It’s So Easy to Be Stupid*

A few years back my brother coined the phrase “too stupid to play football”. At the time he was referring to a couple of Penn State players who got themselves into trouble with the NCAA.

Yesterday, as you probably have heard by now, the star quarterback for my favorite pro football team wrecked his motorcycle. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.

This blows my mind. Maybe I’m jaded though. My husband owns a motorcycle. He used to ride it in the HOV lanes everyday to work. While it is law to wear a helmet in the Commonwealth of Virginia—a law with which my husband disagrees—he would wear his helmet even if it weren’t the law. He also wears a reinforced full riding suit and boots even in the summer. Countless times driving on the highways and even in the city, we see people riding motorcycles in t-shirts, shorts and sneakers. Since we’ve had kids, the motorcycle has mostly been collecting dust in the garage.

Until recently, I didn’t think it was necessary to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle. Then a colleague was hit by a car while riding his bike and thrown over 100 feet. What saved his life was that he landed in a grassy marsh and that he was wearing a helmet. Even though he was wearing a helmet, he still spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and needed surgery to relieve pressure as a result of swelling in his head. It was at that point that I became an advocate of bicycle helmets.

First, I’m thankful that the quarterback was not killed. It sounds from nature of his injuries that he took the impact of the windshield with his face, which I suppose may have saved him from serious brain damage. While I do hope he can return to the team, whether or not he plays football again is not so much my concern. My hope is that if he chooses to get on a motorcycle again, he will wear a helmet.

*Points will be given for identifying the band. Extra points for the movie soundtrack where the song can be found.