Punch Drunk Love Meets the Longest Yard

The longest yard is the last one: in football, fourth and goal at the one, in life, the place where despair and brokenness overtake reason and hope.

Dave Duerson was a two-time All-American at Notre Dame, graduated with honors in Economics, made four Pro Bowls, won two Super Bowl rings.  A member of the '85 Chicago Bears, arguably the toughest defense in NFL history, Duerson was a hard-hitting safety who picked off 20 career passes and had 16 quarterback sacks.   He played football with enormous passion and tackled the best in the game head on.   At the end of his life, the damage it caused brought him to his knees.   On Thursday he shot himself, after texting his family to have his brain donated for brain injury research.

The story has shaken former players and the NFL community.   It's renewed questions about football safety and the long term effects of brain injury. 

Oregon fans have a great affection for Duck players that follows these young men into life.  "Once a Duck, always a Duck,"  the saying goes.  As such, Oregon fans have an obligation to support rules and practices that promote player safety:

Players should be taught never to lead with the head, never to use the helmet as a weapon.  Lead with the shoulder and wrap up.

Coaches should have the absolute support of the fan community in following doctors' recommendations in not rushing players back into practice and games after a brain trauma or concussion.  Chip Kelly, Gary Campbell and the medical staff were notably cautious and protective with Kenjon Barner, and that's the way it should be, even if it costs the team on the field. 

Coach Kelly defers to the medical staff in all injury issues, and steadfastly protects player privacy.  Neither fans or blogs or message boards or the media ought to try to end run around this policy.  An injured player is day-to-day for a reason.  Sometimes, his entire future, well beyond football, is at stake.

Rule changes to make the game safer ought to be fully supported and fully enforced.  It's not a matter of taking the physicality out of football.  The Four Horseman of Notre Dame weighed about 160 lbs. apiece.  Red Grange was 5-10 170.  Glen Davis 5-9 170.  Doak Walker 5-11 170.    Darrell Lester, a 3-time All-American center from TCU in the 1930's, was 6-4 218.  The game has changed, dramatically, and the pace of change has accelerated rapidly in the last twenty years.  Now there are 6-4 260-lb. linebackers who run a 4.5 40.  The "defenseless player" and "leading with the crown of the helmet" penalties are necessary and logical.  They should never be booed in Autzen Stadium.  Officials have to do what they can to protect the players.

Resources should be available to players after football.  The Alumni Association and the Duck Football Alumni Association have to spearhead efforts to keep former players connected to the Duck community, provides resources and outreach, counseling and support.  Oregon is a family.  There has to be a commitment to take care of our own, and encourage the ones who fall away.  James Harris, Oregon's nutritionist and assistant athletic director, has created a program to assist former players in adjusting their eating habits after football.  It's one example of a concrete way to provide real support to players after their football career is over.  Spiritual guidance, networking, and career counseling are other tools in aiding former athletes toward productive lives after the cheers have died.

Duerson's story is uniquely his, and many of the circumstances were extenuating.  But it's a reminder to us as a fan community that our investment in these young men, our commitment to their welfare and success, doesn't end with their eligibility.  Oregon's hired a coach who sees his players as more than just football players, and encourages them to see themselves that way.  No more than 5% of them will make significant money in the NFL, and even for those who do the average career is three and a half seasons.

All of us, fans, coaches, alumni, students and players, have to live in a way that prepares us for the longest yard.  Nothing in life happens in a vacuum.  Stay connected.   Pick up the phone.  Know who your friends are.  Cultivate a network of support.   Belong to someone, and  believe in something. 

Sometimes there isn't an answer.  Sometimes a tragedy and unanswerable despair just swallows someone up.  Dave Duerson left behind three sons and a daughter and many friends.  He was engaged to be married.  By reflecting on what his life and his death meant, we find an opportunity to honor him, by struggling toward meaning and sense.  The heart of the meaning is this: no Duck should have to face the longest yard alone.