View source for Unplug the NFL

==Damage to Health==
=== Harmful astroturf rather than grass ===
Players oppose the use of astroturf, and the [[World Cup]] bans it.  Yet greedy [[NFL]] owners install astroturf even in stadiums that replace the astroturf with grass for soccer games.  Players attribute devastating injuries to the astroturf, such as star QB [[Aaron Rodgers]]' season-ending injury on the fourth play of the first game in the 2023-24 season.<ref>https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10089309-nflpa-calls-for-elimination-of-artificial-turf-fields-to-avoid-unnecessary-injuries</ref>

=== Many Harms Inflicted on players ===
"Sports Illustrated estimated in 2009 that 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or facing serious financial stress within two years of ending their playing careers and that 60 percent of NBA players are broke within five years of retiring from the game."<ref>http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/story/2012-04-22/Pro-athletes-and-financial-trouble/54465664/1</ref>

Chris Borland, one of the top rookies in the NFL in 2014, abruptly retired before the 2015 season due to safety concerns.  "I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," Borland said. "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."<ref>http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/12496480/san-francisco-49ers-linebacker-chris-borland-retires-head-injury-concerns</ref>

The late NFL star quarterback Ken Stabler "had Stage 3 [[chronic traumatic encephalopathy]] ... widespread throughout his brain, with 'quite severe' damage to the regions involving learning, memory and regulation of emotion."<ref name="CTE">http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/2/3/former-nfl-quarterback-ken-stabler-had-cte-brain-disease.html</ref>  A professor of neurology at Boston University, Dr. Ann McKee, observed that "we've now found CTE in former NFL players who played every position except kicker."<ref name="CTE"/> Of the 34 NFL player brains that McKee examined, 33 had CTE.<ref>https://www.npr.org/books/titles/228921701/league-of-denial-the-nfl-concussions-and-the-battle-for-truth#excerpt</ref>

=== Premature Death ===
The NFL players' union has pressed for health insurance and greater safety measures to address the well-documented health problems experienced by NFL players and alumni.

Quincy Monk, a former linebacker for the New York Giants, had a stroke at the age of only 35<ref>http://www.wral.com/former-athlete-survives-stroke-with-help-of-medical-device/14789103/</ref> and then died a year later from cancer.<ref>http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2015/11/former_giants_linebacker_quincy_monk_dead_at_36.html</ref>

Numerous people who played in the NFL have committed suicide (in some instances, Junior Seau most notably, upon examination of their brains CTE was noted).<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/25/us/former-nfl-player-suicide/</ref>

Mike Webster, a four-time Super Bowl winner as center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, died of a heart attack at the age of only 50, and the autopsy of his brain revealed that it was one of "boxers, very old people with Alzheimer's disease or someone who had suffered a severe head wound," quoting pathologist Bennet Omalu of the Allegheny Medical coroner's office.<ref>http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2013/10/8/4814434/concussion-suit-mike-webster-thing</ref>

=== Criticism by a former NFL player ===
Lem Barney, one of the greatest defensive backs ever in the NFL, predicted in 2013 that the sport would not exist within the next two decades, because of how harmful it has become.  Despite being one of the best players ever, he wishes he had driven a truck or a cab instead.<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/06/14/lem-barney-football-will-be-gone-in-20-years/2424499/</ref>

=== Substance abuse ===
Performance-enhancing substance abuse has been widespread for a long time in the NFL, as owners and the players' union engage in [[liberal denial]] about it while profiting from the more violent play.  Lyle Alzado, a much-promoted star in the 1970s and 1980s, died at the age of only 43 from a rare form of cancer that he attributed to his steroid use,<ref>http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Alzado_Lyle.html</ref> Alzado said he began taking anabolic steroids in 1969 (at the age of 20) and took them throughout his football career.<ref>http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-05-15/sports/1992136109_1_lyle-alzado-steroids-brain-cancer</ref>

At least one expert has opined that the problem is never going away.<ref>http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl-performance-enhancing-drug-testing-will-get-tougher-ped-testing-tougher-alex-marvez-062515</ref>

The NFL banned substances policy has drawn criticism,<ref name="CBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/27/national/main691147_page3.shtml  |work=CBS News |title=NFL Steroid Policy 'Not Perfect' |date=2005-04-27}}</ref> but the policy is one of the longest running in professional sports, beginning in 1987.<ref name="Apr28">{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21734-2005Apr28.html  |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=NFL's Steroid Policy Gets Kudos on Capitol Hill |first1=Mark |last1=Maske |first2=Leonard |last2=Shapiro |date=2005-04-28 |accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> Since the NFL started random, year-round tests and suspending players for banned substances, many more players have been found to be in violation of the policy. By April 2005, 111 NFL players had tested positive for banned substances, and of those 111, the NFL suspended 54.<ref name="CBS" /> The NFL testing for substance abuse is notoriously inadequate, as illustrated by the case of the convicted first-degree murderer, then-NFL star Aaron Hernandez.<ref>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/05/aaron-hernandez-knew-that-beating-nfl-drug-tests-is-easy/</ref>

Unlike Olympic sports and the [[Ultimate Fighting Championship]], the NFL administers its substance abuse program independently of the [[United States Anti-Doping Agency]] (USADA).  So, the quality and rigor of the NFL's drug testing is not independently controlled.  However, since December 2009, USADA has a "Supplement Safety Now" program, in partnership with the NFL, [[Major League Baseball]], the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA), the [[National Hockey League]], the U.S. Olympic Committee and other national sports and health organizations. The program seeks to end dangerous and unscrupulous practices of "rogue" manufacturers within the nutritional supplement industry. The effort works to eliminate the practice of selling supplement products containing [[steroid]]s and other drugs that are labeled as "safe and legal" dietary supplements.