The deleterious long-term effects on the brains and bodies of football players has been in the news of late. There are those who might take the point of view that NFL players are adults, and well paid ones at that, so it is purely a matter of personal choice.
Au contraire! It is more complex. At a House Judiciary Committee meeting on football brain injuries “consensus emerged on one point: How the NFL evolves from here will invariably influence safety at the youth football level…. Many injuries occur…because the culture of football up through the NFL demands that players play through pain…. ‘Walking off the pain in an NFL game turns into walking it off in a Little League game — the trickle-down effects on high school and college players are very real and can be fatal,’ Representative Hank Johnson, Democrat of Georgia, said in the hearing.” (The New York Times, October 30, 2009)
Good example matters and not just in the NFL. All things are connected. We are all 360-degree leaders. What we do, the example we set, powerfully effects those around us.
Every action teaches the belief system that motivates it. Are you comfortable with what you taught today? What is your lesson plan for tomorrow?