How much risk is too much risk in the NFL?

In football, risk is expected and injury is accepted. That’s how it works, and every player knows it. In the NFL, they’re nicely compensated for it.
But acceptance of risk is not the same as acceptance of “unlimited” risk. And that’s why the NFL is sitting at a dangerous crossroad now, as former players sue for long-term health damages, and as everyone examines the aftermath of former star Junior Seau’s suicide.
Many issues could have contributed to Seau’s depression and his final act of firing a bullet into his chest. It’s disconcerting he did it the same way as former NFL player Dave Duerson, who specifically shot himself in the chest so his brain could be preserved for study.
Concussions are a major, oft-misunderstood problem, and the league must ramp up its focus on the issue of repeated head trauma. Some rules already have been changed, and eventually, player behaviors will have to be altered.
I’m always puzzled by the whining over penalties and suspensions for head hits or other unnecessary batterings. Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison has been suspended and fined multiple times, and he should be. New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and linebacker Jonathan Vilma were suspended an entire year for their involvement in the team’s bounty scandal — and the punishment is appropriate.
Fans can cry that football is being wimpified, and players can gripe they’re being harshly penalized. Enough already. You can’t have it both way, folks.
NFL players can’t lament the plight of their dying predecessors, and mourn Seau’s and others’ passings, and then turn around and suggest they be allowed to clobber each other with bounty-ful impunity. I saw all sorts of NFL players complaining on Twitter that the Saints’ sanctions were much too harsh.
I didn’t see nearly as many gripes a few hours later, when word broke of Seau’s death. Again, no one has any idea if blows to the head while playing football led to disease in Seau’s brain, which led to depression, which led to a gun in the chest.
But there have been so many early deaths of former players, several by suicide, the possibility must be recognized and the studies must accelerate. This is not the ruination of football, trust me. But it is an acknowledgement more can and should be done. Rules and penalties can be adjusted. A few years ago, more rules were instituted to protect quarterbacks, and last year, head blows became a major point of emphasis for all players.
Lions center Dominic Raiola said recently he understands the physical risks, and even if it damages his long-term health, he’d do it again because he loves the game so much. That’s the type of unconditional passion that makes football so popular.
Players sign up for the risk, within reason. They don’t sign up for unlimited risk, or correctable risk. The NFL should assist the players more, but the players also have to admit they need the help and want the help, and recognize nasty issues like Bountygate need to be stamped out. It shouldn’t take the death of an NFL legend to make that point.
Bob.wojnowski@detnews.com