altar.

When we study ancient history, we read of gladiatorial festivals and ask: “How could civilized society allow such carnage in the name of entertainment?”

When, O God, will we ask the same question about American football?

How long, O God?

• How long will we celebrate and delight in such havoc to enrich owners, sponsors, TV networks and gamblers?
• How long will we deny the price our entertainment exacts?

Many moral or religious leaders have turned a blind eye!

They watch, wear game jerseys and make bets on the outcome with others consecrated to work for a more just, caring and compassionate society.

Where, Eternal One, is the compassion for these former NFL players who have committed suicide?

They are not just statistics. They were real people:

• Jeff Alm
• Knowlton Ames

• Jovan Belcher
• Larry Bethea
• Lyle Bigbee

• William Dennison Clark
• Kurt Crain
• Mike Current 

• Shane Dronett
• Dave Duerson
• Jim Duncan (cornerback) 

• Ray Easterling

• Frank Faulkinberry

• Sid Gepford

• Harvey Hendrick
• Clarence Herschberger

• Larry Kelley

• Terry Long

• Kenny McKinley
• John Mohardt

• Paul Oliver

• Lawrence Phillips

• Adrian Robinson

• Rashaan Salaam
• Junior Seau
• Carl Sitton
• Steve Stonebreaker

• Ed Tutwiler
• Jim Tyrer 

• Andre Waters
• Mike Wise

Where also, O God, is our concern for the families of dead players found on post mortem to have Chronic Traumatic Brain Damage?

They are not just statistics! They are real people:

• Jovan Belcher
• Forrest Blue
• Lew Carpenter
• Lou Creekmur
• Willie Daniel
• Shane Dronett
• Dave Duerson
• Ray Easterling
• Frank Gifford
• Cookie Gilchrist
• John Grimsley
• Chris Henry
• Terry Long
• Rob Lytle
• John Mackey
• Ollie Matson
• Tom McHale
• Earl Morrall
• Adrian Robinson
• Junior Seau
• Tyler Sash
• Ken Stabler
• Bubba Smith
• Justin Strzelczyk
• Mosi Tatupu
• Kevin Turner
• Andre Waters
• Mike Webster
• Ralph Wenzel

And where, O God, we must ask, is our compassion for those who still walk this earth doomed to lives of pain and suffering from the traumatic brain damage their doctors have diagnosed?

They are not just statistics! They are real people:

• Tim Shaw(age 32)
• Brent Boyd(age 59)
• J. Brigance(age 47)
• Harry Carson(age 63)
• Wayne Clark(age 69)
• Joe DeLamielure(age 65)
• Tony Dorsett(age 62)
• Mark Duper(age 58)
• Brett Favre^](age 47)
• Steve Gleason(age 39)
• Andrew Glover(age 49)
• Dwight Harrison(age 68)
• Ted Johnson(age 44)
• Bernie Kosar(age 53)
• Fulton Kuykendall(age 63)
• Dorsey Levens(age 46)
• Jamal Lewis(age 37)
• Leonard Marshall(age 55)
• Ricardo McDonald(age 47)
• Jim McMahon(age 57)
• Bob Meeks(age 47)
• Matthew Monger(age 55)
• Sean Morey(age 40)
• Frank Orgel 
• Antwaan Randle El(age 37)
• George Rogers(age 58)
• Steve Smith(age 52)
• Ryan Stewart(age 43)
• Darryl Talley
• Kyle Turley(age 41)
• Mitch White
• Willie Wood(age 80)
• Frank Wycheck(age 45)

Some of these names, O God, were well known to even the casual football observer. Only diehard fans knew the names of others.

No matter! We must ask:

• Did they die or do they suffer in vain?
• Can we not learn the lesson of their misfortune?
• As players grow bigger, stronger and faster, will not future casualty lists not multiply much more rapidly?

Open our eyes, Eternal One! Remove our blindness! Help us to see at last that the glory, the fame and the riches football brings to the few are just not worth the terrible price they exact from our pockets but, more importantly, from our souls!

Amen