Pittsburgh Steelers’ fans are used to being envied. The Steelers are an almost perennial playoff team and have a record six Super Bowl trophies, including two titles since 2005. This success means that their fans will be fairly unaccustomed to the dark cloud hanging over Pittsburgh this offseason.

Not only did the Steelers miss out on the playoffs, but they also saw two of their divisional rivals, the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals, make the postseason, with the former eventually lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy. Throw into the mix the aging defense, inconsistent offense and salary cap constraints, and you can see the challenge that lays ahead for the Steelers’ front office.

Pittsburgh may not have been at their vintage best at any point last season, the loss of Ben Roethlisberger for several games due to injury was almost directly responsible for their omission from the playoffs. If the importance of keeping Roethlisberger upright and healthy wasn’t clear before, it certainly is now.

By drafting David DeCastro and Mike Adams last year, General Manager Kevin Colbert will be fairly confident he has a good, young offensive line developing, especially with the likes of Maurkice Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert already on the roster. If Colbert can find the cap space, a far from easy task, he may look to add a veteran guard in free agency and add some much needed experience to the unit.

Indeed, finding salary space will be an unenviable challenge for Colbert, with Pittsburgh’s top 10 salaries currently accounting for just over $100 million. The consequences of this will almost certainly see wide receiver Mike Wallace hit free agency, and unless serious salary cap sacrifices are made, the Steelers will struggle to enthuse youth into their ageing defense in free agency.

Pittsburgh’s arch-rivals, the Ravens, have had similar issues in recent years, coping with an ageing defense and relatively little cap room. As much as Steelers’ fans will not want to hear it, they could learn a lot from the Ravens, and their GM Ozzie Newsome, who have arguably coped with these issues much better than the Steelers.

Pittsburgh defensive veterans Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, James Harrison and Brett Keisel are all now well into their 30s and will account for nearly $40 million in cap space in 2013.

Offensively, the loss of Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator last season and the arrival of Todd Haley, hurt the Steelers. The deep threat of Wallace was rarely used and Pittsburgh were uncharacteristically poor in their running game, ranked 26^th in the NFL. This was certainly not helped by the mercurial form of the Steelers’ running backs, with no back in particular shining consistently throughout the season.

Once again, Colbert will be limited as to what he can do offensively in free agency. Along with Head Coach Mike Tomlin, he will need to decide whether or not there is a running back currently with the Steelers of starting quality, whilst a slot receiver in the mould of Wes Welker would be a perfect fit for Haley’s offense, but neither will come cheap, and instead may be looked for in the draft.

Even with all the challenges that face the Steelers in this offseason, a team which features a player of Roethlisberger’s quality at quarterback, and a coach as talented as Tomlin, will undoubtedly be competitive next season. With the team continuing to age on defense however, this offseason, and specifically the draft, could prove to be critical in ensuring long-term competitiveness with both the Ravens and the Bengals in the AFC North.

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The Packers remain number one this week despite losing their first game of the season, but beyond that there’s some movement. The Saints now sit in the number two spot, moving up from fourth as the Ravens and Steelers both lose. The 49ers see themselves leap frog the Patriots to move into third after a solid win over the Steelers.

The big winners this week are the Cowboys, Chargers, and the Seahawks. The Cowboys break the top ten moving from 14^th to 10^th after their victory puts them in the driver’s seat in the NFC East. The Chargers moved up from 18^th to 14^th after knocking off the Ravens and moving back to .500. They need some help, but are definitely still alive in the AFC West. The Seahawks won their third straight and moved to 15^th from 20^th.

The big losers this week are the Ravens, Titans, and Bears. The Ravens lost their fourth game of the season and fell from 2^nd to 6^th moving one spot behind the Steelers. The Titans dropped seven spots from 13^th to 20^th after losing to the Colts giving them their first victory of the season. The Bears also saw themselves drop four spots falling to 21^st from 17^th.

The Vikings, Rams, and Colts again round out the bottom despite Indianapolis getting their first win of the season.

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When the Jets and Patriots met a month ago, the Patriots handed the Jets their third straight loss and made people question whether the Jets would even make the playoffs, let along make good on Rex’s usual preseason guarantee. Now the Jets have the chance to do the same thing right back to the Patriots.

