I'm inclined to agree... except that brutal, concussion-inducing tackles aren't the point of football. They're an incidental part of the game, not the goal of it.
That's not what any superstar defensive football player would tell you.
Plus, football players have unionized health insurance and pensions. Do mixed martial artists?
Does the fact that your wheelchair is covered by health insurance really make up for it?
If you're so big on logic, don't make a false equivalency. (Also, I'm unclear... who said football is okay, and MMA isn't? I can't find the post.)
You implied that football is okay and MMA isn't.
1. I don't know any superstar linebackers or lineman. Do you? Are you going entirely based on interviews, or what? I'm honestly curious... obviously, head down tackles are encouraged at the high school level, but this isn't an inherent problem with football "the game." The ethics of playing pro football hasn't caught up to the tactics. Dunno how this makes it equivalent to a sport where the only point is to lay a dude out.
2. You were making an ethical comparison. One sport takes care of its own, the other doesn't (as far as I know). So yes, I would be more inclined to give football a pass (NO PUN INTENDED! HA HA!) for at least acknowledging that long term health problems exist. Again, I don't know if MMA leagues have dealt with this at all yet.
And, like I said, the tackling issue can be dealt with by regulations, enforcement, etc. In MMA, blows to the head are inherent to the sport. I'm not sure why this distinction eludes you.
3. I actually wasn't talking about football in my first post. I like football okay, but the violent parts of it bother me. I like basketball, soccer and baseball, and football's a distant fourth. In that order. Doesn't mean I think football is the same thing as cage fighting, because that's fucking ridiculous.
