Comedian Druski (Drew Desbordes), who recently released a skit on NFL players suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), is facing significant backlash. While the comedian took a parody approach to show the effects of the disease, his jokes have not landed well with players who had to deal with such traumatic experiences only to play a sport they love. Such is the case of former safety T.J. Ward.

Ward, who played in the league for eight years, has suffered over 10 concussions during that time. The defensive back has explained in the past how scary those situations are. For a man who lived through those moments on the field, watching them turn into a punchline felt deeply personal.

“I love comedy…In that skit, it was a couple funny moments, but overall I’m going to put my sensitivity cap on…These are life and death situations, and at the end of the day it’s a life-taking disease. I think CTE is the only disease that is allowed to be made fun of. Which is crazy. You wouldn’t make fun of someone with cancer, dementia, or AIDS,” Ward said on the Speakeasy podcast.

CTE is a major health concern for players and is linked to repeated hits to the head while playing, and can only be diagnosed after death through brain dissection. The hit need not be big; even small hits can alter brain functioning. Ward explained this in 2021 while talking about his first concussion, the worst one of his career.

“I hit a guy on the sideline, and I woke up standing on the sideline after the game with the trainers and my parents and friends in front of me asking me where I was,” Ward told Go Long. “My first one was my worst one. Shit, it is scary. It’s like I got knocked out something.”

According to a new study by Mass General Brigham, around 25% of football players who died between 2016 and 2021 were found to have CTE upon their death. The disease starts showing effects on mood and behavior, making the person more short-tempered, depressed, or prone to memory loss. That is what Druski based his skit on.

The skit showed a fictional running back, Ray Price, getting knocked out on the field and staying in that same position, like Hermione Granger after the Chamber of Secrets is opened.

It goes on to show the player reacting violently, getting in a car chase in a golden Ferrari with the police, and indulging in domestic violence. The humor leans on the very symptoms that real families struggle with every day, which is what made it land so poorly.

Emmanuel Acho, who hosts the Speakeasy podcast alongside LeSean “Shady” McCoy, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Kieran “Carebear” Hickey-Semple, also called out Druski’s skit for being insensitive.

“This was different than some of his other skits was playing with individuals’ actual personal lives and livelihoods. The mockery, breaking into the house, reflecting the domestic violence situation. So, that’s the only reason why, to me, it wasn’t funny enough.”

The purpose of comedy, parody, and art is to reflect what is going on in society, using a fun twist to make issues easier to understand and raise awareness. However, it can sometimes cross the line of sensitivity, turning a serious issue into a joke rather than real awareness.