Changes Football Needs Soon

[LG210]

I don't follow this at all. Why would they have to stick together if they're soft.

Rugby players have no helmets at all. I don't know how many neck injuries they get, but I don't it's substantially more than football.

I assume that you still want them padded. If they are padded but do not have a hard plastic exterior, they will compress when contact is made and instead of slipping past one another, would instead "grip" each other.

Think of the difference between two billiard balls colliding at an angle and two boxing gloves colliding at an angle. The billiard balls glance off of each other. The boxing gloves compress, grip each other, and torque your wrist.

Also, the hard-shell exterior causes the force of the impact to be dissipated across the entire surface of the helmet, thereby reducing the amount of force that reaches the skull. I don't think a soft-exterior helmet would do that.

 

[hawkfaninTX]

i think that the OP is a little radical in some of his thoughts. We need to address it formally with the NFLPA and League officials. The United States has recently had a big push for Football (Soccer) coming off extremely high ratings for the 2010 World Cup on ESPN. Now consider they had mid-afternoon time slots to boot. Every Saturday/Sunday ESPN has started to carry more & more EPL games. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Soccer will catch up with Football/MLB/NBA and be a more popular sporting event to attend by 2020.

Have you seen how much they pay these guys???

-if we reach a level that European Players are at then they will be averaging 5-7 million per year.

-now compare that to 1.8 million average for NFL players. If our elite athletes were dedicated to soccer at the same level the other countries, then we would be better than most of the elite teams out there (Brazil, Netherlands, Italy, & England)

Everybody wants more money -Especially these money hungry athletes.

 

[LG210]

i think that the OP is a little radical in some of his thoughts. We need to address it formally with the NFLPA and League officials. The United States has recently had a big push for Football (Soccer) coming off extremely high ratings for the 2010 World Cup on ESPN. Now consider they had mid-afternoon time slots to boot. Every Saturday/Sunday ESPN has started to carry more & more EPL games. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Soccer will catch up with Football/MLB/NBA and be a more popular sporting event to attend by 2020.

Have you seen how much they pay these guys???

-if we reach a level that European Players are at then they will be averaging 5-7 million per year.

-now compare that to 1.8 million average for NFL players. If our elite athletes were dedicated to soccer at the same level the other countries, then we would be better than most of the elite teams out there (Brazil, Netherlands, Italy, & England)

Everybody wants more money -Especially these money hungry athletes.

I like soccer, but the bolded text above is inconceivable. 9 years from now you will look back on that prediction and realize that it was a spectacular fail.

 

[edr247]

How to tackle: LiveLeak.com - Big Football Hit-Helmet to Helmet

 

[Iowafarmgirl]

Quoted for the truth.

It appalls me that people are just shrugging off the very real and very preventable risk of serious and long-lasting neural damage. Perhaps the OP isn't going about addressing the concern in a realistic manner, but he is at least addressing it.

Look, it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to know that playing a sport where you run as fast as you can into giant armored men is not ideal for good corperal health. Every single person playing the game knows the risks involved. You credit the OP for addressing it (albeit unrealistically), but you seem to ignore that EVERYONE is addressing it. This isn't some sort of sleeper issue. And there are real solutions, not the cockamamie stuff the OP was talking about.

Look, it will never be 100% safe. The people who play football play with this in mind. Just like a firefighter running into a burning building; You have a choice to put yourself in that situation, but it is dangerous, and the people who do it accept the risk and do it anyways.

 

[brett108]

Does anyone here have HBO? Bryant Gumball's mostly terrible sports insight show was about the size of players changing through the years last night, and how the health of these players is being severely compromised. In 1982 there were two NFL players that weighed more than 300 pounds. Now there are over 400, and it is not just from guys getting naturally bigger. Here is what needs to happen: Pulmonary stress tests. These are done at almost any worksite that uses manual labor in their daily operation. These can detect problems early. Don't use a weight limit, as I agree that some of the most vicious hits are more a result of the extreme speed at collision, but perform a stress test during a physical so you can tell when your 300+ pound lineman has 50% blockage in their arteries. What needs to improve are the physicals that the NFL does on its players. If this doesn't get better, I will agree with the experts that were being interviewed and say that a player will stroke out and die on the field in the next 5-10 years.

It will also be interesting to see what the popularity of the NFL is after they have a year of lockout. The sides have discontinued talks, so I expect the current CBA to expire without a new one in place. Good thing I am more a fan of the college variety. Gotta feel bad for guys like Tyler Sash though.

