Melvin Lars on Concussions and Dangerous Sport Motivations

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/02/29

Mr. Melvin Lars is a native of Bossier City/Shreveport, Louisiana; he received several undergraduate and graduate academic degrees from various universities; La. Tech. (BS) Univ. & Centenary (Admin. Cert.) College) in Louisiana, Texas (Tx. Southern (MA) Univ), Michigan (Eastern, Mi Univ, & Saginaw Valley St. Univ.) and has done extensive educational studies in Ohio (Youngstown (Supt., cert.)St Univ) and California (Los Angeles, (CA. cert) City College).

Lars is a certified Violence Prevention/Intervention Specialist, receiving his certification and training through the prestigious Harvard University, with Dr. Renee Prothro-Stith.

He is a licensed/ordained Elder/Minister in both the C.O.G.I.C. & C.M.E. Churches. He is the CEO/founder of Brighter Futures Inc; a Family Wellness, Violence Prevention/Intervention and Academic Enhancement and entertainment Company; an affiliate representative for the NFL ALLPRODADS Initiative. Former interim; Executive Director of Urban League of Greater Muskegon, Former NAACP President of Muskegon County; 2007–2012, employed as a consultant to the Michigan Department of Education as a Compliance Monitor for the (NCLB Highly Qualified) initiative for Highly Qualified Teachers and works collaboratively with Hall of Famer Jim Brown and his Amer-I-Can Program and is a ten-time published author of various books, and self-help and academic articles. He is married to Ann Lars and is the father of one adult son, Ernest. Here we talk about concussions and dangerous sports.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Okay, we are back after a long while with Melvin Lars. 

Melvin Lars: I’m great, Scott. How are you, sir? 

Jacobsen: I am good. I’m good. I am at a major point of transition. I wanted to talk about a couple of areas of expertise for you. Because you have a sports background and advocate for a couple of things, first things first, we’ll hit it heavy. What are the risks in dangerous activities like heavy impact sports, like football, regarding concussions and encephalopathy? Things like that.

Lars: Scott, the risks are very, very great. Quite honestly, it is getting to the point where people are trying to ignore that the NFL is selling them a bill of goods with all of this. “All this we’re doing. All this technology…” This, that, and the third bottom line is this: When we talk about danger when they talk about helmets, they only show the skill positions. The receivers, the quarterbacks, “They can’t hit them like they used to. We protect them.” I say, “What about the linemen?”

I tell people that all the time. Every play, you are clashing heads and bodies with somebody. But you never hear the NFL, college coaches, nor high school coaches tackle the real truism of this real thing with the dangers associated with sports. They try to cover it up and blind people and talk real quickly. They show these graphics with so-called improvements in helmets and movements, etc. There is one thing you cannot change in this game, and it has not changed. I do not see it changing any time shortly in the linemen. When the ball is snapped, and you have a colossal clash, the collision of men right there in the center of all that is taking place, as we all know, the brain sitting in the fluid. No matter how many helmets you put around it. It will still slosh. I will use the word “slosh” back and forth, and bang, bang, bang. Quite honestly, I call it gaslighting people. When the NFL and these other people try to gaslight people talking about the helmets, we still don’t address the truism. The brain is in the same position. It will not be protected from the violent clashes that one may have. 

Again, that is where I keep repeating myself with that because I don’t think people get it. They talk about, “They cannot hit him anymore. He is unprotected.” This, that, and the third, these things have nothing to do with the brain being damaged throughout the overall sport. That’s why I say, “When you talk about linemen, you can’t ever get them to talk about linemen.” You never hear them talking about them, showing graphics, or the actual situations with the linemen. Until they address that, to be honest with you, it is just a bunch of conversation. As far as I am concerned, it is gaslighting. 

Jacobsen: These are some of North America’s most physically strong in terms of their forward motion. They specifically train for this, the linemen. What is the amount of force that they are capable of knocking forward? I’m sure. I would be knocked out if I had an impact. I am a fit person, but I am not a big person.

