Saturday’s tragic and sudden passing of Dwayne Haskins became a stark reminder for football fans that the players who entertain us from September through February aren’t robots. They’re human beings. Sons. Brothers. Husbands. Boyfriends. Uncles. Nephews. Cousins. Friends. Teammates.
The quotes from the current and former teammates of Dwayne Haskins should help hammer that point home. A simple tweet from Steelers receiver Chase Claypool struck me are particularly poignant.
“I spent your final moments with you and I can’t help but think about how selfless you were in those moments,” Claypool said. “All you cared about was making sure that everyone around you was okay and I can’t thank you enough for that. You are what I strive to be.”
Football has changed in recent decades. Even as the league tries to make the game safer for the men who play it, the ongoing popularity of fantasy football and the recent explosion of legalized wagering has made fans (and some in the media) lose sight of the humanity of the men who play the game. They’re viewed as commodities. Interchangeable parts in a broader football machine. Out of sight, out of mind.
The teams have always viewed players that way, desensitized by the never ending parade of new pieces in, old pieces out. Nine years ago, Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league was looking at the process of making player cuts more “humane.” We pointed out in response that including scenes of players learning that they were out of jobs in Hard Knocks cuts against that aspiration.
The good news is that Hard Knocks now rarely if ever includes those moments. The bad news is that teams (along with fans and some in the media) continue to overlook the humanity of the men who are far more likely to be asked to leave the game before choosing to do so on their own. Regardless of whether that ever changes, it needs to.