Time to Eliminate Kickoffs in College Football?

[LG210]

you want to "fix" football and eliminate many of the brain and spinal cord injuries ... get rid of hard plastic pads and helmets

Hard plastic helmets and pads prevent a lot of spinal injuries.

A soft padded helmet would lead to innumerable spinal injuries. Think of hitting two boxing gloves together vs. two pool balls colliding. The boxing gloves have friction between them resulting in torque. The pool balls do not (or at least have much less).

 

[LG210]

Didn't they just move the ball back on kick-offs about a decade ago so that there would be MORE kick-off returns and fewer touchbacks?

 

[FCAS]

Not sure I would ever buy into the idea, but it's funny to hear people reject it immediately and question the manhood of those giving the idea some consideration.

Back in the 60's (or was it 70's), many baseball players did not wear helmets when batting. I vaguely remember the "lack of manliness" argument arising when helmet use was mandated. The story is similar for hockey. These grumblings died away quickly.

Maybe Schano's suggestion would be too much of an alteration of the game. But suggestions to improve safety are worthy of consideration, and "wussification" is not a reasonable argument for outright rejection.

 

[BLKNGOLD48]

It will always be a violent game, but it doesn't have to ruin lives. the average lifespan for an NFL lineman is 54 off the top of my head. is that acceptable? obviously for you, but then again that doesn't effect you. what if you could still have a game but save people from dementia and all kinds of other terrible things later in life?

Sports: A huge problem

oops, i was wrong, its 52, and 55 for people who play in the league for more than 5 years.

Have a game, why stop at the kick-offs? Next thing, QB's will be off limits as they suffer concussions just as much. What about the WR running over the middle and getting his head knocked off? Where does it stop? I get head injuries are a major issue, I played college football for 2 years and couldn't play anymore cause I broke my foot and it has never been the same. But give me a break, these guys know it is a violent sport and know there is a chance it could end in one hit. I just don't buy that eliminating a kick-off is going to solve the problem.

 

[okeefe4prez]

A guy is just as likely to get concussed on an O'Keefe designed screen pass as he is on a kickoff.

 

[big10fan]

Here's a write-up.

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/blogs/big10fan/214-concussions-sports.html

I think its awesome that the NFL is willing to look at what they can do. You probably don't have to eliminate kickoffs completely, but there are definitely several small things they can do to help avoid concussions as much as possible.

And why not? They may end up with a huge lawsuit in the future if it comes out that several players from this area end up with significant issues down the road. If nothing else, it makes them look like they're concerned about safety (though I doubt it). The NCAA should be though, as most of those kids will be "going pro in something other than sports."