While concern for mental health and self-care are increasingly prevalent across US society, our extensive conversations with current and former players to support our new book, The End of College Football: On the Human Cost of an All-American Game, reveal that the world of big-time college football is a clear exception.

Even as the Canada Soccer drone spying scandal dominated news at the Olympics and apparently raised the most fundamental questions about ethics and harm, the Israeli national soccer team was still permitted by FIFA to compete in the Games. This, despite the fact that Israel was then (as it is now) conducting a genocidal assault against Palestinians in Gaza.

Athletic labour provides an important part, although not the only part, of the emotional sustenance fans need. There is a tremendous cost to the athlete who performs this social reproductive labour. The body becomes so damaged that it is unlikely to ever fully recover its former capacities. The toll is also mental/emotional, for the loss of the physical capabilities that once served as the foundation for the athlete’s identity is profoundly dispiriting.