Why My Son Won't be Playing Football Anytime Soon

"Momma said 'Knock you out!'"

One year. That's how long Saints coach Sean Payton has been suspended for lying about his knowledge of the bounty program under DC Gregg Williams (now with the Rams). Other punishments were handed down to the Saints, like a $500k fine and the loss of two second round picks (2012 and 2013). Payton will also lose over $7 million in salary. That's a lot of cheddar.

Ok, so enough with the news sounding part. You want that, just follow the link to ESPN where they pay people to be unbiased. Or at least, that's what they say.

Look, Goodell is not my favorite person. I think he's boorish and conniving. It's pretty obvious he doesn't really care about the players (18 games? Really?). The fact that this suspension is political because the NFL is currently facing 20 some odd lawsuits from former players regarding concussions and the lack of forethought by the league on that issue is quite evident. People are right to point out the hypocrisy of Goodell's decision.

But that doesn't mean the suspension is wrong. Or unjustified. Or even excessive. Honestly, I wish it would've gone further and included any players that were involved. If Gregg Williams had been expelled from the league, I would support it. This isn't about the hypocrisy of the league or Goodell. It's not.

COACHES ARE PAYING PLAYERS TO PURPOSELY HURT EACH OTHER!!! HOW THE HELL CAN WE ACT LIKE THAT ISN'T A HUGE FUCKING DEAL!!!

Football is a violent sport. It is. No getting around that. And I think the truth is most people in America get that. But this goes far above and beyond regular injuries. At least in my not so humble opinion. In the real world, paying someone to purposely hurt an individual is a crime. Purposely hurting an individual is a crime. It's called "assault and battery". It's a violation of property rights. It's wrong. Immoral. I hope you get where I'm headed here.

I never play organized football (no matter how much the coaches and I pestered my mother), so I don't really know if players go out there to hurt each other whether there is a bounty or not. But the fact that so many players came out and said they weren't surprised by this development is disconcerting as a fan. It seriously makes me not want to watch. And because so many players and coaches (and fans) seem to have such a nonchalant view to this, it will trickle down. Anything that happens in the NFL always trickles down to college and high school. Sometimes this is good (teams using concussion reducing helmets). In this case, it would be horrendous.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that players seem to have no problem with the bounty system, or that fans aren't just egregiously appalled by that fact. I'm appalled. I don't know if I'm going to watch the NFL at all next year. I probably will. Sports (strategy, really) is a bit of an obsession for me. Goodell really cracking down on this kind of shit would go a long way to restoring my somewhat limited faith on the NFL actually wanting to protect its players, even if coaches and they apparently don't care themselves.

But I can tell you a couple of things: 1) My mother may not have as been as uncool as I thought she was when she wouldn't let me play football in school, and that's because 2) I'm not letting my son play football.

You can follow me on Twitter at: @Jake_Collin.