The Future of Football: Concussions

[JPFisher]

So most fans of American Football know that Roosevelt saved the sport.

The forward pass was added along with safety measures which essentially turned football from a deadly game of rugby into a concoction of rules, regulations, ads, and fandom which makes it our nation's favorite and most profitable sport.

Reading into the future a bit, however, the game is in serious danger of dying away. Concussions being a main contributor. I've seen several forum posts about how such and such will never let their kid play football. Parents hate it, doctors can make a living from it, and even some of the folks who gained almost all of their wealth from the game regret their decision to play.

Now, there are two strategies which can save football that I can think of. One would change the game drastically. The other would not.

1. A "soft" helmet which absorbs much more Kinetic Energy than a more rigid, conventional design. To this effect: advancements in sports science, medicine, and safety will need to expand leaps and bounds before the issue of concussions and other diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia just throttle the sport.

2. The more radical of the two options: no helmets. This was discussed recently in an economics course which proposed that players would not lead with their head if the consequences would be that both parties got absolutely f***ed up. Think about it, players would likely slow down, more incentive to protect the cranium, and the players wouldn't be as blasé about their safety with the false sense of security found in a football helmet. Even some high ranking officials in the NFL, including Dr. John York of the NFL health and safety advisory committee, have discussed this possibility.

So I just wanted to put this out there since I think it's definitely interesting. There are obviously more ways to protect players, but the future of helmets seems to be in the trenches as far as player safety is concerned.

What do you all think? Would you rather play football with a super sophisticated helmet or without one at all? Id play without but I'd at least bring out my old wrestling headgear since I'm not a fan of cauliflower ear. But yeah, go to town. Share your thoughts.

 

[Koaltil]

I've put some thought into this. Not nearly enough to make a educated opinion but my take is football is not for everyone. And in my opinion never will be. No one is forcing anyone to play. You will in my opinion always have people who will play American football or a sport it's equal. It's dangerous. I believe everyone is aware of that. That's at least part of why I/we watch.

 

[Levibooty]

It's not going to change at the pro-level inasmuch it will for parents and children. I think that is what the OP is driving at. The interest in the game will wither away in grade school and then middle school. I don't know but I can see that. Football hasn't always been the favorite sport in this country.

 

[trumpetcat]

I actually did a recent report on this in English class. Dont ask me why. Basically researchers at Purdue are in the works of creating a helmet that would be able to tell actual damage to the brain instead of relying on the player who could be lying just to stay in the game.

 

[Bluetick2100]

How about the offense has helments but the defense does not.
What part of the game delivers the blows that causes most of the concussions?

 

[Parabolicsecan]

A third alternative would be for the NFL brass to Speak Loudly and Carry a Big Stick. Right now it's Softly. You can observe the modified behavior in NC AA football. There are plenty of situations where players with kill shots decided to pull up, absorb, go low etc...

A player makes a conscious decision to avoid proper tackling technique in the heat of competition to get a big hit, cause bodily harm and the like. In the NFL the stick needs to be a combination of fines and suspensions. Refs should be allowed to review the play in question, fans would gladly trade a few extra minutes for review in the name of player safety, and eject players when it's deemed reasonable the player used illegal and improper technique to tackle. I constantly preach not to do anything 'extra' outside of what your body normally allows and what you have been taught to make a spectacular play. A tackle is a tackle and big hits come from the weight room, not launching.

 

[College#19]

There is some positive news with Concussions.

Concussions are down 25% in the NFL
Concussions are down 33% across Youth Football

Make all the equipment you want, but at the end of the day only technique and enforcement by Football Coaches are what will help continue to reduce concussions.

 

[Parabolicsecan]

Perfect example, Wards cheap, intentional shot on Bolden a few minutes ago in the ACC Championship game. In order to protect himself, Bolden and the integrity of the game, he should have been ejected. Would have been at the college level.

 

[KY1WING]

There is so much to this.

Equipment, techniques, rules, player size, speed, strength, reps, coaching all factor in.

I also think video games and ESPN and their like are also in there as well. Plays with proper technique rarely make Gameday or Sportscenter but big hits where the defender launches himself with no intentions of using his arms to tackle but instead becomes a hit or miss missle whose sole focus is to knock the ball carrier off his feet are repeatedly played daily and glorified in the multitude of video games played by our youth.

