The Browns’ injury list is ridiculous.
Braylon Edwards’ cut foot has healed but now he has a shoulder injury. Donte Stallworth already is hurting, which means both starting wide receivers are on the medical list, along with the starting running back Jamal Lewis, who has hamstring and ankle issues. Quarterback Derek Anderson has had at least two concussions, maybe more. The offensive line is ravaged by injuries and the defense has been similarly crippled.
The guts of the kickoff return unit has been ripped away. Return specialist Josh Cribbs, one of the two or three best, is still affected by his high ankle sprain and Lenny Friedman, the key man in the wedge, is on injured reserve for the season.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine the Browns winning even one game this season except for one very important fact. They’re not the only team afflicted by injuries. The NFL’s weekly injury list reads like the telephone directory of a small city. Football is a dangerous game, the most dangerous game ever invented. I’m sure that Ralph Nader would label it, “Unsafe at any speed,” like the 1960’s rear-engine Corvair.
Those who play the game at the pro level must have the constitution of Evel Knievel. Some will spend the rest of their lives on pain killers and they know it. But where can they make this kind of money? Dr. Faustus sold his soul to the devil. These guys sold their bodies to the NFL.
Bigger, stronger, faster. That’s the anthem of the NFL. The collisions are, literally, breathtaking. I don’t know any other profession where X-ray machines are standard equipment at the workplace. In the NFL, we call them stadiums. In real life they’re known as hospitals.
I have a cousin who was a huge star at a major football powerhouse almost half a century ago. When his playing days were over, he never encouraged his own children to play football.
“You’ve got to be crazy to play this game. It’s too dangerous,” he confided to me.
Every summer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, the old-time greats are introduced to take their seats on the stage. Some of them actually walk out. Others are on canes, walkers and wheelchairs.
The NFL players union should be ashamed for its callous disregard toward retired players. The current players will be in that category someday and they will regret such selfishness.
People have suggested that rugby is more dangerous because rugby players don’t wear equipment. Not a chance. The rules make rugby safer. No blocking, no head-on collisions, no down-field passing. Tackles are drag downs.
My sons played college rugby and they still play. It’s their lifetime sport. One night one of the boys called from a hospital in Gainesville, Fla., where they were sewing his ear back on. He hears fine now. In rugby you might lose an ear, but probably not a leg.
The terrible head-on, high speed collisions are not the only crippling aspect of modern football.
Check the size of the linemen. It is not healthy for a man standing 6-foot-4 to weigh 350 pounds. They do. It’s the only way to compete.
The NFL Alumni Association has commissioned studies on the life spans of its membership, breaking them down according to position. The skill position players, the skinny guys — the receivers, running backs, quarterbacks defensive backs and kickers — almost fall into the range of the normal population.
The linemen, on average, die before they’re 60, often from heart desease and diabetes.
But I love it. Sunday afternoons are like watching daredevils at the circus. It’s the high-wire act without a net. If they’re willing to do it, we’re willing to watch.
I’ve been an NFL guy since I saw my first Browns game in 1950, their first year in the NFL. I’ve covered this team for more than 40 years. I’ve seen old friends bent over, limping and shaking cobwebs from their brains. All I can say is, “Thanks for a lifetime of thrills.”
Dan Coughlin is a columnist for The Chronicle-Telegram and a sportscaster for Channel 8. Contact him at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. 

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