Are You Ready for Some Football?

Stephen Vyskocil
2/25/2015
In this paper we will explore the motives behind the NFLs approach to player health and
rights issues, particularly concussions, as it relates to stakeholders.
The NFL is first and foremost a business. While many of the owners may want to put a
winning team on the field, and some may indeed want to get their team to the Super Bowl, all are
focused on profits related to the business that is football. These profits, which run into the
billions of dollars annually, may come from ticket and concession sales, clothing, TV and Radio,
restaurants, hotels, liquor sales and other businesses that derive income from their connection to
the NFL and to the team that they own. According to Forbes magazine, the average NFL team is
worth $1.43 billion (the Chicago Bears are valued at $1.7 billion and Dallas at $3 billion). Cities
and states that house teams all make money from the resulting tourism that this sport brings.
So how does this affect a stakeholder in the NFL? Football is a violent sport, and injury
to players (who are 1st and foremost employees) is a direct consequence. Its been pointed out on
the news program Frontline, League of Denial that, Its hard to find a pro football player whose
body hasnt paid a high price. Players will go so far as to use duct tape to hide or temporarily
repair injuries and superglue teeth into their mouth. In fact, with the advances in equipment such
as additional padding, better helmets, improved clothing, stronger pain killing medications, etc.,
many would argue that it has become even more violent as players may now feel more invincible
on the field. Add to that improved physical conditioning, and you now have folks that can run
faster and hit harder, which can result in even more significant permanent injuries.

Football players certainly understand the violent nature of the sport and the possibility of
serious injury as a result of playing this sport. However, they also have the right to a safe and
healthy work environment, and the right to compensation for injury.(1) That means that they
should be able to expect the team/owner to provide them with additional healthcare, services and
coverage, to address what is expected and even demanded of them on the field. In other words if
they are going to play a violent sport, they should receive additional considerations from the
owners that go beyond a paycheck.
Let me add by saying that I am a stakeholder. I am a Chicago Bears fan; I watch NFL
games on TV. Ive bought NFL jerseys and products; and I listen to sports shows and read
newspapers to pick up NFL related stories. If the game were to change to address the issue of
concussions by becoming less violent, the possibility exists that some stakeholders could lose
interest in the sport. Marketers of the sport literally iconize helmets bashing into one another.
Part of the attraction of watching an NFL game is the violent nature of the gameyou reduce
that violent nature, you may reduce the audience. If you reduce the audience, you reduce the
number of stakeholders. If you reduce the number of stakeholders, you reduce the amount of
money flowing into NFL owners and franchises as a result of fans no longer buying NFL related
products, no longer watching it on TV or listening to it on the radio.
Because reducing concussions may require the league to reduce the amount of contact
that takes place on the field, through new rules and regulations, an externality is created. Owners
may find it in their best interest to find ways of addressing concussions that dont reduce the on
1 Frederick, Robert. "Employee Rights." In A Companion to Business Ethics, 254. Malden,
Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.

field violence, and therefore dont necessarily align with players interests and welfare. Owners
may do this because they are more aligned with stakeholders and the money that they bring to
the table, than with employees who can often times be replaced with little economic impact.
Asymmetry states that there are more people seeking jobs than jobs available. Competition is
driven by a fear of losing, not just a desire to win. Employers or managers set the terms that
players compete for.(2) The owners get the say in what the job will bewhat the obligations will
be of the worker. Asymmetry undermines this notion of working because the people who sign
the contract are not equals; they are less powerful than managers or employers, and therefore at a
disadvantage. The NFL, considered a non-profit organization, does not guarantee money like
other sports, cutting players on a frequent basis. Players might just be competing to get by. The
question of fairness comes into play. Social justice, defined, as an equal access to human
flourishing, means that individuals should have the ability to pursue and explore their talents and
capacities.(3) This involves access to education and training programs. Many players find
themselves penalized for off the field issues that the league did not prior mandate, such as
domestic abuse or driving while intoxicated.
Atomization is a big part of the NFL. Certain players such as quarterbacks, wide
receivers and even middle linebackers are often elevated to a status well above other teammates,
such as linemen, or special teams players. This creates a dilemma in that NFL owners may be
focused more on protecting their key players rights and well being than they are the rights and
well being of other players and teammates who may not be considered key revenue producers.
The NFL is often accused of alienating players through coaching tactics and techniques
designed to humiliate and intimidate an individual in an attempt to get them to perform beyond

2 Ibid, Page 101.
3 Ibid, Page 94.

their physical limitations.(4) This may mean pressuring a player into performing while theyre
hurt. Its not unusual for a player to take a severe hit to the head, run to the sidelines, miss one
play, and then be placed back on the field and into the action. This may be the result of selfalienating players feeling guilt in letting their teammates down if they dont play injured.
According to the news program Frontline, League of Denial, Doctors or clinicians hid
or denied the results of their research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the NFL, a
disease linked to repeated blows to the head with symptoms that include memory loss,
depression, and dementia. Doing so benefited the interests of NFL owners and to some extent its
stakeholders, not the interests of the players. Clearly a dichotomy exists. At times players might
miss an assignment on the field because they are unaware of their surroundings as a result of the
injury they have sustained. One solution may be to enlist independent doctors and trainers who
are not associated with the team, instead of medical professionals being paid by the very owners
themselves. This would better ensure labor rights for the players by a 3rd party not invested in the
teams record.
The lawsuit currently being brought against the NFL highlights the moral and ethical
dilemma that owners may face, that is players health vs. profits. Employees should have more of
a say as stakeholders of the company. By job design, having a say in the conditions of ones
work to some degree is a core part of having a quality work life. Clearly not enough has been

4 Frederick, Robert. "Business Ethics and Work: Questions for the Twenty-first Century." In A
Companion to Business Ethics, 107. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.

done as US District Judge Anita Brody has said she will not sign off on the lawsuit settlement
until further changes have been made to better protect players rights.(5)
Until it can be demonstrated to owners that there is the potential for more revenue dollars
to them as a result of protecting players health than there is in ignoring it, on field injuries and
long-term health issues to NFL players are likely to continue.

5 "Judge Orders Further Revisions in NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settlement." Washington Post.
Accessed February 23, 2015.

Bibliography
"Forbes Announces 17th Annual NFL Team Valuations." Forbes. Accessed February 23, 2015.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2014/08/20/forbes-announces-17th-annual-nflteam-valuations/.
Frederick, Robert. "Employee Rights." In A Companion to Business Ethics, 94, 101, 254.
Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.
Frederick, Robert. "Business Ethics and Work: Questions for the Twenty-first Century." In A
Companion to Business Ethics, 107. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.
Frontline: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis. PBS, 2013. Film.
"Judge Orders Further Revisions in NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settlement." Washington Post.
Accessed February 23, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/judgeorders-further-revisions-in-nfl-concussion-lawsuit-settlement/2015/02/02/3b44b18eab22-11e4-8876-460b1144cbc1_story.html.