Lars: Absolutely. To answer specifically, I cannot give you answers in pressure or pounds. That sort of thing. I can answer you. May I use myself without sounding pompous? I was always a big man. I told you that before. I could always bench more than 500 pounds. You’ve already heard coaches. You hear coaches. I was guilty for a while, myself. Until I said, “Wait a minute, man, stop that.” ‘It is not the size of the dog in the fight. It is the fight in the dog.’ You hear all of those. ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall.’ The bottom line, Scott, when you talk about the pressure, being knocked out, talking about movements, what chance does a 130-pound guy have against me if I am a viable opponent? Now, I know you have guys who are just big. I am not putting anybody down. I know you have a lot of big guys. But when you have big guys who are big, athletic, fast, strong and have that championship mentality, you are in trouble. Scott, even if you are a 200-pounder, a 300-pounder. You are in trouble if you are up against a guy with the same poundage. 

Because, first of all, you are not, many professionals are not, in the same championship mentality. ‘I am going to whip your butt. I do not have to hold or trip you.’ We are going to be mono-e-mono. I am going to prove it. I am the best man. Those are the conversations people refuse to have regarding a physical sport like football. That is why I opened this show with what I told you earlier. It will make a lot of people mad. They don’t want to address the realness of what happens out there. They give people excuses, even offensive linemen. They give offensive linemen excuses for holding. “As long as his arms are here, as long as you are holding!” [Laughing] It is that simple. Or a defensive back, “Both people are hand fighting.” You are a defensive back. The guy is a receiver. You are holding. You are impeding his progress. You have people, especially these sportscasters. As a former athlete, they make me sick to my stomach. Many of them are former athletes. Because they gaslight people with all of these phony analogies that they try to give when the game is not being played the way it should be, that is the competition. That’s why you have rules. 

This is his whole process. I love football. I will be honest with you. But I am honest with myself. I observe things that happen and take place. Again, I know without a doubt. Unequivocally, that is because of the strength that I had, the speed that I had, and the power that I had. I am sure that I inflicted some punishment on people who were not suited to deal with that because I was the one doing it. I was being a competitor. I was not trying to maim anyone, not trying to hurt anyone or have anything personal against anyone, but that was the nature of the sport. I always believe, Scott, that in playing this sport, you must play within the rules. That is why you heard me talking earlier at this point to where I am now, how people gaslight you, how the sportscasters gaslight people, and try to manipulate what is happening on the field rather than saying, “The rile has been broken.”

Jacobsen: There is another aspect to this, too. There is a lot of profitability in this particular sport within the United States. There is a code of ethics among many men of silence because people don’t know what men don’t say about their own experience of the pay and the gaslighting about this. Also, as far as I know, a huge hunk of American footballers are African American men who are going to be overlooked in terms of their physical and mental care by the larger society and by themselves.

Lars: Absolutely. Sadly, that has been the scenario from the onset. All brawn and no brain. That analogy, quite honestly, as you mentioned, a large portion of African American men land with systemic racism that is part of America’s fabric, so people allowed that. That is why I wanted to mention the gaslighting. People allowed that to transpire. I think I said to you earlier, when we talked before, about this whole process of being a student-athlete. This kind of thing. There is no such animal. People do not want to do the research. I think I shared that with you. Student-athletes came about because I don’t want to call out the university because I don’t want to get sued [Laughing], but it was many years ago. It happened to be a caucasian athlete who got injured. The parents were upset. The parents wanted the university to pay for his medicals. The university didn’t want to pay. They hired a lawyer. They were talking about loopholes, which they always do! Saying, “He is not an employee of the university. He is a student. Whereby he is a student-athlete. So, we are not obligated to pay!” What happened?

Again, the gaslighting, the people ran with it, modernized it, jumped on it. They embrace the word student-athlete, not even knowing the real concept behind people being called student-athletes. I had to share that. Because when you talk about the brawn and being an “African American minority athlete.” That is how they gaslight people, being 6’5″, 400 lbs, Or 6’2″, 350 lbs. He is just a man and all brawn. They continually say that never express when you play these games; like any other game, there are not only psychological things taking place. There are also intellectual pieces that transpire with the brain, with the brawn, knowing the nuance of the game, knowing what they may be trying. 

