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NFL impairs fans’ memories, too

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You’re not going anywhere.

Not even for a second.

NFL scandals may enrage, disgust and mortify the people of this country, but they don’t drive them away.

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You want this league to change? Then stop watching games till it does.

But you can’t. Once that ball leaves the tee, you can’t leave your seat.

Last Sunday came six days after the Ray Rice video was made public and Adrian Peterson’s child-abuse charges surfaced. It came after other domestic-violence cases were highlighted and Commissioner Roger Goodell’s neglect exposed.

Yet last Sunday, despite San Francisco’s Ray McDonald playing while facing felony domestic-violence charges, the NBC game between the 49ers and Bears earned a 14.0 rating -- three percent higher than Week 2 last year. Tell me: How come the second players put their helmets on, we put our blinders on?

For some reason, Sunday morning is the panacea for our misgivings about the NFL. We can grumble all week about its corruption, danger, greed, or stupidity, but once it’s game time, the league waves its Jedi hand and we fall in line.

These past couple weeks may have brought on more scrutiny than ever before seen, but it’s hardly the first time the Shield has been slammed. Why, then, should we expect a different reaction from the public?

The link between brain damage and football has been growing every year. There have been studies, suicides, documentaries, lawsuits, and settlements all testifying to this crisis.

It was reported earlier in the month that Cardinals linebacker John Abraham has suffered from severe memory loss for over a year. And while this may scare parents away from Pop Warner, or provide television pundits with fodder -- does it take one eye away from the screen?

Doesn’t seem to.

Last year’s Super Bowl was the most-watched of all-time despite 2013 being the pinnacle of concussion-related news coverage. Fox said its average of 21.2 million viewers was the highest since it started broadcasting games in 1994.

And while it’s true that that the players all volunteer to go out and take the field, their well-being doesn’t appear to among the fans’ top 25 concerns.

It’s not that America is necessarily bloodthirsty. There are copious reasons for this gridiron addiction.

Fantasy football has made fans out of folks who couldn’t explain what an out route or false start was, yet watch every week as though they have a month’s pay riding on the outcome. And then there are those who actually do wager week to week -- seeing the players as nothing more than potential income suppliers.

But then there’s the other ilk -- the people out in Buffalo, Cleveland or Green Bay. The folks who live in cities whose identity is in so many ways synonymous with their professional football teams.

You think Pittsburghers stopped watching the Steelers after Ben Roethlisberger’s sexual assault charges? You think Ravens fans thought twice about Ray Lewis’ connection to a murder during their Super Bowl runs?

No way. That’s why, even when replacement refs were supposedly “ruining” the game two seasons ago, fans weren’t going anywhere. Complaints aren’t the measuring stick for a sports league’s success -- eyeballs are.

Not everyone is off-put by the NFL’s current state. Some people simply see it is as a handful of problem-causers in a league of 1,700 players. And hey, that’s their prerogative.

But if you feel differently, if you feel like what’s gone on the past two weeks so is unacceptable, then show it. Make your dent in the Nielsen ratings where the NFL will truly feel it.

Goodell addressed the media Friday, where he dodged questions for 45 minutes and drew condemnation from his own players. He then made it clear that he had no plans to resign.

From here, that’s just perpetuating the problem. From here, that’s condoning the status quo.

The NFL is becoming more of a train wreck each and every day. But in this case, it’s imperative that you look away.

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