Football DOES have a problem. Or at least a challenge moving forward

[boller4president]

I usually disagree with everything CBD writes going way back to scout this post is no exception.

I wrote about this earlier:

If football is to survive it first and foremost has to be an entertaining product. As far as the rest goes they should look to increase safety wherever possible where it won't impact the quality of the product.

It's always going to have some inherent risk but you know what's more hurtful then CTE's and everything else is not having the deniro at the end of your careers to live a comfortable life. Ask some of the people in other sports how that works they blow out their knee and the next day they are flipping burgers at McDonalds because noone cares about their two bit sport.

These players have the money for the best care possible so if something does happen like for example Shazier they are taken care of.

Take a look at some of the economics of for example Motorcross. 85K a year on average. Professional Rugby players make on average 25K in the US (much more in europe). Are these sports less dangerous?

https://motocross.transworld.net/new...-purse-payout/

https://work.chron.com/average-earni...ers-30540.html

The average MMA fighter makes 34K a year. Put that in prospective they are getting KTFO with kicks and punches to the head. You think they aren't f'ed up when they retire? I think we should make the game as safe as possible while still keeping within the traditions of the sport but you ask what happens when someone dies. The answer is it happens in dangerous sports. NASCAR has had multiple deaths they don't go around driving go karts instead.

[GOTA]

There was a letter to the editor in our local newspaper. A parent was upset because they were unable to field a 3rd grade tackle football league this year. Meanwhile there is a tremendous amount of participation in flag football. It's the Play 60 flag program and supported by the NFL. The parent was arguing that tackle football was no more dangerous than riding bikes or sledding in the winter. As a parent of a son going into 3rd grade, and an avid biker of both road and mountain bikes, I am not swayed by his examples. My son wanted to play tackle but my wife and I decided that he could do flag only if he wanted to play football. Obviously other parents feel the same way.

The NFL sees this which is why they are pumping money into the flag program. When these kids are old enough to enter the pros there will be a whole different view of safety and the game. I don't think the old timers will like it but it's going to happen. You can either accept it or find another sport.

[Ravenswintitle]

Cover of sports illustrated from 40 years ago

[PeterB58]

Well, there is one aspect of it that's "football-only", and that's his size/weight, which places added stress on his internal organs. I don't see reports about soccer, lacrosse, etc. players having heat stroke nearly as often as football. And in many cases, players are pressured to add weight that isn't natural for their frame, which adds even more stress.

That's a fair point....and taken.

[boller4president]

There was a letter to the editor in our local newspaper. A parent was upset because they were unable to field a 3rd grade tackle football league this year. Meanwhile there is a tremendous amount of participation in flag football. It's the Play 60 flag program and supported by the NFL. The parent was arguing that tackle football was no more dangerous than riding bikes or sledding in the winter. As a parent of a son going into 3rd grade, and an avid biker of both road and mountain bikes, I am not swayed by his examples. My son wanted to play tackle but my wife and I decided that he could do flag only if he wanted to play football. Obviously other parents feel the same way.

The NFL sees this which is why they are pumping money into the flag program. When these kids are old enough to enter the pros there will be a whole different view of safety and the game. I don't think the old timers will like it but it's going to happen. You can either accept it or find another sport.

I think people are in large part finding other sports or finding other hobbies to spend their offdays on and the numbers support this.

The question is what happens to these people when the money dries up? Who pays for the next Shazier care when he makes CFL money?

[QuothDaRaven]

I usually disagree with everything CBD writes going way back to scout this post is no exception.

I wrote about this earlier:



The average MMA fighter makes 34K a year. Put that in prospective they are getting KTFO with kicks and punches to the head. You think they aren't f'ed up when they retire? I think we should make the game as safe as possible while still keeping within the traditions of the sport but you ask what happens when someone dies. The answer is it happens in dangerous sports. NASCAR has had multiple deaths they don't go around driving go karts instead.

Yeah but NASCAR introduced a TON of safety innovations... cars were changed, restrictor plates, aerodynamics, the racing suits, the seats, the harnesses, window nets, roof flaps, safer barriers, pit crew changes, spotter changes, rule changes on cautions.

MMA has a TON of safety rules. Did you know that almost 5% of MMA fights are cancelled because the rules are so stringent? They review neuro-imaging, EKGs, weight differentials, dehydration screens, orbital fractures on CT, post traumatic gliosis on MRI. The actual rules in the ring themselves have changed also, and how quick the refs are to jump in, and the ringside doctors. No strikes to the back of the head, no small joint manipulation, no groin strikes, no eye gouges, tap outs allowed, no kicks to the head of a downed opponent.

I get the inherent risk in a contact sport, I get it. Especially high speed collisions among finely tuned athletes.

That doesn’t mean you don’t use science and analyze things and make everything as safe as humanly possible in any way you can. We OWE it to the people putting their lives on the line for our entertainment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[boller4president]

Yeah but NASCAR introduced a TON of safety innovations... cars were changed, restrictor plates, aerodynamics, the racing suits, the seats, the harnesses, window nets, roof flaps, safer barriers, pit crew changes, spotter changes, rule changes on cautions.

