What’s Important

Carter Hwang

Period 3

11/15/19

Trowbridge

Myles Garrett and the NFL Massacre

Thursday night, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers played each other. Division rivals, who have a long and harsh history. The Cleveland Browns have been struggling all year, not living up to their pre season expectations. The Pittsburgh Steelers, to everyone’s surprise, have done well for themselves, despite losing two of their three top players. The game was set to end with the Browns winning by a lot. Typical Thursday night game. Not so fast. Myles Garrett, with all 6 foot 4, 271 pounds of shredded steel, takes off dinky little Mason Rudolph’s helmet and swings it, connecting with Rudolph’s head. The benches clear, people are curb stomping, punching, you name it. It is pure chaos. Leaving the fans and audience with one question: What went wrong?

If you have not seen this disturbing, yet miraculous video, here it is: https://youtu.be/vmVkbdSFCaU With all of my years of watching and playing football, I have never seen a fight grow to this magnitude. With something so drastic happening, I am curious and want to get to the bottom of this. While I am not defending Garrett, I will say no man acts like this without being provoked. But I will get into that later. To start, I want to explain the history between these two NFL teams. The Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers have been division rivals of the AFC North for many years. These two football teams do not like each other, no wait, they DESPISE each other. They have both been through many scraps and fights, but none to this magnitude. Only a few years ago, Steelers Wide Receiver and Punt Returner Antonio Brown, jumped up and stuck his cleat right in Cleveland Browns’ punter Spencer Lanning’s face. Here is a picture of this here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2195710-antonio-brown-reportedly-fined-for-cleating-punter-spencer-lanning-in-face&psig=AOvVaw1SWMf-tEx6FSS-IVVwcAfx&ust=1573956510207000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKCg0IfT7eUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD The two ball clubs are known for having a long, grueling, and violent history.

Now to Myles Garrett. While Myles Garrett seems mean just based off of his humongous 6 foot 4 271 pound build, he actually, believe it or not, has a soft side to him. He often recites poetry and does yoga. I found a video of him reciting poetry here: https://youtu.be/ahSig5NeU_E As you can see, he is not as mean and intimidating as he seems. While he writes and recites poetry, and also does yoga, these activities could not keep his inner peace long. Although Myles Garrett has a soft side, that does not prevent players from calling Garrett out as a dirty player. In an NFL.com article, the reporter asked about the notion of him being a dirty player, where Myles Garrett simply responded, “That is not me” While this is funny and extremely hypocritical, it is important to point out there is a notion of him being a dirty player around the league. While none of his actions before even come remotely close to his actions Thursday night, it is safe to say Myles Garrett is known to break a few rules and deliver a few cheap shots or low blows. While it is surprising Myles Garrett went to such high levels of anger and frustration Thursday night, it is not surprising however, that he did a dirty play.

Now it is time to get to the bottom of this horrid play. There is no way a man acts with such emotion, such rage, such anger, without being provoked. For somebody to take off a helmet and swing it on another player’s bare head, must have been going through some stuff or was told some stuff. Mind you, no more than 4 or 5 games ago, Mason Rudolph was carried off the field because of a horrible play that caused injury to his head. Myles Garrett is not dumb, he knows this, and yet, he still swung a helmet on Mason Rudolphs bare dome. In my opinion, the NFL is handling this matter greatly. They suspended Maurkice Poncey, Pittsburgh Steelers lineman, 3 games for throwing several punches and even curb stomping Myles Garrett. Most importantly though, they suspended Myles Garrett indefinitely. This is the right move. No matter what, Myles Garrett should be suspended. But, the NFL needs to get to the bottom of this. They need to see and hear both sides of the story, along with other players that were on the field that night. Hear what Mason Rudolph has to say and what Myles Garrett has to say. Interview cameramen with the boom microphones that pick up audio, referees, surrounding players. Anyone who can make sense with this. Then, based off of all of the evidence, slap Myles Garrett with any suspension that they feel is appropriate. This is the right way to do it.

NFL Enables Opioid Addiction 

Being a professional football player comes with enduring an extreme amount of pain. The game is built on people flying around and running into each other. In the NFL, these people are running 20-25 miles an hour and smacking into each other. Injuries come with this. Unfortunately, for most players, they can’t get hurt. This is their livelihood. This is how they feed their kids. If they are hurt, they will be replaced no questions asked. So what do they do to stay “healthy”? Shovel pills in their mouth.

What do NFL doctors prescribe their players when they are hurt? A common pill is toradol. It is basically Aleve on steroids meant to treat pain. I found an interesting article on player’s use of this pill on BleacherReport (https://thelab.bleacherreport.com/nfl-toradol-use-players-survey/) Players are quoted saying “I have used toradol every game for the past 4-5 years” Farther along players listed side effects of taking these pills. Some of the effects were dizziness, vomiting, upset stomach, and constipation. Is this a good solution? Unfortunately, it gets worse. I found another article from the WashingtonPost (https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-abuse-of-painkillers-and-other-drugs-described-in-court-filings/2017/03/09/be1a71d8-035a-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html) describing players’ abuse of painkillers. Players are even suing the NFL for improper use of prescription drugs, “The details and communications were unearthed by lawyers representing more than 1,800 former professional football players who are suing the league in U.S. District Court in Northern California, claiming they suffer long-term organ and joint damage, among other maladies, as a result of improper and deceptive drug distribution practices by NFL teams.” The bad news keeps piling on, with the article later stating, “An incredible amount of intervention with some pretty risky drugs, some of which, in the case of Vicodin, have a high addiction potential” And do you know what the NFL has chosen to ban instead of these pills and injections that leave negative life-long effects? A harmless plant: Marijuana.

