Why do players no longer wear neck rolls?

 

I was talking to someone about neck rolls the other night. Everyone had them back in the 80's. The bigger the better we thought. Anyone have any insight into why they don't use them anymore?

 

Because kids don't like them because they're too restricting. They also provide nothing other than making you look bigger

Because kids don't like them because they're too restricting. They also provide nothing other than making you look bigger

 

We were taught to tackle with our face mask between the numbers. Neck rolls certainly did more than make one look bigger. They protected from neck and head injuries especially during the suspension helmet days. At 6'5" and 230 I didn't need to "look" bigger, I needed the protection a neck roll provided.

We were taught to tackle with our face mask between the numbers. Neck rolls certainly did more than make one look bigger. They protected from neck and head injuries especially during the suspension helmet days. At 6'5" and 230 I didn't need to "look" bigger, I needed the protection a neck roll provided.

 

Again studies showed that neck rolls did little if anything to prevent neck injuries. And they certainly did nothing to prevent head injuries, especially if you were leading with and making first contact with your head.

 

Glory Has Faded for the Neck Roll; Memories Have Not - NYTimes.com

Because kids don't like them because they're too restricting. They also provide nothing other than making you look bigger

I know I sold several during the late 1980s and 1990s when I worked at a sporting goods store that catered to high school athletes. The player's appearance was enhanced.

I know I sold several during the late 1980s and 1990s when I worked at a sporting goods store that catered to high school athletes. The player's appearance was enhanced.

 

They were "cool" during that time frame. I always wanted one when I was a kid, but by the time I got to HS, they were a thing of the past l.

I am not convinced the percentage of ACTUAL concussions has increased. The improvements to protective gear is huge. When a headache is considered enough to make you sit for a week-concussion protocol-then the count is inflated. I do not feel, generally speaking, the current players at the high school and grade school levels are hitting harder than their counterparts twenty years ago. Proper tackling technique may have suffered. Kids are bigger, faster, and stronger but the helmets are much better. The masks are much better. The chinstraps are much better when tightened properly!!!

There are more athletic trainers at high schools every day now and therefore someone who is trained to recognize concussion so more of them are being caught and that's a very good thing. I don't think that there are more, just more that are caught and treated.

 

While helmet technology has improved there is not now and never will be a concussion proof helmet. It's not the impact outside the head that causes the concussion, it's the movement of the brain inside the skull. That's why making the neck stronger and more stable may have more to do with reducing concussion then every changing helmet systems. After I misspoke about the importance of neck strength regarding concussion I've done some research. That may be where one of the answers lies.

 

Anyone who says that high school kids aren't faster and stronger then they were 20 years ago hasn't been paying attention.

Pardon this interruption... but when flying by this thread title yesterday my brain thought it read "Increase in concessions", so my instant thought was "Hmmm...hot dogs and popcorn have gone up at the games???"... "Well I suppose that with all the nice new turfed fields, they have to foot the bill somehow" LOL!

 

"So what's so bad about violins on TV?"

 

 

OK...Now back to your regular programming...