The Jets have been hot lately, and they are undefeated at home this season. They’ve won the past two meetings at home against New England and on Sunday have a great opportunity to give the suddenly vulnerable Patriots their third straight loss, which would be their first since 2002.

“Both teams are going to be humming for this one, no question,” Rex Ryan said. “You can sugarcoat it all you want, but they know they need it and we know we need it. Both teams are going to be hungry.”

During their three game losing streak the Jets gave up at least 30 points and fell two games behind the AFC East lead. Three wins later and New York is 5-3 and back into a tie for 1^st with Buffalo and New England. The defense looks like the defense of old, circa 09’ and 10’, allowing only 38 points and forcing 8 turnovers in the past three games. Their last win was a convincing one 27-11 over the Bills last week.

“We definitely have been getting better these last three weeks,” Ryan said. “But we’re going to see how much we’ve improved.” While the defense is playing better they will still face a tough task against Tom Brady and the Patriots who are ranked second in the league averaging 437.3 yards per game.

However in the Patriots past three games they’ve failed to score more than 20 points. Against Pittsburgh two weeks ago they managed only 213 yards total and didn’t score in the first half last week against the Giants. They also committed four turnovers against New York last week which is the third time they’ve done so this year compared to only 1 turnover through their final eight games last year.

Tom Brady isn’t having his best year as he already has 10 interceptions which is the third most in the league compared to only four all of last year. ”Just decision making,” Brady said. “I’ve just got to make better decisions.” The problem for the Patriots though hasn’t been the offense. There issue is the defense which is dead last in passing allowing 314.0 yards per game and is the only team allowing 300+ passing yards in the league.

“I think everybody can do a better job,” Bill Belichick said. “That includes everybody — it includes me, it includes all the coaches, it includes all the players. There’s room for improvement for all of us.” The Patriots cut Albert Haynesworth on Tuesday who they had brought in hopes that he could help improve their defensive front.

They also brought in wide receiver Chad Ochocinco hoping he could give them some sort of a vertical threat, but he hasn’t made a catch in three games. Last week Brady targeted him five times. ”He’s continued to do a great job in practice in his role that he’s really carved out for himself,” Brady said, “and he’s going to continue to be out there and, hopefully, make a bunch of plays.”

The patriots will need him to start making plays to give them a some semblance of a deep threat, because due to his lack of production the Patriots have had to rely extensively on Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. With Welker likely being matched up against All-Pro corner back Darrelle Revis his job will be even tougher this week.

Welker had a big 73 yard reception in the last meeting against the Jets, it came when he was lined up opposite Revis. He was otherwise held to a very pedestrian day only catching four balls for 51 yards. ”Sometimes I was throwing him on the ground, sometimes he was catching some balls on me,” Revis said. “I call him the ‘Energizer Bunny’ because he never stops — it doesn’t matter what you do to him, he just keeps on coming and coming.”

The key for the Patriots last time the two met was the run game. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns and the Patriots racked up 152 yards on the ground. The Jets defense has been playing well against the run lately, though they are still ranked 22^nd giving up 123.0 yards per game. They will be getting defensive end Mike DeVito back who is a big part of their run defense so that bodes well for the Jets.

Though the Patriots pass defense is bad, the Jets will continue to rely on their run game as they have the past few games. Shonn Greene has stepped up and the Jets are averaging 130.7 yards over the three game win streak up from 76.2 before. A lot of the resurgence has to do with All-Pro center Nick Mangold fully healing from injury.

The return to the run game has also helped the passing game as Mark Sanchez has 7 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions with a 63% completion rate over the past four games. Sanchez has done well at home against the Patriots posting a 114.5 passer rating and a 2-0 record.

With the recent struggles of the Patriots and the Jets playing well lately and at home the game will be a close one. The Jets should be able to learn from the Steelers and their New York NFC counterparts and be able to keep Brady off balance in the passing game. Unless the Patriots get another big day from the run game the Jets will be hard to beat at home.