A perfect example is defensive tackle, you are taught. If the man in front of you goes, you are supposed to step down and close the hole because a trap is coming. Someone coming to block you. Nobody ever talks about the nuance of the game and the knowledge that the players have to have to play the game. “He is a great guy. He does such a great job. He is unblockable.” He is not just unblockable because he is fast. He is not unblockable because he is tenacious. He is unblockable because he knows the nuances of the game. He can be a defensive lineman. He can see what the running back is doing. I share that with you. As we talk about that, that is why we talk about the large number of African American men, whether large or small. That is where the gaslighting comes in, the continued nuances of people being able to say, “Athletes are these big, dumb jocks,” etc. Because everyone hears that, they don’t know. So, they just receive it and accept it. That is, unfortunately, what happens too many times in 2024. 

Jacobsen: What are the risks of encephalopathy? Because I have a general idea of inflammation of brain tissue. What does that mean in practical terms for an individual?

Lars: In practical terms, when you’re talking about CTE, the brain ‘gets damaged’ from slamming against the walls of the skull over and over. You have to bleed in the head. Things of that nature. When you talk about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, that is what they are talking about, which is the damage. It is alleged to speed up A, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. It is alleged to cause memory loss. It is alleged to do damage in such a way that your mental capacity is diminished, and on and on. The study, the sad part about this whole thing is that you can be sure of treating for it once you’re dead because they study the brain when you’re dead. What good does that do to the individual? It started getting attention when Weaver, a center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, took his life. He was living in some little trailer. He was acting strangely. The wife was talking about it. Some other athletes are starting to hone in. Junior Seau took his life and wanted to have his brain studied. He took his life. Then another guy, Dave Duerson, one of the guys, came out publicly. He was being bought. The reason I bring up Dave Duerson is because he wanted his brain to be checked once he passed away. He committed suicide. They don’t shoot themselves in the head. They shoot themselves in the chest. I am sharing this because of the question we’re talking about presently and before, which is that when people take bits and pieces, Scott. People on TV talk about soundbites and that kind of thing. What else was said before that? What was said after that part of the soundbite? 

If I don’t understand clearly, the only thing I can go by is hearing someone else say. I trust that they are not gaslighting me. They are giving me valid information. I am saying to you as an athlete. I understand clearly. I understand what happened because, Scott, you can talk to the guys I played. I wasn’t that guy. I was the guy who when people do the Oklahoma Drill. They try to push people up against them. They didn’t want to go up against me. That is the stuff people do not talk about. For whatever reason, some of us are blessed with certain abilities. However, we work very hard to perfect what we call the craft like they call anything else the craft. That is why I mention bench pressing 500 lbs and deadlifting. 

Jacobsen: That’s incredible. 

Lars: That doesn’t come naturally. You have to get your butt in the weight room. You have to eat properly. You have to get the proper amount of rest. You have to continually, and you shouldn’t ruin your body from substances and things like that. I know there are many stories out there about steroids. Today is February 15th, 2024. I still do not have people who believe me when I tell them I benched 514 lbs. I never did a steroid. I never did any performance-enhancing drugs. They did not believe me then. They don’t believe me now. So, there are athletes out there who would do these things naturally. When you start getting to a certain point, many of them, to be honest with you, do performance-enhancing drugs and steroids and all of this kind of thing. For some of it, we don’t know why God gave certain people physical attributes that others don’t have, but what is always lost in the conversation is those individuals have physical attributes. They cannot get off the couch and walk onto somebody’s football field, and all of a sudden become this terrorizing individual. He has to put in work. He has to go to the gym. He has to run. He has to eat properly. He has to exercise himself. He cannot be indulging in drugs. You hear these stories as well. “All these years, he was hooked on drugs. That is always the story. It is never about the work and the things they put in.” I wanted to share that because the question that you asked is an excellent question. I wanted to try to give you some more pieces and parts. So you can have more information as you further your research. 

