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

[Speedy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/sports...h_20160316&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=18627451&_r=1

"Jeff Miller, the N.F.L.’s senior vice president for health and safety policy, last year. Asked if there was a link between football and degenerative brain disorders, he said, “The answer to that is certainly, yes.” Gregory Payan/Associated Press
Perhaps no one will remember the setting, a hearing room for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, or the person who asked the question, a member of the House of Representatives from Illinois. But seven words spoken in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on Monday could profoundly affect the country’s most popular sport.

After years of the N.F.L.‘s disputing evidence that connected football to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in nearly 100 former players, a top official for the league for the first time acknowledged the link. To many, it was an echo of big tobacco’s confession in 1997 that smoking causes cancer and heart disease.

Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois, asked during a round-table discussion about concussions whether “there is a link between football and degenerative brain disorders like C.T.E.”

Jeff Miller, the N.F.L.’s senior vice president for health and safety policy, said, “The answer to that is certainly, yes.” His response signaled a stunning about-face for the league, which has been accused by former players and independent experts of hiding the dangers of head injuries for decades.

The N.F.L.’s senior vice president for health and safety, Jeff Miller, acknowledged on Monday a link between football-related concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy."

[Acer]

So where to we go from here, short of banning the sport?

I've heard it suggested that they'd better off with no helmets, so they go back to rugby-style wrap-up tackles instead of full-steam-ahead collisions.

I love watching the sport, but my personal increasing awareness of the injury threat is beginning to take out the joy. Crushing tackles, regardless of which team, make me flinch, not cheer. Then there's all those middle-schoolers being suited up...

[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.

[cbelt3]

Damn well about time.

[M A V I C]

What about boxing?

[davester]

pRICE cUBE wrote:
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.

[davester]

M A V I C wrote:
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.

[wave rider]

M A V I C wrote:
What about boxing?

Does boxing deny long term brain effects? Punchdrunk has been in use for centuries(?).

[freeradical]

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

[N-OS X-tasy!]

freeradical wrote:
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!