When it’s all said and done the Jets should be able to hand the beleaguered Patriots their third straight loss and move into first place in the AFC East. Final Prediction: Patriots 24 Jets 27

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Besides the Packers which are again atop the Power Rankings this week, there is some shake up near the top of this week’s rankings with some big losses and gains. The 49ers move up into the number 2 spot sitting at 6-1 atop the NFC West. The Steelers, after their big win over the Patriots, move up to number 3 and are the top team in the AFC just ahead of division rivals Baltimore who moved from 8^th to 5^th.

The Patriots and Saints saw themselves drop four spots from 2^nd and 3^rd to 6^th and 7^th respectively after bad losses this week. The Chargers are the big losers this week dropping all the way from 7^th down 15^th after a loss for the 2^nd straight week this time coming at the hands of division rivals the Chiefs.

The Eagles saw themselves jump four spots from 22^nd to 18^th after an impressive victory over the Cowboys. The Vikings also saw themselves making a jump from 28^th to 23^rd behind a second impressive game from rookie QB Christian Ponder and another stud performance from Adrian Peterson.

The Rams who got their first win of the season against the Saints saw themselves leapfrog the Cardinals who blew a 23-6 halftime lead against the Ravens. Bringing up the rear of the rankings again this week are the Dolphins at 31 and the Colts at 32 as both teams failed to get a win again and don’t look very good.

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While the schedule may say a home game for the Bills, the teams are traveling north to Toronto for the Bills annual “home” game in Canada. Buffalo is 0-3 since signing the five year deal with Toronto-based Rogers Communication in 2008 to play one home game in Toronto each year.

“It’s not a home game,” safety George Wilson said. “The fan support in Toronto is a night-and-day difference from what we have in Buffalo (at Ralph Wilson Stadium). For the most part, it’s a show. You see just as many jerseys for the opposing teams as you do the Bills. They cheer for any big play regardless of whichever team makes it.”

Buffalo is coming out of a bye that couldn’t have come at a better time. The team is ravaged by injuries and has dropped 2 of 3 since starting 3-0 and needs all the help it can get. So far their No.2 receiver Donald Jones is out, defensive tackle Kyle Williams is out indefinitely, and linebacker Shawne Merriman was placed on the injured reserve Tuesday with an injury to his Achilles.

Add to that starting LT Demetrius Bell is doubtful after missing two straight and this is a team that needed its bye week more than ever. The Redskins are in the same boat without the help of a bye week.

Their best receiver and down field threat Santana Moss broke a bone in his left hand last Sunday and will be sidelined for a few weeks, and their leading rusher Tim Hightower is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the same game.

They also placed tight end Chris Cooley on the injured reserve this week, and its possible London Fletcher will be out with a hamstring injury. For Fletcher this might be the first missed game of his 14 season career and would be a big loss for the Redskins defense which has been struggling as of late.

The Bills have one of the worst defenses in football ranking thirtieth in pass and run defense and has surrendered 414 yards in five consecutive games so the lack of offensive weapons for John Beck whose making his second consecutive start will help the Bills though Beck did play a good game last week going 22 of 37 for 279 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

They’re doing well due to quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and running back Fred Jackson who have helped turn this into one of the highest scoring offenses in football. They are averaging 31.3 points a game. The downside is that, in the two games they’ve lost, they’ve failed to score 30+ points.

The Bills have the fourthbest rushing attack averaging 141.0 yards and they’re going up against a Redskin defense that has surrendered 367 yards in the past two weeks, both losses. Jackson had a big game putting up 82 yards on the ground and 69 receiving a few years ago the last time these two teams met, which was a 17-16 win for the Bills in Washington.

With the Bills’ offensive power and Washington’s lack thereof, the Bills should get their first win in Toronto over the Redskins to move to 5-2 and stay at least 1 game behind the division-leading Patriots, who don’t have an easy game going into Pittsburgh. Final Prediction: Bills 31 Redskins 17

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When the 6-1 Patriots take on the 5-2 Steelers this Sunday we all will get a little preview of what may come later in the playoffs as both teams look to make runs at the Super Bowl. Both teams have been playing well as of late and this should be another classic showdown between one of the leagues’ best offenses and one of the best defenses.