Yes, it is unfortunately true. The NFL does not allow players to use marijuana with no if, ands, or buts about it. Not for pain relief, recreational use, you name it. Players who live in a legal state are still not able to use marijuana. Players are suspended if they test positive for marijuana use. Even though, marijuana is proven to be a much better alternative for pain relief. These extremely addictive pills such as vicodin are allowed, while marijuana is banned. According to drugabuse.gov, over 47,000 people a year overdose on opioids. In the history of mankind, not one single person has ever overdosed on marijuana. This is downright absurd! It is asinine, asiten, asitwenty! The nerve of these rich, suit and tie wearing, briefcase having, people. They have no problem giving their players harmful pills, at an illegal rate, might I add. But they have the audacity to ban marijuana use. We are not living in the 1950s anymore NFL. Marijuana is not going to make these players fat from munchies. It is not going to make them unmotivated enough to not come to practice. It is not going to rot their brains. Move with progress! 

I decided to do a little more research and try and see the different products of CBD and THC. I wanted to find out how effective the use of these methods are. I stumbled across this video on YouTube. (https://youtu.be/05jEknLDEol) This woman suffered from deep, neurological pain for most of her life. It always felt as if her body was on fire. She would often wake up in the middle of the night, shaking and screaming in pain. She tried ever medicine, pill, tried every doctor. Nothing was working. She was fed up and decided she would get her medical marijuana card. She was, of course, approved and went to her nearest dispensary. She bought many different treatments. Liquid, topical rubs, and actual flower. The difference was night and day. Her pain had gone down a tremendous amount. She had far less attacks in the middle of the night. She finally felt relaxed and relieved. These pills and shots did not do that. Marijuana, THC, and CBD did. 

I ask for the NFL to change their ways. Stop giving these players harmful drugs that leave their players addicted, hurt mentally and physically for life.We can get this much needed change done if we all contribute. Spam the NFL with comments on social media. Reporters and people that are insiders of this great game need to complain also. The NFL needs to open up to these new treatments. Many peoples’ lives are at stake here. Enough of the pills, enough of the addiciton.

Gun Control

My parents love to talk. Oh boy do they love to talk. Especially when it comes to politics. Unfortunately, they choose me to be their audience. Maybe it’s because I’m just such a good listener. (Sarcasm intended) My mom, being the left wing woman that she is, thinks all guns should be banned and that there’s no use for them. My dad, being a right wing conservative, owns many guns and loves them. He believes it’s his Second Amendment Right and has been quoted saying, “They’ll get my guns when they pry them from my cold dead fingers” Aren’t my mom and dad just perfect for each other? And then there’s me, in the middle. I believe some guns should be banned, not all of them. 

The other night, I was a little full of myself and decided to push my dad’s buttons. I started making little comments here and there about gun control and how having automatic rifles is completely unnecessary. Then I dropped the hard to answer question: Is having these kids die in mass shootings worth you having your AR-15? When I tell you he erupted, I mean it. I’m talking nuclear bomb combined with a tsunami. I should know better and not poke the bear. He went on and on with a rant that was way too long. But, I won’t bore you with the details. Basically what he said bearing arms is his right and bad people will do bad things no matter what. He then proceeded to call his friend, another conservative, and I had the luxury to have not one, but two middle aged men yelling at me.

While my dad and his friend might not represent the whole pro-gun community, they represent most. They all tend to use the crutch of “It’s in the Constitution, it’s my god-given right” First of all, it wasn’t god-given. It was written by powdered wigged slave-owners. I’m not a historian, but I’m pretty sure when the Constitution was written, they didn’t have automatic rifles that can mow down twenty people in a matter of seconds. They had muskets that couldn’t hit water if you aimed at the ocean. If today we lived by values from two-hundred plus years ago, black people would still be considered ⅗ of a person and people would still by dying from a one-hundred degree fever. 

Now I’m not saying get rid of all guns. I believe it is important we stop producing and allowing common people own automatic rifles. There is simply no need. The benefits of owning a rifle capable of that much harm is not worth the thousands of lives each year that die each year from firearms. Yes I said THOUSANDS. According to Skye Gould and Shayanne Gal and their article on mass shootings (https://www.insider.com/number-of-mass-shootings-in-america-this-year-2019-8), “At least 313 people have died in mass shootings this year. … combined, with some 11,000 people in the US killed in firearm assaults each year.” 

The sheer ease of purchasing a firearm in the U.S. is laughable. I remember watching the video on YouTube. A news channel had a segment where a thirteen year-old kid tries to buy things he’s not old enough to buy. He tries beer, the clerk laughs and denies him. He tries cigarettes. Again, no luck. He then tries to buy, oh no, lottery tickets. The clerk at that store even denies him. The kid goes to a private seller, easily and legally buys a weapon. He’s thirteen years-old. So don’t come at me with “Our gun laws are improving” We are letting little kids who do Fortnite dances own these weapons capable of mass destruction. If you don’t want to listen to me, listen to a Senator. According to Sen. Jon Tester in an article on buying a gun legally, (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/20/how-to-legally-buy-a-gun-in-the-united-states/29034879/) “If you want to give a gun to your son or daughter or you want to sell it to your neighbors or friends, there is no background check required,” People can purchase guns completely off the books and there’s nothing we can do about it. That means the mentally ill, felons, children, anyone can buy a gun. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty dangerous to me.

Think of the pain each and everyone of these families goes through when they lose a family member due to these shootings. Think of the little kids, no older than ten, losing their lives at Sandy Hook. People our age, losing their lives at school every year, a place where they should be safe. People going to church aren’t even safe. All of this is preventable. I’m sick of watching the news in horror, looking at all of these innocent people affected by these shootings. Aren’t you?