"N.F.L. Shifts on Concussions, and Game May Never Be the Same"

[Ombligo]

freeradical wrote:
Heading a soccer ball must also knock a few screws loose as well.

Heading in and of itself is not an issue. The problem occurs when two players bump heads while going for the ball.

As for American Football, the best option lies in a helmet redesign. Perhaps to a helmet with a softer, shock absorbing exterior design rather than the hard helmet of today. A design that is closer to a sparring headgear rather than a combat helmet.

[Sam3]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=freeradical]
Heading a soccer ball must also knock a few screws loose as well.

Hmmm... a ball of air vs. 250 lbs of kinetic mass - that seems about equal!
Actually it is being demonstrated that heading a soccer ball can cause concussions:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...in-damage/

Scientific American wrote: ...Our findings and the findings of other researchers show that heading a soccer ball can contribute to neurodegenerative problems, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Researchers who’ve followed soccer players have seen a close relationship between the amount of heading that a player does and brain abnormalities. There’ve also been studies where researchers compared soccer players to swimmers, and swimmers’ brains look perfectly normal while the soccer players’ brains had abnormalities in their white matter fiber tracts. Nerve cells transmit their messages to other nerve cells by way of their fiber tracts, or axons, and if the brain is violently shaken enough, a person can have disruption of their fiber tracts.

[pRICE cUBE]

davester wrote:
[quote=pRICE cUBE]
I believe this will continue to usher in an era of increased safety precautions and concussion care. Some of the long time fans complain about lack of brutality in the game but to me there are plenty of big hits and athletic feats under the new rules.

Youth football actually had an increase in participation in 2015. Maybe it is time for tackle to be started at a later age such as high school.

As with any athletic endeavor, nothing is completely safe.

I also believe there will be much more scrutiny of concussions on others sports such as soccer as well.

IMHO this is apologist BS. Concussion care is totally irrelevant. American football has already been proven to result in significant chronic degenerative brain disorders. It doesn't matter how much you care for someone with a concussion (i.e. a short term or acute problem), the chronic (i.e. long term) issue of degenerative brain problems is not going to be taken care of. The only way to do anything about this massive problem is to change the rules and equipment significantly.

Why would it make any difference to change the tackle age? All that would do would be to change the year in which the football player becomes brain damaged.

As far as all athletic endeavors not being completely safe, that is absurd...american football is vastly more dangerous (to the brain especially) than almost every other sport. That is a false equivalency if I've ever heard one.

Soccer may have some issues but they are nothing compared to the vast amount of documented brain damage occurring in american football. Suggesting that there is some equivalency is just throwing FUD up in an attempt to excuse the health disaster that is american football.


Whoa, slow down. What I have stated is factual. No apologist BS. I full acknowledge football has risk of brain injury and did absolutely no spin control.

No one EVER said it was equal. I certainly did not. All I said is that the issue should not be ignored, not in football, not in soccer, not in any sport.

I bring soccer into this as a broader discussion of CTE that should be address. Is it as severe as football? No, I NEVER said it was. There are some pro soccer players expressing concern. Studies are on going. Any repetitive blow to the head has risks. I personally know people who played soccer up to the NCAA level that have told me about concussions they experienced when two heads collide going for a header without any protection.

Football is a violent sport and no one should be under any impression that it is safe. It has ramification to health that are more severe than most sports.

It is scientifically proven that brains grow into fuller development by age 14. Delaying the age of tackling, better tackling technique, punishments for intentional head hits, combined with better concussion care, and not allowing multiple concussions per game will help. The science back this up. If people know this going in, then let them make that choice. The NFL did a poor job of this, they need to do better now that the long term science has been studied.

If the NFL does a better job, it will filter down to the youth leagues. It will also add to the discussion of other sports safety standards. If the biggest sports league in the U.S. starts doing a better job, maybe it can help other sports and improve the situation for all athletes who get their heads knocked around. The NFL by far has the most work to do but the game will never be completely safe,

[fauch]

You want to get paid 10 Million dollars a year and take the risk. IMHO that should be everyone's choice...

[cbelt3]

freeradical wrote:
Heading a soccer ball must also knock a few screws loose as well.

Heading a ball wrong gave me my fourth concussion. Football gave me my third.

[sekker]

I've seen the data. Football should be played without helmets until college.

I think the data suggests it should be banned until the player is 18, but I'm a realist to know that's not going to happen.

[Ombligo]

sekker wrote:
I think the data suggests it should be banned until the player is 18, but I'm a realist to know that's not going to happen.

Until a few school districts get sued and lose. It should surprise no one that such a suit is likely already being contemplated by an attorney just looking for the right client (or vice-versa). Once lawyers and insurance companies get involved, reality can be overlooked (except in the South & Texas, where it will fall under the Religious Liberty Laws)

[mattkime]

while i _love_ my nfl team, i wouldn't be sad to see the sport go. well, maybe there are many good things about it but the intrinsic injury risk seems pretty difficult to mitigate.

i'd like to see some hard numbers on soccer concussions.

we have a lot to learn about this topic. i hope it happens rather quickly.

[SteveG]

I've been told that a lot. Only I never played football. What was the question?

[M A V I C]

davester wrote:
[quote=M A V I C]
What about boxing?

Boxing is a huge problem too, although the number of participants, and therefore victims, is vastly fewer than the number of football players.
There's about 1700 NFL players in a given season. There's over 2900 professional boxers in the US who've fought in the last 12 months. 90% of boxers suffer brain injuries. This is not surprising, as the main goal in boxing is to knock someone out.

Of course, those numbers don't account for college & high school, or non-professional boxers, those in training or any MMA or martial arts.

I think the number of participants is debatable. But boxing has a much higher rate of head injury. But everyone is upset at the NFL?