Jacobsen: For many people coming into the sport, looking from the outside, my assumption is that blows to the body will be much less impactful than ones to the upper half of the skull encasing the brain. Because you’re saying it is fluid. It is sloshing around and against the skull. These are everyday ways of saying it. But it is an important way of characterizing it. Is there one category of a football player from college to football level who doesn’t care about their health? They just want to achieve. There is another class, which is probably most of those who want to achieve but care about their health. However, they don’t want to break that code of silence among men. 

Lars: Yes, I do. Your question is two-fold because individuals, young or old, always think, “It is going to happen to me.” I know that it is serious. I have heard things. I have done my research. When there are financial gains, people say, “Hey, this is the chance I have to take.” They hope. I will be very honest with you. They hope, pray, and cross their fingers that they won’t have a major injury to make the almighty dollar. It is that many athletes. It is not really that many athletes that make all this money that they talk about. “This guy is the highest-paid quarterback and receiver. He is the this. He is the that.”

I know. People don’t listen. They put the salaries of these guys up, making these huge salaries. The public is so fooled. You asked me about people who disregard their health. “I am going to play anyway.” That’s why I say it is a two-part question and deserves a two-part answer because many of us feel we should get in the best shape to get our bodies well-versed, know what we are doing, etc. Then we have, “If I can get a 1, 2, or 5-year contract…” When people talk about retiring from the NFL, you need five years before you are vested or even receive retirement monies. Then you have to be the retirement age, just like everybody else. When they hear about guys retiring at 30 and 40, yes, he won’t receive any retirement until whatever age it is: 62 or 67.

Jacobsen: I didn’t know that.

Lars: That’s why you see these guys becoming sportscasters. JJ Watt is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, he is on TV. He doesn’t get the retirement money like that. It is like anything else. There are a lot of nuances to this thing that are never explained to the general public and the educated public. 

Jacobsen: Two other topics: Education, you mentioned the student-athlete. That has been a consistent point of conversation. I believe for us, but also in a lot of the work that you’ve done. What is the student-athlete in the context of American football?

Lars: You know what? Student athlete is a farce. You heard it here first, Scott.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Lars: Let me tell you why it is a farce. Any individual understands that you must attend school until the age of 16. So, you are automatically a student from the beginning. There is no conversation. There is nothing. It is discovered either by your parents, neighbourhood kids, or coaches. That you may have a little “extra” regarding physicality. If you may have been discovered in PE classes, or you may have been discovered playing around on the field, “He is fast. He is strong. He is big! He can dunk a basketball.” To take the edge off things, that is what I am saying when people are gaslighted when they jump on this student-athlete thing. If you allow me to readdress that quickly, no one took the time to research how that word started. It had nothing to do with the person’s academic understanding and the fact that they were blessed. I am not talking about religion or trying to convert anybody. That never comes into the conversation because the person has academic understanding and ability. 

They are nothing special as far as that goes. They are doing what they are supposed to be doing. If your parents rear you to go to school to pay attention, to learn, they teach you at home, to prepare you. You don’t learn to have this academic acumen initially; then, it is discovered that you have some athletic ability. So, you or your parents, friends, or whatever, find out. You decide that you are going to get involved in sports because you like it or it brings personal recognition. There are a lot of reasons. Then you are put in this pile of everyone else because that’s what they say. They call you a student-athlete. Then, this started before I was born. These were guys who were not academically astute but had physical prowess. This thing grew from you, this big, dumb jock, but you can’t articulate. If someone said to you, “Pontification.” You’d be like, “What?” It grew. It continues to grow to this day. With all of that said, I am firmly pleased that the academic acumen of these young men and women who participate in athletics is given credit for their academic astuteness. However, I laugh to myself all the time and wear my wife all the time out with that: how parents and everybody else are gaslighted by the words student-athlete. There is no such thing. If that makes sense, we may have created it later without knowing what the real cause is or was being coined in the first place.

