As Damar Hamlin Stays in Hospital, N.F.L. Won’t Resume Suspended Game This Week

The N.F.L. is in another realm because it has turned the game into mass entertainment, complete with cheerleaders, packed stadiums and big-name sponsors. Few fans were watching the preseason game in 1978 when New England Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley was paralyzed after a hit by Jack Tatum of the Oakland Raiders. Now, many more games are played in prime time, and big plays — even injuries — swiftly ricochet across the internet.

“Broadcasts are far more vivid and intimate these days, and an event like this resonates further when it’s on national TV in one of the biggest games of the year in a social media era,” said Michael MacCambridge, the author of “America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation.”

At the same time, he said, teams and stadiums are better equipped for emergencies these days. “When Stone Johnson was paralyzed, it was like 15 to 20 minutes before an ambulance arrived,” he said, referring to the Kansas City Chiefs player who died in a hospital in September 1963, a little over a week after his neck was broken in a preseason game.

The N.F.L. knows the game’s violence has turned off some fans, and has watched families steer their sons into baseball, basketball and soccer. The league takes pains to tell fans how it is trying to “make the game safer.” In 2019, the league produced a video on how to recognize and rescue players who suffer sudden cardiac arrest.

But tackle football centers on bigger, stronger and faster players crashing into one another, and no amount of dollars, training and good intentions will change that. The best the N.F.L. can do is reduce risk, not eliminate it.

Emmanuel Morgan and Joe Drape contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/sports/football/nfl-damar-hamlin-bills-injury.html