you have no idea on the stats. i'm at work now. will post them hopefully tonight. was at a sports medicine conference a month ago and a couple of the leading authorities on concussions spoke. one of the guys is a consultant with the NFL and lead the charge to get the changes we have seen in the NFL.
i can't emphasize this enough. by far the most concussions happen on kickoffs!!!!! but, even with the research, some people still miss that. you don't see the long term effects of multiple concussions till far down the line. it really is eye-opening.
this isn't about "being a man". if it is then i'm a man's man as i've had at least three myself, once where i was knocked out for several minutes. this is about protecting people from the long-term damage that can come from concussions. this is something i hope KF learns sooner than later.
Finally, a sensible poster.
For all you gorillas out ther that are in favor of keeping kickoffs, I am willing to bet none of you played beyond high school, if even at that level.
I played college football and believe me, NO PLAYER, on our team was excited about kick-off teams, especially playing on the return wedge. Why? Because concussions were so common that even super tough linebackers who loved to hit hated getting jacked up by a guy who had a 40 yard sprint, while a returner had at best 10 yards. The physics just don't work in your favor. Over the 4 years that I played, 11 players had major concussions...and these are the ones where players were either knocked out cold, wobbly kneed getting off the field, or visibly incoherent once they got to the sidelines. This does not include what we used to call 'getting your bell rung' which is still a minor concussion.
I am an (un)lucky recipient of 2 major concussions and at least half a dozen smaller 'bell rung' concussions. The major ones were scary and both occurred on kickoffs/kick off returns. Losing memory and being completely disoriented are not enjoyable experiences.
Concussions are not about being a tough guy. Your melon is essentially sponge cake and does not function well when jostled around in a bottle (your skull). Eliminating kickoffs is an excellent idea. Punts, on the other hand, do tend to be less violent as the players are generally slowed down by receiving team players at or near the line of scrimmage. Additionally, the punt allows the returner to fair catch the ball.
Eliminating kickoffs obviously will not make the game completely safe. But shouldn't we all be in favor of players NOT being severely injured.
One more point: When I talk with my former teammates, we have recently been very concerned about the concussion thing with football. We are all starting to have kids or already have small kids and many of us (including some of the toughest guys I have ever met and damn good football players - some former NFLers) are seriously considering steering our kids away from football. This is not because we are pansies, it is because we lived it and have seen it up close and are very concerned with the long-term effects of concussions. Unlike most other injuries, concussions have long, lingering negative consequences. Just some added insight.