Because, Scott, I will say this to you. I take pride. I took pride in high school. I can whoop your butt in the classroom and the football field because I love sports. That is what I love doing. Guess what? I had to study like everybody else. I had to go to class like everybody else. I was up burning midnight oil like everybody else. It was a personal challenge. My mother made sure that I was getting my work done. My aunt, Mary-Love, that’s her real name. I remember as a little boy. She taught me to read. At that time, I couldn’t read. I would look at the pictures and the words. That type of thing. So, I, like many athletes, went through a similar or the same process. Once I discovered that I had some athletic ability, everybody got thrown into the same pile with those guys. They were unfortunate in that they were not given a foundation academically, but they did have athletic ability. So, that is what was pronounced. It is true, man. People can get angry about it. They can try to ignore it. They can try to pretend, but that is what happens. Even today, in modern times, guys tell you. “I barely am out of high school. I had to get a tutor. I had to get this. I had to get a that.” Sometimes, it is not the same level of academic astuteness via heredity, be it not being prepared. That kind of thing. Even when you go to school, talk about prerequisites; I must take this class before I take that class. You are getting ready. I will close it this way. Right now, you have been accepted into the Navy. You have to go through this training and so on. Athletics is not different. Our society has made it different once it is discovered that you have this academic ability. You have to weight train. You have to run. You have to exercise. All of those kinds of things. That is why, to be honest with you, Scott, I love talking about this. There are so many myths out there for us who are enthusiastic who are fantastic athletes. “Wow!” It is normal to see people doing things considered out of the norm. 

Jacobsen: Way out of the norm. 

Lars: Yes, way out of the norm. 

Jacobsen: Benching 500 lbs for someone like me. 

Lars: [Laughing].

Jacobsen: For someone like me who averages 155 to 165 at 5’11”, it is a little far off. It is more than “out of the norm.” 

Lars: Let me tell you this: I was 295, 300 lbs, personally. That is a vast difference. I had to work. Allow me to tell you honestly: I did not start benching 500 lbs. When I started lifting weights, 135 lbs, I was struggling. Two 45s and the bar, I’m 200+ pounds, man! So, I am glad that you brought that up. That is, again, what we have to address. It is practice. It is training the muscle. It is work. It is eating properly and getting rest. All of those things. It doesn’t just happen. But it is, man. I would not lie. I was tickled. I don’t want to sound like I am pumping my horn. I was tickled myself.

I continued to progress. I am going, “Wow, I will stay with this.” It was a personal challenge that took years to achieve because being an athlete was a personal goal of mine. I always wanted to be the best athlete. I always took offence. I am not 6’2″. I am not 6’3″. I am 5’10” if I stretch. It was always a personal challenge to be one of the better athletes, and people say, “If you were 6’2″.” What does this have to do with me whoopin’ everybody’s butt? What does this have to do with cutting me from NFL teams because “you don’t fit the height requirements”? Am I the best player or at least one of the better players? 

So, people never actually talk about that honestly or openly because, sometimes, they are embarrassed to talk about it. Sometimes, like myself, you don’t want to come off as being self-absorbed or being cocky. It is the truth. You pay this guy, 6’2″, 6’3″, 6’5″, all this money. I am whooping his butt. I cannot be on the team because I do not fit the select stereotype. With that, and not being a hypocrite, Scott, it is enthralling to me when I look at a roster or hear a sportscaster talk. “6’5″, wow! 350 lbs, wow!” It is something that we have as human beings. That is what I am saying. Many times, people, athletes themselves, don’t want to be honest. It is impressive. I understood, honestly. Even though I was disappointed and didn’t like it, I will say 2024. If somebody said at the Super Bowl this past Sunday, if they picked up a schedule and looked in it and started talking about the offensive linemen for the Chiefs, it says, “Scott, 5’10”, 350! Are they crazy?” I understand that. I must say that to you because we never take the time to be honest. Is it a fixation that has been going on for so many years until it is something that we, as people, honestly believe you have to be 6’4″ or 6’5″ to be effective? It is not always. I repeat that. It is really not always the case. Many times, people do not bother to take the time to see if those meet the standards in accordance with what we have set. Whether they are athletes or not, they send you off down the road.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time, Melvin.

Lars: Listen, my brother, you’re welcome. Any time.

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