 

[LutherHawk]

I don't think things like instituting weight limits, etc would be a good idea, but I'm not too excited about all the people here assuming that making changes to better ensure the safety of football players would make this a wussy sport. I mean, if you're really concerned about how 'manly' this sport is, why have pads and a helmet? And what's with the tight pants and all the *** slapping?

No, the sport has become bigger and faster, and while technology has been put in place to allow bigger athletes to move faster, I'm not sure things like helmet or pad technology has matched that to provide adequate safety. Nowadays, a big defensive back or linebacker moving at full speed crashes headlong into a big receiver also moving at full speed, and we cheer because of the big hit. But what we don't really think about too much is the sheer amount of force that is being concentrated on a relatively small portion of the body.

No, what football needs is:
1) Better protective and safety equipment that takes into account the speed and size of the players.
and
2) Coaching that emphasizes safe hits. From the first day a kid puts on football pads and a helmet, they should be taught on the proper and safe way to tackle somebody and how to take a tackle. And that should be pushed at every level after that. That way, players won't be dropping their heads, and snapping their necks trying to tackle somebody, nor will you see players dropping their helmets when they're about to get tackled.

Will this lead to a sport where nobody gets seriously injured, ever? Of course not. Football is a violent sport, and injuries (and perhaps even deaths) can and probably will happen, no matter the precautions we put in place. However, if there's a chance that we can eliminate preventable causes, then I do believe we should go for it.

As a former football player and rugby player, I believe that Am Football can take a few things from rugby (the grandfather of modern football) that would help inject more safety into the game.
1. Rugby rules mandate that you tackle BY WRAPPING UP THE PLAYER. Instituting this simple rule would alleviate the hits where players hurl their body into other players leading with their head.
2. Rugby rules mandate that a player may not leave their feet to make a tackle.
3. Rugby rules mandate that tackles/contact must be below the shoulder and above the knee.

These rules protect both players, particularly the first two. By disallowing leaving your feet and forcing a tackler to wrap up the player all the way to the ground, the hits are much more controlled and each player is making contact with the core of their bodies.

Admittedly, the hits would be less fierce but players would be much more protected. Might even make the running game more relevant again.

 

[Iowafarmgirl]

Does anyone here have HBO? Bryant Gumball's mostly terrible sports insight show was about the size of players changing through the years last night, and how the health of these players is being severely compromised. In 1982 there were two NFL players that weighed more than 300 pounds. Now there are over 400, and it is not just from guys getting naturally bigger. Here is what needs to happen: Pulmonary stress tests. These are done at almost any worksite that uses manual labor in their daily operation. These can detect problems early. Don't use a weight limit, as I agree that some of the most vicious hits are more a result of the extreme speed at collision, but perform a stress test during a physical so you can tell when your 300+ pound lineman has 50% blockage in their arteries. What needs to improve are the physicals that the NFL does on its players. If this doesn't get better, I will agree with the experts that were being interviewed and say that a player will stroke out and die on the field in the next 5-10 years.

I don't think that cardiac health of the players is such a huge concern that the league needs to address it, and is much less worrisome than brain injuries, since they are much easier to treat.

And honestly, this is a country where one of the biggest spectator sports is locking two guys in a cage and having them beat the crap out of each other. I don't think fans want these changes, and I don't think they will happen without public pressure.

 

[IAHawkFan]

As a former football player and rugby player, I believe that Am Football can take a few things from rugby (the grandfather of modern football) that would help inject more safety into the game.
1. Rugby rules mandate that you tackle BY WRAPPING UP THE PLAYER. Instituting this simple rule would alleviate the hits where players hurl their body into other players leading with their head.
2. Rugby rules mandate that a player may not leave their feet to make a tackle.
3. Rugby rules mandate that tackles/contact must be below the shoulder and above the knee.

These rules protect both players, particularly the first two. By disallowing leaving your feet and forcing a tackler to wrap up the player all the way to the ground, the hits are much more controlled and each player is making contact with the core of their bodies.

Admittedly, the hits would be less fierce but players would be much more protected. Might even make the running game more relevant again.

I agree (although, on #3, I think just below the shoulder is enough). I also think it should be a personal foul to initiate contact with the helmet (whether it be the RB ducking his head, or the defender leading with the helmet). Launching (leaving their feet on a tackle) should probably lead to a suspension.

I also think that they need to look at the way pads and helmets are constructed. It seems like they should be able to make them safer. They would probably be more expensive, but
this is a multi-billion dollar sport...

I also believe that at the lower levels (below college), the rules should be more restrictive...