Costas...Football destroys people's brains...

[Pyle]

I think you're right.

It reminds me of boxing.

Boxing took a hit because of MMA and the fact they have multiple sanctioning bodies which is ridiculus. Who's the current heavyweight champ of the world? Yeah...take your pick.

 

[Eric15]

To me football is the greatest sport b/c it is the ultimate team sport.

I'm obsessed with football, but what is it about football that makes it more of a team sport than other team sports? Team volleyball for instance requires incredible synchronization and teamwork.

 

[Townie72]

sure is,just like smoking, but what astronomical strides that made.

Or like all the US Government warnings and furor about eating eggs and meat which turned out to be bullshxt.

Prior to this study on the brains of 200 ex-pro footballers who had exhibited signs of brain disease, it was thought that there were two major contributing factors ... boxing and military service. I get boxing, but what it is you do in the military that causes these problems is a mystery to me unless its jumping out of airplanes (which they suggested I try but I demurred.)

My kids played youth football for years and I was the head of the league they played in for several. During 7 or 8 years there was one serious injury, a dislocated hip. There were no concussions.

The kids did get hurt but it was always rough housing around before and after practice started without pads and helmets and supervision. Or at home with the neighborhood gang playing "tackle the man with the ball".

You are not going to stop athletic, spirited boys from physical activity.

Singling out football as the culprit plays to the narrative of the Press. My money says when they finally do figure it out they'll find that hockey, soccer, and even basketball are equally guilty. Falling and hitting your head on a gym floor deleivers a lot more shock to the brain than what you'll see on football field.

 

[Townie72]

I'm obsessed with football, but what is it about football that makes it more of a team sport than other team sports? Team volleyball for instance requires incredible synchronization and teamwork.

I don't know why either, but football is just different.

At my father's wake I met three guys who had traveled long distances to be there. I had no idea who they were and I thought I knew all of his friends.

When they introduced themselves they explained they had played football with my father. I thought to myself, "What a strange sport to build these relationships that spanned over 50 years.

There was no one there who said they played any of the other sports with my Dad although he played them. None of his Army buddies were there either. Just the remnants of that football team.

 

[Newhouser]

I think the point he makes is beyond debate but the fact he makes it in his first year removed from covering the sport seems typical for media voices. Reminds me of Dan Patrick who had McGwire and Giambi on his radio show all the time and then cried foul on all of baseball when the steroid heat got turned up, as if none of these announcers had ever thought the NFL wasn't safe and steroids weren't around in MLB.

 

[Pyle]

If we just get rid of the Roids in football the game would probably be alot safer.

 

[Crusty]

There are many rules changes that can and probably will be made to make the game safer.

We all know that many, if not most "continuation" hits on quarterbacks are avoidable, but virtually impossible to call. The only real difference between sacking the QB by two hand touching and slamming him to the ground is our fascination with the violence. It will not surprise me to see major changes to eliminate this unnecessary violence.

High speed collisions on kickoffs will probably be eliminated by doing away with KO's and simply placing the ball as if a touchback.

At the end of the day, head shots will be reduced or virtually eliminated and more knees and ankles will be destroyed.

Football has to take CTE seriously or it will go the way of boxing. For you youngins, boxing used to be huge. Friday Night Fights was the Monday Night Football of its day coming into ever American home. It was replaced by night time baseball. Pay attention NFL.

 

[OttoMets]

Football isn't going anywhere. Just like anything it will evolve. What did the NBA look like 35 years ago?

Changes will occur, but, the game will continue on for a long time to come, longer than anyone posting in this forum.

The real crux, IMO, is to get pads off of kids in youth leagues. No need for contact until a minimum of high school level.

Equipment has made great strides as well, but, I still feel less is more. You strip equipment and the viciousness of hits in the aggregate will subside. There's always going to be an idiot who was taught by his idiot father to "be tough", but that is becoming far less common than even 15 years ago.

All good, but the networks have gotta stop glorifying big hits. This would be so easy, it should be written into the broadcast deals.

As long as the two jackasses in the booth whoop it up over multiple replays of a player getting his head taken off and Sportscenter puts together highlights involving the stuff we're trying to eliminate, we're not doing all we can to mitigate the damage.

 

[tipphill]

I think you're right.

It reminds me of boxing.

friday nights by gillete --to look sharp

 

[OrangePA]

If we just get rid of the Roids in football the game would probably be alot safer.

No doubt.

The players are too big and too fast - and part of that is explained by PEDs.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Stop kickoffs and punts. Guys running a billion miles per hour into eachother? Sounds like a great #$%*ing idea.

 

[DMDMD]

I think its more line play. Linebackers and lineman running their heads into each other over and over and over and over...

 

[bevosu]

Washington Post today.

Aaron Hernandez suffered from most severe CTE ever found in a person his age

 

[Rage4CUSE]

Or like all the US Government warnings and furor about eating eggs and meat which turned out to be bullshxt.

