Kyle Turley, Michael Vick, Head Injuries and the Rams

Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Blink” and “The Tipping Point” is one of the most thought-provoking business writers working today. He loves exploring data and finding connections between seemingly unrelated ideas to produce revelatory content. His starting point in this October 2009 article for the New Yorker, though, is not a startling one:

“Playing football causes brain damage.” His primary case in point? Former Ram Kyle Turley.

For Turley to come forward and share stories like this represents a break of the ranks, a break in the code of the locker room, but only the latest and most explicit of stories that are being told all around football. We as fans generally don’t learn of events like this until something catastrophic happens. It took Lyle Alzado’s death to expose the rampant steroid use in football to the light of day. But in the case of head injuries, rather than a single tragic event, we have a building wave of publicity shedding light on the issue.

And now, after coming forward in Gladwell’s article, Turley is now providing key testimony as the US Congress investigates the seeming epidemic of concussions in football.

The article is a topical one for Rams fans not only for Turley’s antics, which continue in detail. The heart of our rebuild is in our offensive line, and both Jacob Bell and Rams rookie tackle Jason Smith have missed time with concussion symptoms, with Smith missing six weeks and being held away from the practice field all together. The severity of his symptoms after so little game time as a pro cast a sudden sharp doubt on his status as a true “building block” for the franchise. Additionally, we saw Keith Null and Donnie Avery knocked out of the season’s last game with concussion symptoms, and both Danny Amendola and Kyle Boller suffered high-profile knocks to the head.

It’s callous to suggest any of these guys are “soft,” but it’s hard to hide our disappointment when our players leave the field, especially with the game on the line. And we cheer lustily when we see retribution, as when OJ Atogwe banged Kurt Warner to the ground, causing him to leave the game and miss his next start.

Cheering for the violence of the sport is a natural part of being a fan. We want our guys to not only be better football technicians and strategists, we need them to be physically tougher than our opponents. And a big part of our job as the 12th man is to maintain our players’ fighting spirit, to make our voices heard in the pit of action.

And this is the parallel that Gladwell draws between football and dogfighting:

In other words, the devil isn’t just in Michael Vick, it’s in all of us.

This is especially relevant as the Rams ready themselves to part ways with Marc Bulger, and a contingent of Rams fans and media columnists openly pine for Vick’s services.

It will be interesting to see these two debates collide in the St Louis sports airwaves. Are the same people who champion Vick also turning a blind eye to the increasing publicity that concussions have gained? Are the same ones who morally oppose Vick clamoring for reform in the way the game itself is played? And which attitude will prove dominant in this city, this fan base?

Would you support Michael Vick as a Rams Quarterback? And are concussions in football just "part of the game"?

• Yes to both
• No to both
• Yes on Vick, No on Concussions
• No on Vick, Yes on Concussions

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Tags: Brain Injuries, Concussions, dogfighting, Georgia Frontiere gets a naked hug, Jacob Bell, Jason Smith, Kyle Turley, Malcolm Gladwell, Marc Bulger, Michael Vick, RamsHerd Poll, Recommended Reading, The New Yorker