Don't dispel it. You can't make me believe our players haven't been taught better yet for years have resorted to abandoning sure tackles to instead try to "blow things up" often resulting in a missed stop.

The thing that concerns me are some studies are finding that repeated small hits like the jolts linemen take when they block in drills and games have an impact in CTE, maybe more so than the big hits backs and receivers take and defenders deliver.

Things have to continue to improve though every means possible to keep things from going down this path

http://grantland.com/features/cte-concussion-crisis-economic-look-end-football/

 

[Anjiejo]

Have not put a lot of thought into it,but here is something to consider! Give the HC so many warning and then after his team delivers so many head shots or illigal hits you start fining him as well,along with the players..that would make them address it more!! Never understood why coaches always get out of fines ect.. They could make they biggest difference imo.

 

[jauk11]

In about 1974 I called a classic spearing call in a high school game. At that time the spearing call was only called if the runner was already down, pretty defenseless right, and the automatic ejection had just been added to the rules. Unfortunately the player ejected was the big star on the team (league really, and maybe the only one on his team, later starred at the University of Nevada), my referee didn't like the call and that was VERY mild compared to the coach, but the call itself was a no brainer, just the new rule made it a lot tougher to call in that case.

In 1904 there were 18 deaths and 149 SERIOUS injuries from football, in 1905 19 deaths and 137 serious injuries. Teddy believed in football and his son was playing in the Ivy league (suffered a fairly serious injury also) and schools started replacing it with soccer, that is when he had meetings with the colleges and negotiated changes, including the forward pass.

But a lot of more changes were made, for instance at first if you threw a forward pass and it was incomplete the ball was turned over no matter if it was first down or fourth. I think it was the twenties when Notre Dame made the forward pass popular by using it to upset an Ivy League power------the SEC of its day.

We played tackle without any equipment all through grade school without any serious injuries, but we avoided any solid tackles or trying to punish anyone. In the Army we were training Marine Corp Units to use the Hawk antiaircraft missile when we played them tackle games a couple of Saturday afternoons. Bad idea, we had a busted spleen, broken collar bone, and some other pretty bad injuries before our CO outlawed the games.The only time in my life when I can remember a sustained adrenalin rush, quite a feeling, I returned a kickoff about 50 yards, probably the fastest I ever ran in my life, and I wasn't disappointed at all when I finally got tackles, just a great feeling of relief that I was in one piece.

Just had another unnecessary roughness on Denver for a helmet to helmet that should have been an ejection. Denver holding on to an 8 point lead with 8:15 to go, but NE driving.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Fines and suspensions will probably not work because they're being done right now and have had minimal effects.

I think the idea of going to a 'smart' soft helmet will happen in the future. The current helmets are just weapons used by defenders to cause turnovers or take guys out. There's absolutely no need to tackle with your head but giving these guys a weapon to use ensures that it will be used.

Football is a violent sport and will always have a higher number of head injuries than baseball or football but teaching guys proper techniques along with a soft helmet that stabilizes the head/neck could make a huge difference.

 

[rmattox]

Slow the game down by making players carry weight the way they do with race horses. If the game is slowed down the hits won't be as violent.

 

[Deeeefense]

The more radical of the two options: no helmets. This was discussed recently in an economics course which proposed that players would not lead with their head if the consequences would be that both parties got absolutely f***ed up. Think about it, players would likely slow down, more incentive to protect the cranium, and the players wouldn't be as blasé about their safety with the false sense of security found in a football helmet. Even some high ranking officials in the NFL, including Dr. John York of the NFL health and safety advisory committee, have discussed this possibility.

I bet they've never attended a professional rugby match. Head injuries to those guys are like sprained ankles to football players.

 

[JPFisher]

I bet they've never attended a professional rugby match. Head injuries to those guys are like sprained ankles to football players.

Really quite amazing.

 

[jte123]

playing fantasy football the last couple years you really pay attention to just how many injuries and this year the running backs that went down was insane. Its going to be really interesting to see what happens, I think or hope some equipment advances can help protect, I think on wired.com they had a story about new helmets but those guys are just so huge and fast.

 

[bigbluegrog]

Test EVERY player for steroids on a different day every month all year long. First time you test positive you are banned for life. That should about do it!

 

[vhcat70]

Every PF & Unsportsman penalty is disqualification for the rest of the current Q & the entire next Q. Would stop a lot of ish quick.

 

[BoulderCat_rivals187983]

There is so much to this.

