JJ Watt, Beckham Done for Season; Young Jocks Reconsider Options

Published on 9-Oct-2017 by Biff BoJock

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Update

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JJ Watt, Beckham Done for Season; Young Jocks Reconsider Options

This is already a hard year for the NFL, what with more than the usual morass of issues and distractions.

The last thing they need is season-ending injuries to their biggest stars.

So what happens?

Two more season-ending injuries to their biggest stars:

 

Ugly.

It's getting so fans are more than frustated at seeing top players go down. It's getting so they also don't appreciate wall-to-wall coverage of the aftermath.

After being exposed to real-life coverage of tragedies like the Las Vegas shooting, it could well be they're in sensory overload.

Or maybe they've just seen too many overdone cop and doc shows in prime time already.

Whatever the reason for their backlash, the fact remains that losing Watt and Becham for 2017 is devastating to their teams.

  • Houston's a legit contender for post-season play, and
  • The Giants are toast already, anyway, but Beckham at least offered a reason for the turnstiles to keep churning.

To use a rugby term, the knock-on effect for the bigger picture is beginning to tax the game. For various reasons, including medical, insurance, and overall costs, fewer kids are playing football these days.

Actually, that's the kind of football that's becoming more popular.

The irony is that soccer-related injuries are on the rise, too, partially due to the greater number of participants. Still, concussions are considered to occur less frequently.

Injuries similar to Watt's and Beckham's, though, are gonna happen in any sport.

The greater effect is on becoming a fan.

If kids don't play a sport, they're not as likely to become a paying customer and/or viewer. Currently, the younger age groups in the USA are into other things.

OU-MAA Millennials and the nfl

Infographic courtesy of Ohio University

It's not really surprising that non-concussion injuries like the ones Watt and Beckham suffered bring these issues to the fore, because they're even easier to relate to. Of course, this makes it harder for the NFL to address.

Saying injuries are a part of the game only reinforces the argument against it, so much more is being hurt than The Shield's star players.