The NFL May Be Facing a “Ghettoization” In The Near Future
By Erik Lambert
What exactly is an NFL ghettoization? It’s a somewhat crude way to describe what may be happening in the sport of football.
It’s no secret that the league has come under fire in recent years due to previously unknown medical effects football has on the long-term health of its players. Of course this mainly refers to the concussion issue. Thanks to a series of public medical diagnosis on elder former players, some of whom committed suicide, it’s been determined that years of repeated head trauma led to severe brain ailments include dementia and CTE.
Even as the league takes steps to help combat the problems with new helmet technologies and medical treatments, the inevitable wave of fear is sweeping the country. Parents are already moving to keep their kids out of Pop Warner programs. That is bound to have a trickledown effect in the years to come.
ESPN, among others believe this could lead to a significant paradigm shift for the league. One that could see its supply of top athlete come from less upscale backgrounds.
"“So it would take some time, far more than three years, before a participatory decrease impacts the NFL. What seems more likely than a shortage of players is a change in their economic demographics. Author Malcolm Gladwell has predicted an eventual “ghettoization of football,” assuming that affluent parents are more likely to prohibit their kids from playing, while those who are poor will view it as a more favorable opportunity. In 2014, Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy said he had noticed that trend taking shape already.”"
Football to become a poor man’s game?
It sounds rather crude, but is also true. As children from richer neighboors are diverted to different sports by their parents, the only logical step is for poor children to take their place. The risk of long-term physical health won’t be as big a concern to them. Especially given the imminent dangers of living in poor neighborhoods present. The chance to seize NFL riches just to escape that life will be all the argument they need.
That may upset a lot of people but they can’t change it. Not unless they know of another way to make millions upon millions of families not poor anymore. That’s a whole other can of worms to open. One the NFL really can’t solve. At least not without an assist from the government, and they seem to have their own problems of late.