MMA has a TON of safety rules. Did you know that almost 5% of MMA fights are cancelled because the rules are so stringent? They review neuro-imaging, EKGs, weight differentials, dehydration screens, orbital fractures on CT, post traumatic gliosis on MRI. The actual rules in the ring themselves have changed also, and how quick the refs are to jump in, and the ringside doctors. No strikes to the back of the head, no small joint manipulation, no groin strikes, no eye gouges, tap outs allowed, no kicks to the head of a downed opponent.

I get the inherent risk in a contact sport, I get it. Especially high speed collisions among finely tuned athletes.

That doesn’t mean you don’t use science and analyze things and make everything as safe as humanly possible in any way you can. We OWE it to the people putting their lives on the line for our entertainment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think we all agree we should look to make the game as safe as possible while preserving the integrity of the sport but we've moved too far in the other direction. You know what would make MMA safer? No punching or kicking to the head. Why not just force them to do body shots. Same for boxing.

Also before you get too much in the weeds after 2000 five MMA fighters have died in sanctioned fights.

I mean you'll probably laugh at the ridiculousness of the examples but that is basically what the NFL is doing. They've already totally f'ed up the kicking game one of the most entertaining parts of the NFL used to be the kickoff. Now it's catch and knee. Catch and Knee. How f'in boring is that? They talked about removing kickoffs in the offseasons wfc it's already dead.

[QuothDaRaven]

I think we all agree we should look to make the game as safe as possible while preserving the integrity of the sport but we've moved too far in the other direction. You know what would make MMA safer? No punching or kicking to the head. Why not just force them to do body shots. Same for boxing.

Also before you get too much in the weeds after 2000 five MMA fighters have died in sanctioned fights.

I mean you'll probably laugh at the ridiculousness of the examples but that is basically what the NFL is doing. They've already totally f'ed up the kicking game one of the most entertaining parts of the NFL used to be the kickoff. Now it's catch and knee. Catch and Knee. How f'in boring is that? They talked about removing kickoffs in the offseasons wfc it's already dead.

Sure you can take it to the extremes to make it laughable with any example. But the truth is football hasn’t put in anywhere near the same amount of safety implementations as either of the two examples you listed, NASCAR and the MMA.

In fact the NFL fought really hard to squash the science behind CTE. Their decisions have been driven by dollars, like any corporation. They’re only in the infancy of their safety revolution.

And honestly if the game gets a little more boring, but it means a kid has a father he can talk to, or a mom has a son who’ll remember her name, I’m totally fine with that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HbgPARavenfan]

Agreed and he died because the coaching staff and training staff were negligent/incompetent.

+1 MD needs to own this and make sure it never happens again.

football will adapt and change. It is the nature of sports. They will survive. I think a bigger threat to their market share is the current political climate and changing demographics. Football like baseball is now trending older, where as the NBA is trending younger.

in 25 years the NBA may be #1 due to global market, focus on stars not teams and increasing youth participation somewhat related to the concussion issues in football

[cvilleRaven]

Players need to stop hitting each other with their heads. It's not a weapon. I have no issue with the new rule this year, so long as it's applied uniformly. Lower your head (defense AND offense), automatic 15 yard penalty.

It's right here, on page 68. https://nflcommunications.com/Docume...ule%20Book.pdf If you lower your head and make contact with an opponent, it is a unnecessary roughness penalty.

Head up, see what you hit, wrap and drive to ground. Why is this so hard to understand?

[PurplePill]

Yeah but NASCAR introduced a TON of safety innovations... cars were changed, restrictor plates, aerodynamics, the racing suits, the seats, the harnesses, window nets, roof flaps, safer barriers, pit crew changes, spotter changes, rule changes on cautions.

Look how well that has worked out for NASCAR. They removed a lot of the danger from the sport which in turn removed a lot of butts from the seats. NASCAR became boring, people stopped going, now they can't give seats away at NASCAR events.

Sounds a little similar to what we are starting to see in the NFL, and NASCAR didn't have the political stuff on top of it. If they take too much of the danger and violence out of the sport fans will tire of it and move on to something else.

[QuothDaRaven]

Look how well that has worked out for NASCAR. They removed a lot of the danger from the sport which in turn removed a lot of butts from the seats. NASCAR became boring, people stopped going, now they can't give seats away at NASCAR events.

Sounds a little similar to what we are starting to see in the NFL, and NASCAR didn't have the political stuff on top of it. If they take too much of the danger and violence out of the sport fans will tire of it and move on to something else.

I hear you, and honestly if the fans move on to something else and fewer people are getting hurt or killed chasing their entertainment dollars in that particular sport, that’s totally fine.

Again, if a decision is starting to revolve around boredom vs life-threatening injuries, it really isn’t a decision.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk