If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, you have to at a minimum have a few screws loose to play football beyond the middle school levels.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think helmets are a huge part of the problem. These guys put these massive helmets on and feel they're invincible and use their heads as weapons. Go back to the old school style and I'd almost guarantee the helmet shots stop. Guys will think twice before going in for the kill shot if there's no helmet to absorb the blow IMO.

There's no real way to say what I think without it sounding insensitive to the situation, so the best I can come up with is this. Life is all about choices. When you make a choice, you have to accept the possible outcomes and consequences associated with that choice. The choice to play football is no different.

There's no real way to say what I think without it sounding insensitive to the situation, so the best I can come up with is this. Life is all about choices. When you make a choice, you have to accept the possible outcomes and consequences associated with that choice. The choice to play football is no different.

 

I could maybe get behind that position if they (players) didn't constantly complain and cry about how poor their after playing benefits (specifically health) are.

I could maybe get behind that position if they (players) didn't constantly complain and cry about how poor their after playing benefits (specifically health) are.

 

Are they aware of the benefits before they play? Meaning, do they have access to the information about the extent of the benefits before they play a down?

Are they aware of the benefits before they play? Meaning, do they have access to the information about the extent of the benefits before they play a down?

 

Absolutely

We are already seeing rules implemented to try to reduce head injuries. It has done NOTHING to diminish the game. Time will tell if it has an impact. We will not know for a while.

 

Rules are only going to tighten up more. They're not going to get looser.

 

It's good for the game to try to continue on this path. People will scream initially about "two hand touch" or "flag football" yet they then see the game is still just as exciting.

A post mocking the safety changes in the game in a thread about a man that took his own life due to football-related head issues MAY come off a little insensitive.

 

It is a complex issue, and both you and PP92 are correct that they have made changes to try and make it safer, and that it is hard to do when the game is inherently so violent, but people are dying and it isn't getting better.

 

Obviously not an issue that is going to go away any time soon.

 

The bolded is the part that makes me curious as to how the game will continue to change going forward. They keep making changes but I don't know that we'll be able to see the effect of those changes for another decade or so. Someone mentioned that now when you get your bell rung they won't let you go back in. That is true but it will still take time to see if that has helped with CTE. At the same time these guys are getting around concussion protocol so they can go back in and play. I'll always say that Aaron Rodgers got a concussion and kept playing the year against the Bears in the NFC Championship game right before the Packers won the Super Bowl. You could tell in how he played. He looked lost. I watched Lesean McCoy do the same thing last year against the Redskins in an early season game. Just last week Arian Foster got rocked and he went back into the game before the doctors could issue the concussion protocol on him. They had to take his helmet from him just to run the tests. So yes, they are making the game safer but players can and will still find a way around it.

I would be curious to see studies of NFL players that have died (not from suicide) to see how many of them have CTE. And studies for all people who commit suicide. Does the CTE cause them to commit suicide or is it something completely different? Have studies been done on other sports as well to see how much those athletes have CTE?

I would be curious to see studies of NFL players that have died (not from suicide) to see how many of them have CTE. And studies for all people who commit suicide. Does the CTE cause them to commit suicide or is it something completely different? Have studies been done on other sports as well to see how much those athletes have CTE?

 

If soccer players reportedly get more concussions than football players I'd be interested in that data.

The conundrum with football is the helmet is designed to protect the head but in turn allows for more viscous hitting and violent play. The head is still protected but the brain isn't. I don't know, I almost think the solution is to scale back the helmets and padding.

The conundrum with football is the helmet is designed to protect the head but in turn allows for more viscous hitting and violent play. The head is still protected but the brain isn't. I don't know, I almost think the solution is to scale back the helmets and padding.

 

You're the second person to mention this. I'd be interested in that proposition. Players would definitely be more conscious of where they place their head and what they do with it.

Get rid of helmets. If you know you don't have a protective shell on your head and a cage protecting your face, you're instinctively going to be more aware of protecting your dome.

 

Numbers don't lie:

 

England's Rugby Football Union:

131,399 professional players in their senior males division

94 reported concussions in 2013

^ That number actually has the RFU alarmed due to the fact that it is TRIPLE the number of concussions they had three years previous.

 

United States' National Football League:

1,696 professional players

261 diagnosed concussions in 2012

 

 

Extrapolating from those numbers, that makes for 1 concussion per every 1,398 players in English professional rugby, and 1 concussion per every 6.5 player in the NFL.

At the same time if we get rid of helmets or scale them back then there would have to be some super super strict rules in place of shoulder pads are still in the game. Like a one year suspension for blows to the head or something like that.

Soccer players seem to suffer more from "sub-concussive" injuries than football players do with concussions. Both can lead to CTE. Soccer has seen suicides as well.

 

Like NFL, European soccer needs to tackle brain damage head on ? Latitude News

Get rid of helmets. If you know you don't have a protective shell on your head and a cage protecting your face, you're instinctively going to be more aware of protecting your dome.

 

Numbers don't lie:

 

England's Rugby Football Union:

131,399 professional players in their senior males division

94 reported concussions in 2013

^ That number actually has the RFU alarmed due to the fact that it is TRIPLE the number of concussions they had three years previous.

 

United States' National Football League:

1,696 professional players

261 diagnosed concussions in 2012

 

 

Extrapolating from those numbers, that makes for 1 concussion per every 1,398 players in English professional rugby, and 1 concussion per every 6.5 player in the NFL.

 

Rugby's issue is spinal injuries.