Equipment, techniques, rules, player size, speed, strength, reps, coaching all factor in.

I also think video games and ESPN and their like are also in there as well. Plays with proper technique rarely make Gameday or Sportscenter but big hits where the defender launches himself with no intentions of using his arms to tackle but instead becomes a hit or miss missle whose sole focus is to knock the ball carrier off his feet are repeatedly played daily and glorified in the multitude of video games played by our youth.

Don't dispel it. You can't make me believe our players haven't been taught better yet for years have resorted to abandoning sure tackles to instead try to "blow things up" often resulting in a missed stop.

The thing that concerns me are some studies are finding that repeated small hits like the jolts linemen take when they block in drills and games have an impact in CTE, maybe more so than the big hits backs and receivers take and defenders deliver.

Things have to continue to improve though every means possible to keep things from going down this path

http://grantland.com/features/cte-concussion-crisis-economic-look-end-football/

It is a complicated issue, and one that's endangering a sport we all love, and many of us played at least at the HS level. I endured a very serious injury myself. I tore up my left knee badly in football camp before my senior year. Basically ruined my entire senior year. I couldn't play basketball that year either. Thank goodness it was at camp on UT's campus and I got a good surgeon. It's never bothered me since, and I was once a very avid rock climber. It had rained the night before, and one of my best friends decked me, mostly due to my right foot slipping in the mud. When it did my left stayed where it was. The most painful thing I've ever endured. I understand why some parents discourage their boys from playing, but it was a wonderful experience to be a part of a football team, lousy player and all. At least I was fearless. I'd hit anybody.

The techniques and equipment continue to evolve. I don't like the idea of no helmets as someone mentioned because as you say guys are going to do it even though they are coached not to. Problem is there are some not so good coaches out there, particularly at the HS level, and a lot of HS teams don't even have a qualified trainer. Ours certainly didn't. It was a UT trainer that came over, put my knee back into socket, and put an air cast on me. The evidence of the repeated hits is compelling. If you haven't watched the movie Concussion you should. It's tragic what's happening to some of the older guys who played in the NFL. Still, I saw a thing on ESPN recently where every single ex-player said they'd do it again, it was worth whatever happens later. I get that. I have very fair skin, and have had a number of pre-cancerous growths removed. I may very end up dying from it, but I couldn't resist wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts when I was climbing and biking. I used sunscreen, but the sun here at altitude is incredibly strong. So I understand why playing the game of football meant so much to them. There really is no other game like it.

 

[rudd1]

-i played rubgy into my early thirties. Got to travel around...made it to the midwest final four in Chicago a few times. Great sport.

-rugby is rough. Football is violent.

-Tackling in rugby is highly regulated: gotta wrap up or you are penalized, cant go above shoulders or you are penalized. Form tackles are required...shoulder not head. Cant hit a guy who has jumped to catch the ball until he has regained footing.

-No pads means you play like you arent wearing pads. If i hit you with the crown of my head i am gonna break my neck...so it doesn't happen.

-plenty of injuries in rugby...but you very rarely see super serious head/neck/spine injuries . Concussions happen as in every sport...but when you arent wearing a helmet you are a bit more cautious.

 

[rudd1]

-lots of splits/pressure cuts...not a lot of *serious* head injuries.

 

[ukmd81]

I bet they've never attended a professional rugby match. Head injuries to those guys are like sprained ankles to football players.

id rather have a sprained ankle

 

[KY1WING]

New helmet just unveiled - Vicis Zero1

 

[rmattox]

-i played rubgy into my early thirties. Got to travel around...made it to the midwest final four in Chicago a few times. Great sport.

-rugby is rough. Football is violent.

-Tackling in rugby is highly regulated: gotta wrap up or you are penalized, cant go above shoulders or you are penalized. Form tackles are required...shoulder not head. Cant hit a guy who has jumped to catch the ball until he has regained footing.

-No pads means you play like you arent wearing pads. If i hit you with the crown of my head i am gonna break my neck...so it doesn't happen.

-plenty of injuries in rugby...but you very rarely see super serious head/neck/spine injuries . Concussions happen as in every sport...but when you arent wearing a helmet you are a bit more cautious.

Football would still be a great game without the violence. My problem is the lack of consistency with the calls and the disadvantage the defense has. the other night, a defender was penalized when he made head to head contact due to the offensive player ducking. There has to be a fair solution to such inequities.

