{"id":17580,"date":"2017-11-15T01:00:24","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T09:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=17580"},"modified":"2017-11-14T10:50:27","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T18:50:27","slug":"day-football-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2017\/11\/day-football-revealed.html","title":{"rendered":"The Day Football Revealed Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Harry<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the Wikipedia article about him Harry Turner<\/a> \u201cwas one of the most popular players on the Canton Professionals<\/a>, the pre-National Football League<\/a> version of the Canton Bulldogs<\/a> who played in the Ohio League<\/a>. The team\u2019s center<\/a>, Turner played with the Pros from around 1911\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the 1914 season, while making a tackle, his back fractured, severing his spinal cord. He lingered briefly, but died on this day, the 15th of November, in 1914.<\/p>\n

Harry Turner would be the first person known to die from playing American football. He would not be the last.<\/p>\n

And, of course, the real issue is not the possibility of being killed on the field, it\u2019s brain damage. A horrific and lingering consequences. A price, I suggest, too high to pay\u2026<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago I wrote a piece titled: Mothers, Don\u2019t Let Your Children Play Football<\/a>. Unlike with many things I\u2019ve written over the years, I continue to stand by every word of this today.<\/p>\n