New England is the No. 1-ranked offense and Pittsburgh is the third-ranked defense. On paper this would seem like an even matchup and for years the Steelers have been known for their staunch defense, but there is one thing that those stats don’t reflect: Tom Brady is the QB for the Patriots and if history shows anything it’s that Brady plays really well against the Steelers.

Brady is 6-1 all-time against Pittsburgh with a 104.8 career passer rating and a 67.8 completion percentage. You don’t have to be a sports analyst to know that those are astonishingly good stats against a team whose defense is usually its strong point. In the most recent matchup between the two from last year, Brady was 30 of 43 for 350 yards and three touchdowns.

Mike Tomlin, whose now in his fifth season coaching the Steelers, has yet to beat the Patriots. “He is just very good physically and mentally,” Tomlin said this week. “He is very talented in both areas. He is tough to trick, he makes quick decisions, he has pinpoint accuracy and he has the arm to do the things he desires to do.”

The Steelers run a base 3-4 defense with a lot of zone-blitzes that are designed to trick and disguise quarterbacks, but Brady always seems to be a step ahead of them. Brady’s ability, plus the personel for both teams favors the Patriots. The Steelers strength is not their secondary it’s their front seven.

With the way the Patriots utilize spread formations along with the emergence of tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, the Steelers are forced to sub out linebackers for more corners, or live with James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley, and Larry Foote matched up against the more athletic tight ends.

With the way the Patriots have been able to run the ball this year–they are 10^th in the league–it’s a double edge sword for the Steelers. Not having James Harrison, who will miss his 4^th game due to an eye injury, hurts as well because it takes away from the Steelers pass rush, which as we have seen over the years is the only way to get to Brady.

On the flip side is the atrocious Patriot defense, especially the secondary, against Big Ben and the Steeler offense. The Steelers have the 9^th ranked pass offense and the Patriots have the 32^nd ranked pass defense.

This matchup should favor the Steelers  as Rashard Mendenhall has been running the ball effectively and with a WR core consisting of Mike Wallace, Hines Ward, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, and TE Heath Miller, the Steelers should have no problem exploiting the secondary.

This game has the looks of a shootout the question boils down to whether the Steelers can manage to stop Brady and if Big Ben, who isn’t known for putting up monster numbers in a game, can keep up with the high scoring Patriots. This is not to say that history won’t repeat itself again and that means that Tom Brady and the Patriots have the Steelers number.

Add to that giving Belichick an extra week to prepare and it is probable that the Patriots will win a high scoring. Final Prediction: Patriots 31 Steelers 21.

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The Packers top the Power Rankings again this week with another impressive performance from Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers make a push for the top jumping up to 5^th, and with a win over number 2 New England can jump up next week. The Texans, Falcons, and Chiefs all jumped up 5 spots to 12^th, 14^th, and 19^th respectively.

The Ravens saw themselves drop from 3^rd to 8^th after a horrible loss to the Jaguars. The Raiders dropped 7 spots from 9th to 16th after trouble at the QB position post Carson Palmer trade gave them a loss going into their bye week. The Bucs also dropped 5 spots from 12^th to 17^th after getting whooped in London by the Bears.

The Colts again round out the bottom of the rankings this week after getting obliterated by the Saints 62-7 and they don’t look poised to move anytime soon.

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The Packers still hold the top spot in this week’s Power Rankings. The 49ers and Giants are the big winners both jumping five spots up to 4^th and 10^th respectively. This week’s big losers are the Texans who fall five spots down to 17^th and the Cowboys who dropped from 14^th down to 21^st. The Colts, Rams, and Dolphins still round out the bottom of the pack.

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With your team down by three with under two minutes left to go, who would you rather have leading your team down the field than Tom Brady? That’s exactly what happened in Sunday’s game as Brady stepped onto the field with only one thing on his mind; “You can’t not get the ball in the end zone.”

And Brady did just that, finding Aaron Hernandez in the endzone with 22 seconds left on the clock to give the Patriots a close win over the Dallas Cowboys and moving the team to 5-1 and back atop the AFC East with Buffalo losing.