Prior to this study on the brains of 200 ex-pro footballers who had exhibited signs of brain disease, it was thought that there were two major contributing factors ... boxing and military service. I get boxing, but what it is you do in the military that causes these problems is a mystery to me unless its jumping out of airplanes (which they suggested I try but I demurred.)

My kids played youth football for years and I was the head of the league they played in for several. During 7 or 8 years there was one serious injury, a dislocated hip. There were no concussions.

The kids did get hurt but it was always rough housing around before and after practice started without pads and helmets and supervision. Or at home with the neighborhood gang playing "tackle the man with the ball".

You are not going to stop athletic, spirited boys from physical activity.

Singling out football as the culprit plays to the narrative of the Press. My money says when they finally do figure it out they'll find that hockey, soccer, and even basketball are equally guilty. Falling and hitting your head on a gym floor deleivers a lot more shock to the brain than what you'll see on football field.

Scientists are advocating that its not so much the force of the hit that causes CTE. But the accumalative effect of hits during each play and even practice.

For a lineman offensive or defensive you are literally hit every single play.

 

[Hoo's That]

I think its more line play. Linebackers and lineman running their heads into each other over and over and over and over...

Scientists are advocating that its not so much the force of the hit that causes CTE. But the accumalative effect of hits during each play and even practice.
For a lineman offensive or degenerative you are literally hit every single play.

^^^These^^^ Just about every board I've ever been on has discussed this and there are still people who do not understand that concussions are only a part of this. There are far more soccer players in the world than football players. If concussions were the cause of CTE why don't we see a parade of soccer players with the symptoms shown by NFL players? Folks need to understand how foolish they make themselves look when they start cataloging the sports in which concussions are possible. IT IS NOT JUST CONCUSSIONS!

 

[Townie72]

Scientists are advocating that its not so much the force of the hit that causes CTE. But the accumalative effect of hits during each play and even practice.

For a lineman offensive or defensive you are literally hit every single play.

What's the reason for the high incidence of CTE among armed forces veterans?

 

[Rage4CUSE]

What's the reason for the high incidence of CTE among armed forces veterans?

High intensity combat training?

 

[SWC75]

I still think technique is a big factor. A few years back Danny Parkins had a local show and asserted that "Dick Butkus made his living with helmet-helmet hits. I looked on You-Tube at three different clips of Butkus tackles from three different seasons, (there were no repeats). There wasn't a single helmet-to-helmet tackle. Dick's tackles could have been used to illustrate a book on the proper way to tackle: head up, so you can see what you are doing, arms out to grab the player and lead with your shoulder pads: that's what they are there for. Butkus could get rough but that was after he'd hit the guys with the pads and wrapped them up to make sure they weren't going anywhere. I remember when Jack Tatum crippled Darryl Stingley. That was a helmet to helmet hit and there was much shock and criticism that he'd hit Stingley in that manner. Now you see someone trying to do that in every game. It's bad football and it's dangerous to both players.

 

[Townie72]

High intensity combat training?

First of all, a tiny fraction of the military goes through it.

Secondly, it's a lot about sleep deprivation, hunger and thirst and running and climbing ropes and log barriers. Seal training is as high intensity as it gets and that's a lot about being cold and lifting logs

Pugil stick fighting gets you some whacks on the dead and parachute landings not executed properly.

There's little in it like football contact that I saw. But still, military veteran's and boxers were the two groups famous for high rates of CTE.

Could it be that we really have very little idea what causes CTE?

What if the reverse were true. That is, people with CTE or who are prone to getting it are also prone to being very good football players.

 

[Townie72]

The hitting in professional football is much more intense than in college. The hitting in college is much more intense than high school. The hitting in high school is much more intense than in youth football.

I got that from a guy I worked with who had been a Safety for the Chicago Bears many years.

What if there were levels of contact that were perfectly safe or which were extremely unlikely to induce CTE?

It's sort of like the difference between you having that glass of Bordeaux before dinner versus guys who are knocking down a quart of scotch a day.

Guys that consume at the latter level don't last too long. The wine sippers seem to last much longer.

 

[Townie72]

I found the answer on Veteran's and CTE. The key is exposure to explosions.

Self-Worth Shattering: A Single Bomb Blast Can Saddle Soldiers with Debilitating Brain Trauma

 

[Chip]

I'm obsessed with football, but what is it about football that makes it more of a team sport than other team sports? Team volleyball for instance requires incredible synchronization and teamwork.

Volleyball, yes. Football, yes. But the #1 sport that requires the most synchonization and teamwork is...

 

[Eric15]

Volleyball, yes. Football, yes. But the #1 sport that requires the most synchonization and teamwork is...

You and Millhouse were the Stockton and Malone of synchronized swimming back in the day.

 

[SWC75]

You and Millhouse were the Stockton and Malone of synchronized swimming back in the day.

I've always thought Gus Johnson should be assigned to do the play by play on synch swimming in the Olympics.

 

[RICuse44]

Get rid of the facemask or make it one or two bars. Then no one would lead with their heads because they would get smashed in the face each time.

And take the juice off the pros. Everyone knows they are on it.