 

[Anon1660081258]

-i played rubgy into my early thirties. Got to travel around...made it to the midwest final four in Chicago a few times. Great sport.

-rugby is rough. Football is violent.

-Tackling in rugby is highly regulated: gotta wrap up or you are penalized, cant go above shoulders or you are penalized. Form tackles are required...shoulder not head. Cant hit a guy who has jumped to catch the ball until he has regained footing.

-No pads means you play like you arent wearing pads. If i hit you with the crown of my head i am gonna break my neck...so it doesn't happen.

-plenty of injuries in rugby...but you very rarely see super serious head/neck/spine injuries . Concussions happen as in every sport...but when you arent wearing a helmet you are a bit more cautious.

I was a HS football player, then a rugger as a collegian and young adult, and agree 100%. Rugby IS extremely dangerous when played by a drunken novice, but properly played, modern rugby is not the homicidal train wreck that American football has become.

My wife is dead set against our sons playing American football, so I am encouraging them to play soccer and lacrosse.

Of course, soccer has its own issues right now, head injury for young players attributed to headers, particularly on corners due to collision, but also simple repetitive impact with the ball, an then there is this whole artificial turf fill issue, which should be a real eye opener for ANYONE whose kid might be practicing any game on filled artificial turf on a regular basis, such that they spend a lot of time face down in it. People are making some pretty disturbing allegations about the possible effect of regular inhalation/digestion of those rubber fill pellets and their dust.

Lacrosse seems to have more social issues (hazing, violence against women, etc.) than actual on the field issues, though there has been a lot of emphasis placed recently on college lacrosse players engaging in what are referred to as "take out" checks that result in ejection. The game appeals to me. It is more American than anything else, since we found here when we arrived. It is rougher than soccer (which is already a rough sport) but retains the fluid play that is absent in American football. There are no fat children playing lacrosse... at least successfully.

 

[Michigan Fan]

Football has a problem....NY Times article this morning:

Giants safety Tyler Sash was found dead at age 27 of an accidental overdose of pain medications at his Iowa home on Sept. 8, his grieving family remained consumed by a host of unanswered questions about the final, perplexing years of Sash’s life.

Cut by the Giants in 2013 after what was at least his fifth concussion, Sash had returned to Iowa and increasingly displayed surprising and irregular behavior, family members said this week. He was arrested in his hometown, Oskaloosa, for public intoxication after leading the police on a four-block chase with a motorized scooter, a pursuit that ended with Sash fleeing toward a wooded area.

Sash had bouts of confusion, memory loss and minor fits of temper. Although an Iowa sports celebrity, both as a Super Bowl-winning member of the Giants and a popular star athlete at the University of Iowa, Sash was unable to seek meaningful employment because he had difficulty focusing long enough to finish a job.

Barnetta Sash, Tyler’s mother, blamed much of her son’s changeable behavior, which she had not observed in the past, on the powerful prescription drugs he was taking for a football-related shoulder injury that needed surgery. Nonetheless, after his death she donated his brain to be tested for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated trauma that has been found in dozens of former N.F.L. players.

Sash, who was cut by the Giants in 2013 after what was at least his fifth concussion, was found to have the degenerative brain disease C.T.E.CreditDemetrius Freeman/The New York Times

Last week, representatives from Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation notified the Sash family that C.T.E. had been diagnosed in Tyler’s brain and that the disease, which can be confirmed only posthumously, had advanced to a stage rarely seen in someone his age.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/s...ler-sash-found-to-have-cte.html?smid=fb-share

 

[maysvilleky]

Any hit above the shoulders should be a penalty. And if the offensive player lowers his head it should be a penalty too.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Found this interesting read on what the sport might look like in 2066 for Super Bowl 100
http://www.wired.com/2016/01/the-future-of-the-super-bowl/

Also thought that helmet video was quite interesting. Amazing that the helmet hasn't really evolved much since the 70s.

You could reduce head injuries with a few rule changes:

• no tackling above the shoulder
• use a softer helmet like the one in that video with advanced impact tech
• not allowed to hit a player that is airborn, must wait till they have a foot on the ground
• cannot lead with the helmet
• no more kickoffs, just start at the 20 or 25 yard line

 

[optimus-blue]

Money and lawyers are now involved and every player gets cut or does something bad, he will use this excuse, to many variables to blame all on football in some these cases.