This was Brady’s 32^nd comeback in games where the Patriots trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter, so it’s nothing new for Pats fans or the fans of teams playing them. The fact that he was able to do it against the fourth overall defense in the NFL, who had been stifling the Patriot offense all day, says something about Brady.

“When you’re playing against a quarterback like Tom Brady, he’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “So you have to try to make it hard on him.”

Dallas did a good job all day of making things difficult for Brady as they had an extra week to prepare coming off a bye week. He was sacked three times, two by DeMarcus Ware who now has seven through five games, and picked off twice, but Brady turned it up on that last drive going 8 for 9 with 78 yards and the game winning score.

This wasn’t the best game for the Patriots as they had four turnovers, but they still found a way to pull out a victory. Brady finished 27 of 41 for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

Dallas fell to 2-3 behind an okay game from Tony Romo who was 27 of 41 for 317 yards 1 TD and 1 Int. The Cowboys broke the tie with 5:13 left and after a Patriots punt decided to run the ball three times, only gaining 5 yards and punted right back.

Welker, who entered the day as the leagues’ leading receiver, was held to 6 catches for 45 yards, but three of those catches came in that final drive none bigger than his last which put the ball at the 8 yard line. That’s when Brady found Hernandez in one on one coverage and zipped a pass to him for the winning score.

“This is probably, as a whole, one of our worst performances as an offense,” Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch said. “It’s times like this when we show what we’re made of — that last drive.”

All things aside the Patriots are right where they were expected to be, heading into their bye week at a 5-1 mark. Things don’t get easier for the Patriots after the bye though as they travel to Pittsburgh and then face the Giants at home.

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Baseball never disappoints. It came down to game 162, the final regular season game, to see who would be the last two wildcard teams in each of the American and National League. The Atlanta Braves were tied with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League while the Boston Red Sox were tied with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League.

In the event of a tie the teams would play game 163, a one game playoff, with the right to go to the postseason. The Braves lead the Cardinals by 8 ½ games with three weeks to play. The Cardinals played the Astros in Houston and the Braves would play the NL East Champion Phillies.

The Cardinals got it done early as they scored five runs in the top of the first inning. That was more than enough for their starting pitcher Chris Carpenter. After an up and down season for Carpenter, he was at his best when his team needed him most. He threw a complete game shut-out as the Cardinals won an easy 8-0.

The Braves had their best pitcher on the mound in Tim Hudson to start the game. He fought hard and came out of the game with his team leading with the score 3-2. Rookie closer Craig Kimbrel loaded the bases with Phillies in the top of the 9^th. With one out, Chase Utley hit a sac fly to drive in the tying run.

They would go to the 13^th inning where the Phillies Hunter Pence had a broken-bat RBI single to give them the lead. The weakness of the Braves showed as they could not buy a run. Rookie Freddie Freeman grounded into a double-play to end both the game and the Braves’ season.

Cardinals go on to play the Phillies in Philadelphia. The other two NL playoff teams, the Diamondbacks and Brewers, kick-off their postseason matchup in Milwaukee. The Boston Red Sox (who were favored by many to make it to the World Series!) lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 9 games at the start of September.

The Rays would play the AL East Champs, the New York Yankees. Boston would play the lowly but gritty Orioles to extend their season. The Red Sox and Orioles played a close game throughout. Boston was one out away from putting the Orioles away. Manager Buck Showalter’s team showed heart and played as if it was their World Series.

With two out and nobody on they rallied with back-to-back doubles off closer Jonathan Papelbon to tie the game 3-3. The next batter Robert Andino would drop a single in front of Carl Crawford for a walk-off to win the game. The Rays put themselves in an early hole by going down 7-0 with David Price on the mound.

Tampa would put together one of the most improbable comebacks. With only six out left in their season and still down 7-0 they would load the bases with nobody out. After a walk, hit batter, an out, and a sac fly out the Rays cut the lead to 7-3. Two outs and two on the Rays Evan Longoria bombs a homerun and cuts the deficit to one.

In the bottom of the ninth the Rays were down to their final strike and pinch-hitter Dan Johnson at the plate. He hit a game-tying homerun to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rays were one out into the 12^th inning and Evan Longoria again at the plate. Just three minutes after it was declared that the Red Sox had lost, Longoria hit his second homer of the game to send Tampa to the postseason to play the defending AL Champion Rangers.

The Detroit Tigers visit the Yankees for their postseason matchup. Wednesday, September 28^th saw two of the greatest collapses in baseball history. The Braves were 9-18 in September while the Cardinals finished 23-8 in their final 31 games. Boston went 7-20 and the Rays were 17-10 in September.

The 8 ½ lead by the Braves and the 9 game lead by the Red Sox were the largest September collapses in Major League history. Baseball, there is nothing like it.
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Talking to some people this weekend got me thinking that the average NFL football fan doesn’t care about concussions. Most NFL football fans only care about the blood, guts and glory of big hits that have been known to define the game of football, since the early stages of its existence.

English author and journalist, George Orwell equated the game of European Football (soccer) to war saying, “Football has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.”

In many ways, this quote by Orwell defines the game of American football as well. There have been countless and countless times when football players have said they want to hurt and injure opponents. During this past football season (2010) James Harrison of the Steelers was a perfect example.  Just as a side note the 2010 season was one roughest on record. “468 players [were] placed on injured reserve, a 22 percent jump from 2009; [there were] 261 documented concussions, or almost 30 percent more than in 2008.”

Following a game in which he knocked out Browns receivers Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi (with what the NFL saw as helmet-to-helmet collision) Harrison spoke of having the intent to hurt people on the football field yet not injure them.

Harrison was charged $75,000 for his hit Massaquoi. Harrison stated, “I don’t want to injure anybody. There’s a big difference between being hurt and being injured. You get hurt, you shake it off and come back the next series or the next game. I try to hurt people.”

Despite this comment by Harrison, it is worth mentioning that football players get paid for big hits, because big hits are the plays that are often associated with causing fumbles. Therefore, big hits are also associated with winning and losing football games.

All of this begs the question: is James Harrison’s attitude uncalled for, or is he simply a player stuck within the inevitable realities of the game?

Some of Harrison’s comments in a recent Men’s Journal article make a whole lot of sense. He says in the article,  “I get dinged about three times a year and don’t know where I am for a little minute. But unless I’m asleep, you’re not getting me out of the game…If a guy has a choice of hitting me high or low, hit me in the head and I’ll pay your fine. Just don’t hit me in the knee, ’cause that’s life-threatening. How’m I going to feed my family if I can’t run?”

The article about Harrison pointedly shows why concussions are becoming more of an issue and demonstrates why many football players might feel the same way Harrison does, preferring higher hits rather than lower. The article insightfully continues, “If you’ve been wondering why players hit higher than they used to, here’s as good a reason as any.

A concussion is, on average, a one-game injury, according to numbers kept by the league. But a torn medial collateral ligament is a season or more — and the NFL is the only major sport that refuses to guarantee contracts. Stack up the far-off prospect of brain damage against a voided $30 million, and most players will roll the dice on the former.”

Besides revealing that he would rather be hit in the head and pay a fine, than to be hit in the knee-which he correctly says is more threatening to a football players career than a concussion, Harrison also had some pretty offensive words directed at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the least offensive of which was to call him a “crook and a puppet.”

However, Harrison made even more explicit and inappropriate comments regarding Goodell, saying, “If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it. I hate him and will never respect him.” He also was quoted using a very derogatory homosexual slur when referring to Goodell.

Harrison is clearly upset with the league and Goodell for the fines that players, like him, have had to pay for helmet-to-helmet hits. As Harrison probably sees it, these contact situations are a necessary evil of the game of football as it is played.

As I see it, there are two sides to this issue. Firstly, all players should be held to a high standard of personal conduct off the field as well as on it, despite the nature of the game. Therefore, I believe without hesitation that Harrison should be fined for these comments that he aimed at the Commissioner.

Also, I believe that players should receive guaranteed contracts and stable retirement plans that include optimal health benefits even after they have stopped playing the game. Players should not have to worry about where to hit and how it will affect them in the short or long term, nor should they have to push themselves to continue playing in a way that puts their lives at risk, just to keep their jobs.

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