Bo Jackson: I'd tell my kids to play any sport aside from football

[Eric15]

"If I knew back then what I know now,'' Jackson told USA Today. "I would have never played football. Never. I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn't tell anybody."

Bo Jackson: I never would have played football

 

[orangecuse]

 

[texascpa]

Don't let them play soccer or hockey, either, Bo.

Concussions in sport - Wikipedia

 

[Nahson]

Completely agree with Bo. As someone who played from pop warner into college, the toll it took on my body is not worth it. Baseball, basketball, golf, and soccer are all better options.

 

[OrangeAggieArmy]

I so wish my kids liked golf more. I know they're divorced, but this doesn't happen without golf, home of some of the best WAGs:

 

[gmoney44]

I'm a huge football fan and I will do everything in my power to steer my son from playing football when he gets older. I think we will see football die a slow death over the next 30 years unless they drastically change the game.

 

[Chip]

And would also tell them not to try this move if they're using an aluminum bat.

 

[bevosu]

David Camarillo and his team at the Cam Lab at Stanford. Camarillo and others have speculated that the most damaging blows are those that cause the head to snap quickly from ear to ear, like the one shown above, or those that cause a violent rotation or twisting of the head through a glancing blow. “The brain’s wiring, essentially, is all running from left to right, not front to back,” Camarillo said, referring to the primary wiring that connects the brain’s hemispheres. “So the direction you are struck can have a very different effect within the brain. In football, the presence of the face mask can make that sort of twisting even more extreme.”

These revelations are a powerful indication that football helmets as they are now designed do not protect players from concussions and long-term brain disease like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E. But Camarillo and others are hopeful that as more data becomes available and as more is learned about the brain’s inner turmoil during hits to the head, helmet design will improve.

But scientists also commonly believe that this kind of brain disease is caused not only by these severe concussive hits, but also by the accumulation of more minor blows. Consider the image shown above: It is the sort of line-of-scrimmage battle that happens on almost every play in football and does not seem nearly as bad as the concussive hit sustained by the receiver that we showed you earlier. But data from a single game showed that one college offensive lineman took 62 of these smaller blows to the head.

(From a short recent NY Times article that I've posted that apparently nobody wants to read and/or comment on.)

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...d&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=2

 

[SU68]

Soccer, lacrosse and rugby players are also at risk for concussions as is that non-contact sport basketball. Ask the VaTech player about that. I guess a kid can always do cross country or golf.

 

[Brooky03]

Reading this thread, you'd think concussions are rampant and every kid who plays football gets multiple in their career. Unless my experience is abnormal, which would seem unlikely, that's not the case. Are concussions a concern and are some kids more concussion prone than others? Absolutely, yes. But the overwhelming majority of kids who play football come out just fine. Their brains don't turn to mush or scrambled eggs and they don't get suicidal.

If my kid wants to play football, I'm not going to do anything to stop them. If they start getting concussions and it seems like a chronic thing, then I'll consult a doctor and probably suggest an alternate sport for them before long term damage is done.

 

[CousCuse]

Bo's children probably don't have to do anything because Bo made umpteen million dollars from..... playing football.

 

[Briancuse]

And this is really saying something, Bo's kids won the genetic lottery most likely, they are prob built like freight trains.

 

[Fly Rodder]

It's not just concussions that are the issue in football, it's cumulative repetitive stress to the brain from thousands of minor blows to the head which results in long-term degenerative effects that often don't manifest themselves in a visible manner. Boxers don't start slurring their speech and act punch drunk from being knocked out a couple of times. It's from being punched in the head 30,000 times in practice and a handful of fights.

There's a difference from sustaining a couple of concussions in a generally non-contact sport (e.g, basketball) and one where the contact is on nearly every play.

 

[Orijinal]

I'm a huge football fan and I will do everything in my power to steer my son from playing football when he gets older. I think we will see football die a slow death over the next 30 years unless they drastically change the game.

This is an interesting thought. Do we have any data to suggest that enrollment in high school football programs has diminished over the last few years?

 

[kirbivore]

I'm a huge football fan and I will do everything in my power to steer my son from playing football when he gets older. I think we will see football die a slow death over the next 30 years unless they drastically change the game.

My Dad was ahead of his time. He didn't actively steer my brothers and I away from football, but he didn't encourage it either. I only played the backyard variety.

 

[sufan4eva13]

This whole thing is so ridiculous, we know that NFL players live longer and healthier lives on average compared to regular people, that the incidences of identifiable mental illness are not far different from the general population (and can be partially attributed to longer lifespan), we know that not one study of former high school players has ever shown that they're more at risk of lifespan altering problems than most people, and we don't know that CTE is something which causes problems in your life. Everyone wants to seem like the smart, rational, reasonable fan by jumping on this bandwagon that is largely based on unsubstantiated, incomplete or downright false claims.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

My Dad was ahead of his time. He didn't actively steer my brothers and I away from football, but he didn't encourage it either. I only played the backyard variety.

My dad made me wear a helmet in back yard FB.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Soccer, lacrosse and rugby players are also at risk for concussions as is that non-contact sport basketball. Ask the VaTech player about that. I guess a kid can always do cross country or golf.

Those sports are all contact sports. FB is a collision sport.

 

[Hoo's That]

Bo's children probably don't have to do anything because Bo made umpteen million dollars from... playing football.

What he's saying is that knowing then what he knows now, those millions would have been from baseball.

 

[CousCuse]

What he's saying is that knowing then what he knows now, those millions would have been from baseball.

 

[Ish88888]

David Camarillo and his team at the Cam Lab at Stanford. Camarillo and others have speculated that the most damaging blows are those that cause the head to snap quickly from ear to ear, like the one shown above, or those that cause a violent rotation or twisting of the head through a glancing blow. “The brain’s wiring, essentially, is all running from left to right, not front to back,” Camarillo said, referring to the primary wiring that connects the brain’s hemispheres. “So the direction you are struck can have a very different effect within the brain. In football, the presence of the face mask can make that sort of twisting even more extreme.”

These revelations are a powerful indication that football helmets as they are now designed do not protect players from concussions and long-term brain disease like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E. But Camarillo and others are hopeful that as more data becomes available and as more is learned about the brain’s inner turmoil during hits to the head, helmet design will improve.

But scientists also commonly believe that this kind of brain disease is caused not only by these severe concussive hits, but also by the accumulation of more minor blows. Consider the image shown above: It is the sort of line-of-scrimmage battle that happens on almost every play in football and does not seem nearly as bad as the concussive hit sustained by the receiver that we showed you earlier. But data from a single game showed that one college offensive lineman took 62 of these smaller blows to the head.

(From a short recent NY Times article that I've posted that apparently nobody wants to read and/or comment on.)

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...d&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=2

Football helmets will NEVER protect players from concussion. Concussion involves the brain banging into the skull from hits not seen coming, thus the stabilizing neck muscles cant brace the head. Helmets actually have little to do with it.

 

[atom58]

I would not say that it is impossible - only that the technology of helmets, shoulder pads, and face guards have not yet reached a point to minimize injury. Some of the prior "findings" also could be false positives. If an engineering team has valid science as a guide, they will find a way. Witness the head and neck support (HANS) device of NASCAR.

HANS device - Wikipedia

Also note that Bo Jackson had "options" - he could have played MLB instead of FB - not all athletes will be in that situation. A professional athlete can earn more in 10 years than most workers will earn in 40. It's a calculated risk.

 

[Eric15]

My dad made me wear a helmet in back yard FB.

I wouldn't have guessed that based on your political posts.