I seldom follow American-style football anymore. Maybe part of the reason is that I grew up a Browns fan. They’ve been pathetic for years. Maybe someday an owner will come along who has a clue. Another part of the reason is due to style of play. They stopped tackling in the 80s in favor of the NFL-promoted “big hit.” The career expectation of a running back, for example, is less than six years.
I see guys around town with obvious after-effects of having played football in high school. Let alone college. The injuries place a toll on the body that outlasts playing age.
Of course, injuries can happen in any athletic endeavor. I even tore my quadriceps by doing something awkward following an intense game as a referee.
There were at least two prominent career-ending injuries in the National Football League in the first couple of weeks of this season.
Athletics are not the only human endeavor leading to possibility of injury.
Just today during my brief five minutes on Facebook I saw several instances of intent to injure with words on posts. Do people not take a few minutes to consider the effect of words before hitting send?
When you put yourself in leadership or service you are now open to injuries from unthinking or uncaring or even bad people. I have seen career ending injury through words even in church settings.
We have also seen injuries caused by church and other organization leaders.
When a player goes down injured in a sporting event, a team of medical experts rush to the player to diagnose, triage, treat the injury. Afterwards there may be a team of people who help rehabilitate and restore.
We need more of those type of people in everyday life to come to the aid of the hurting. Although many times I’m at a loss for how to react. It’s something to continue to learn.
Faith Venture 
Leave a comment