Five Reasons

Dear Sports,

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Dear Sports,

Let me start this off by saying that I never thought I’d be typing this. But here we are.

We miss you.

Life has took an unexpected turn, a turn that took you away from us. At this time, you had to take a back seat. You aren’t important right now. We are in a crisis with a virus. Stopping the spread of this thing is the most important thing for many us right now. 

But damn we miss you.

And we realized how deeply we under-appreciated you.

We are five days in from you being taken from us and it looks like we have a lot more to go.


We are now confused because when we needed you most, you were taken away. You are the one we usually ran to in times of crisis, when we needed to get our minds off the harsh realities of the world, you were there. You cheered us up. You occupied our minds just enough for the world to feel fine. You kept our sanity in check. 

When you got taken from us, It opened my eyes because I’ve never experienced something like this. The world has stopped, literally. We are trying to pickup the pieces and figure a way to get through it. People are confused.

You being gone made me realize a couple things.

It made me realize how unimportant you were in the grand scheme of things but at the same time, it made me realize you are one of the most important things there are.

I know that sounds confusing, so let me explain.

You are unimportant because you can be stopped when the world is going through a pandemic. Getting home to watch the game is the least of our priorities.

But you are so important because so many people relied on you to get through their days. A medicine to anxiety. Myself included. At this time, i need you more than ever. This thing has me and many other people nervous. I wish i could turn on the TV and watch the Miami Heat give us a heart attack, or make a joke about how the Panthers have games in hand. You kept us normal. You kept us sane. You kept us entertained.

Now the world isn’t normal and you’re gone, we don’t know when you’ll be back but when you are, I think we will appreciate you differently.

So let me end this by saying it again, we miss you.

Love, Sports fans around the world.

Legal analysis: Could Antonio Brown just sign a waiver?

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On Monday, August 12, 2019,  a neutral, independent arbitrator held that Antonio Brown will be unable to use his Schutt AiR Advantage helmet. Brown – who has been donning the same type of helmet since he was in Pee Wee football – would be unable to play or receive a paycheck unless he wears an otherwise approved helmet. After Brown believed he found a suitable replacement, the NFL informed him that the helmet did not meet additional testing.

From a legal standpoint, the issue of whether Brown can sign an injury waiver to effectively circumvent the arbitrator’s ruling has come to the forefront. However, the validity of such waivers has historically been strictly scrutinized.

Former players have successfully settled cases against the NFL based on the theory that the league was negligent and breached its duty to take reasonable precautions for players’ safety. These claims are founded on the idea that the league either knew or should have known about these risks and should have done more to ensure players made an informed choice.

On the other hand, a waiver is an agreement altering the rights and responsibilities of the parties. While negligence is a legal cause of action, a waiver is a defense to negligence claims and is based on the plaintiff’s express assumption of risk. Waivers must meet two requirements to be enforceable: (1) the scope of the waiver must be clear; and, (2) the waiver must be consistent with public policy. Waivers are generally held to be against public policy if one party has unequal bargaining rights.

The bargaining power between the players and the NFL is beyond extreme. Most players don’t hold any leverage in contract negotiations with teams, and even less regarding league rules and conditions of play. Therefore, once a player signs a contract, the league is the party that sets and enforces rules.

In Antonio Brown’s case, there is no issue of unequal bargaining power or any concerns over public policy. The most likely reason the NFL has not entered into a waiver with Brown is because it simply doesn’t have to.  The league has been scarred by the recent concussion litigation and does not want to be left exposed to any potential liability in allowing Brown to use his Schutt AiR Advantage helmet.  In fact, ninety-nine percent of studied retired NFL players’ brains show signs of CTE.

Most importantly, the league does not owe Brown anything. While Brown may allege that his helmet preference is safety related, the league is in a better position to determine player safety and is the ultimate decision maker. The likeliest, fairest outcome is that the league gives Brown the same one-year grace period that was given last year to players like Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.