Opinion: The NFL Needs Further Oversight

Usually as the week begins, I start with a weekly streaming recap where I talk about all the nonsensical fantasy shows and movies that are happening across the various streaming services. Something readers may not know about me however is that I am also a massive fan of football. Last night’s game between the Bills and the Bengals became a stark reminder of reality as Bills Safety Damar Hamlin was very seriously injured during the first quarter, resulting in CPR being administered on the field, him being transported to the hospital in critical condition, and the game being postponed which (as of writing this about an hour after the game was formally postponed) has not been rescheduled. What ensued over the resulting hour while spectators in the stands in Cincinnati and around the country watching at home waited to find out what was happening was nothing short of an egregious failure by the league that should be the cap off to this season that results in further oversight.

The biggest problem with this latest episode of incompetence from the NFL comes in the form of a complete lack of communication from the league to anyone and what appears to be a desire to continue playing the game in the face of a truly unprecedented on-field incident. After Hamlin was taken from the field, the initial communication was that the players would be given five minutes to compose themselves, loosen up, and get back on the field. This was relayed through the viewers at home (and presumably the spectators in the arena) over imagery of players on both teams visibly traumatized over the events that just happened on the field. To anyone watching, this was obviously never going to happen and the announcement was revised to be allowing the teams to go to the locker rooms and take the time to compose themselves before going out to finish the game which was issued around the same time that coaches from both teams met with officials before leaving the field. It took about 40 minutes for the game to be formally postponed, however ESPN did showcase a very telling meeting during their broadcast between Zac Taylor (Coach for the Bengals), Sean McDermott (Coach for the Bills) and a person Adam Schefter of ESPN identified as a representative of the League Office that occurred shortly before the announcement where both of them were speaking to someone on the phone of the person from the office. I’m not accusing the league of anything, however the indication that this gives off is that the league wanted to continue this game last night rather than postpone it for the benefit of the players.

The injury itself is not the issue at hand because there is very little any professional sports leagues can do to completely eliminate the risk of injury. That said, this incident tonight, specifically the complete failure of communication and failure to not postpone the game substantially earlier is just the latest in a long line of failures by the league in recent years with this year having a ton of issues on and off the field showing systemic failures of leadership on almost every front. Between this issue where the league is pushing for the game to play even in the face of tragedy, the handling of the Washington Commanders and the issues that have arisen on every front with Dan Snyder, the handling of the investigation into Deshaun Watson, to the multiple concussions of Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that may have ended his season, to the other issues before this season like handling protests during the National Anthem, Deflategate, Spygate, and the continued loss of quality in officiating over recent seasons, it is obvious that the league as it stands cannot be trusted to take care of itself, its employees, or the players.

Now I’m not saying the government needs to nationalize the NFL or do anything of the sort, however there is a ton of precedent in which the government has stepped in to warn an industry that they have to get their act together or congress would step in and take steps on their own. In the 1930s amid threats from religious groups, parents groups, and local governments, the MPAA was formed and created the rating system that would become the system we use for movies to this day. RIAA instituted the Parental Advisory Label for music in 1985 amid pressure from congress to keep objectionable content away from children. The same applies to the creation of the ESRB in 1994 following Senate hearings regarding the release of Doom and Mortal Kombat. In the world of sports, the Office of the Commissioner for the MLB was established following the Black Sox Scandal about 100 years ago when the 1919 World Series was fixed when players of the White Sox were paid off by organized crime. In a just world, this is the moment that should be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the NFL that begins shining a spotlight on what is going on in the league office.

Here is the problem though, nothing will happen, and not specifically because of government inaction (however that is certainly part of it), but because of how the NFL is so intertwined with top reporters at ESPN, it is unlikely that coverage that is negative to the league will get much traction. The coverage last night during the incident is indicative of this where within two hours of Hamlin’s catastrophic injury, ESPN had already reshaped the headlines on their website to not reflect the fact that it came as the result of a contact play. Sure it was a routine tackle that a viewer has probably seen hundreds of times before, however reporting that he simply collapsed on the field during the game omits some key information. The main article about it on their website (linked here though it might be edited considering it’s a live article that is being updated throughout the night) does not mention that it was during a play until paragraph seven. Early paragraph descriptions omit this entirely and, coincidentally, that is an editing choice that benefits the league.

The problem also comes from the league openly lying to the press about what happened in the aftermath of the injury, specifically about giving five minutes to warm up following the field being cleared. The thought that this deadline was given came from Joe Buck who was commentating on the game saying that the players would be given five minutes to warm up and the game would resume. Now if that was just speculation, that would be one thing but this was not an audio stream, it was a video stream. Viewers at home could see that players started to put themselves in position to start warming up, including seeing Joe Burrow (the Quarterback for the Bengals) throwing a few practice passes and the defense for the Bills taking the field. This indicates that this was not just someone from the broadcast thinking that change would happen but someone on the field relayed it to both teams. It was not until the coaches met following Stefon Diggs of the Bills rallying the team to get off the field that the decision to postpone was made. The league can lie to the press, but it is up to the press to call them on it and say that their account does not line up with what people saw in real time as it happened. On top of that, for the NFL to say that they had a plan for this is absurd considering that it took an hour for the game to be postponed, again, there has not been meaningful pushback to this claim. There is nothing wrong with admitting that this was an unprecedented event, because it was but attempting to gaslight both the press and the spectators about what happened does not help anyone but the league and the press needs to call them out on it.

In the face of league malpractice, the praise for how this terrible incident was handled lies squarely with the players and coaches who ultimately made the choice to put the human cost of playing this game over everything else and postpone the game. Keep Damar Hamlin and his family in your thoughts, prayers, or good intentions in this difficult time and if you want to donate to his charity, a link can be found here. The Chasing M’s Foundation delivers toys to children hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic.