“Thank you for your beautifully written column and compassion regarding severely injured Buffalo Bills player Kevin Everett. As one who grew up many moons ago on sports, which I then thought of as fun, I am dismayed by all the violence on the field and the price players pay for games that mainly serve to make their owners rich and feed the bloodlust of fans and media.”
Sandra, longtime educator
Kiz: Every time Everett wiggles a finger or a toe, it’s a little miracle.
A history of violence
“You raise an interesting thought: Did not the bloodlust we seek on the football field spawn in some way sports like dogfighting? Let’s face it, when a running back gets creamed by a safety, we freakin’ love it. Does that carry over to viciously sick video games and gun violence? Hmmm. Good stuff.”
Randle, Philadelphia
Kiz: Oh, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. Please allow me to hit the pause button on “Halo 3” and bring a momentary halt to the video-game carnage my Master Chief was waging to get back to this discussion of whether NFL players are pieces of meat that feed our appetite for destruction.
A father’s prayer is answered
“My son played high school football for two years, almost exclusively on special teams. This year he’s not playing, and I’m glad. Darryl Stingley is dead. Mike Utley is crippled. And now he has company up in Buffalo. But football goes on and we continue to watch it, myself included.”
John, Broomfield
Kiz: Thanks for your honesty. We sincerely love the NFL for the amazing feats of athleticism and the drama of unscripted entertainment. Of course, the element of danger also doesn’t hurt our enjoyment – although it can cost a good man such as former Broncos linebacker Al Wilson his health.
Bloodlust – who’s responsible?
“Bloodlust did not become essential to pro football until the NFL and the media became revenue hungry and permitted the trash talk, taunting and thuggery to become significant aspects of the game.”
George, Estes Park
Kiz: Hey, I dig watching “Jacked Up!” on ESPN as much as the next guy with hands shoveling chips in his mouth while watching TV. But any fan who cheers loudly for NFL violence, then washes his hands of any responsibility for the human wreckage that can result, just might be telling himself a pretty, little lie.
Where blue-chippers go to die
“Earth to Kiszla. The football talent between Colorado and Florida State isn’t even close. According to , Florida State had recruiting classes ranked in the top three nationally during three of the last four years. Those rankings are an inexact thing, but Florida State’s cupboard isn’t bare.”
Victor, student of the game
Kiz: No offense to the recruiting geeks willing to badger a teenager with 100 better things to do than answer questions about his choice of college, but if Florida State really landed all those blue-chippers in recent years, how did the Seminoles finish fifth in a six-team division of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2006?
Parting shot
And today’s parting shot demands to know why it is that if the NFL boots players off the field for cheating, then how come the coach of a team busted for high-tech stealing of a foe’s signals is allowed to remain on the sideline as the New England Patriots march toward another playoff berth?
“Players get suspended for lesser infractions than those committed by coach Bill Belichick. Why doesn’t he get a four-game suspension? Patriots owner Robert Kraft pays NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s salary. Goodell has to take care of the good old boys.”
Sal, Arcadia, Calif.
