Concussions. What do you think?

[CalgaryFan05]

After the Adams hit - I got to thinking about the whole concussions issue, and I wondered what everyone thought about it.

After the initial frenzy, pending lawsuits, and the movie (which, I didn't manage to see) - the whole issue seems to have gone kinda under the radar. Seems like they are kinda whistling past the graveyard on the issue.

From what I can see - as long as everyone cheerfully goes into the blue tent, and then either appears or disappears everyone seems happy. Doesn't seem like the sport is still trying to eliminate them (which, really, honestly - I don't think you can 100% eliminate), but happily living with 'less' of them.

My dad played linebacker up in the CFL here for a short period of time before I was born. He's pushing 80 now, and has frontotemporal lobe dementia. It's in the middle stages. I have NO idea whether his condition is related to his playing time, or not. Certainly a handful of his other ailments can be attributed to his playing time. He's still quite lucid, and has all his faculties - but you can start to sniff it around the 'edges'.

Anyways - the jury is still out for me a bit on this one. I see the nerf helmets, and I see the happy concussion protocol. Like Chris Rock said: "They ain't NEVER gonna cure cancer. They'll just find a way for you to LIVE WITH IT". And, I kinda feel the same way on this one.

Not to make it political (please, god, no) - but the only real recent comment that I've heard on the subject was Biden saying something along the lines of: "It's a violent sport. They're generally doing the right things." - or something like that.

So, as the title says: What do you think? Is living with 'less' concussions acceptable? Should the goal to be 100% elimination? Given the fact that it turns a percentage of our favorite sports players into essentially vegetables later in life.

 

[Cyrus12]

No way they eliminate them unless they go to touch or flag tackle football...could that happen?? Football is a violent sport so you know what you sign up for when you get in..more than ever now knowing what head shots do. The concussion protocol seems to be the right way to deal with it but not sure it'll result in anything other than a cya scenario for the nfl. The head trauma isn't going to go away.

 

[RiverDog]

Good topic.

Concussions, along with other long term health risks associated with such a violent contact sport, are a legitimate concern that could one day bring an end to it. It's not like it's the only sport that has inherent dangers. Even sports that seem benign, like cheerleading, have certain long term health risks. But American football is the most prominent and the most profitable.

IMO the league should be heavily funding research into improvements in equipment, such as better shock absorbing helmets, and medical or pharmaceutical solutions that would render the brain less susceptible to injury or treat the symptoms in the event an injury does occur.

 

[fenderbender123]

I think athletes need to understand a little fact of life: nothing is free. You want the glory, fame, and/or money of big times sports, you can't have that without the risks involved. You can't have it both ways.

That is not to say that interested businesses shouldn't keep looking at ways to develop better equipment, but it's going to be largely if not completely offset by the improvements in athletic development (aka players getting stronger and faster) as time goes on.

 

[FlyingGunHawk]

Trying to make an unsafe sport safe is a contradiction. One of the reasons why football is popular is because its unsafe and physical. The league knows this. I think they're just terrified of lawsuits and are trying to save face and protect their product. Which is their prerogative.

I'll continue to watch football unless they do something drastic. Like making it 2 hand touch or flag. Which TBH, seemed like something that would never happen. But considering how soft society is evolving it wouldn't surprise me if tackle football eventually gets outlawed or something. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it could happen. Who knows what the world will be like in 20-30 years. Maybe things will change. Maybe they won't.

I've been binging on old football games from the 80's and 90's and it almost looks like a different sport by how intense the game was. It's still very intense, but the rules are slowly eroding the game. As a fan, I expect a flag to be thrown on every play these days. Especially on long or medium passes. I hold my breathe to wait and see if any laundry gets thrown on the play. Because it's so common. And I despise that feeling. I shouldn't look around and wait for a flag to be thrown. Or not thrown. It's bullshit.

I'll reiterate what I said in another thread: If player safety was a serious concern for NFL, then the sport should be illegal. Because the safest thing they could do is not allow football to be played. Because by its very nature, the game is dangerous. Plain and simple.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

and medical or pharmaceutical solutions that would render the brain less susceptible to injury or treat the symptoms in the event an injury does occur.

THAT's an interesting take on it - Never even thought of that.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

I'll continue to watch football unless they do something drastic. Like making it 2 hand touch or flag. Which TBH, seemed like something that

I had actually NEVER thought of it before, but of the 2 - i'd choose '2 hand touch' over flag anyday.

If I HAD to choose.

 

[FlyingGunHawk]

I had actually NEVER thought of it before, but of the 2 - i'd choose '2 hand touch' over flag anyday.

If I HAD to choose.

Ironically flag football would probably have more injuries because you would have players flying at top speed going for the waist lol

 

[RiverDog]

My dad played football during the leather helmet days, and long before concussions became a household word, he claimed that the advent of the hard plastic helmets and face masks, made in the spirit of making the sport safer, actually made it more dangerous. It used to be that you didn't lead with your head and rather tackled with your shoulders. To do otherwise was suicide. Imagine playing football with a head covering offering little more protection than if you were wearing a baseball cap. No way are you going to tackle like they do nowadays.

Now the sport has come full circle as we're trying to teach players not to lead with their helmets and tackle with their shoulders.

 

[Hockey Guy]

My dad played football during the leather helmet days, and long before concussions became a household word, he claimed that the advent of the hard plastic helmets and face masks, made in the spirit of making the sport safer, actually made it more dangerous. It used to be that you didn't lead with your head and rather tackled with your shoulders. To do otherwise was suicide. Imagine playing football with a head covering offering little more protection than if you were wearing a baseball cap. No way are you going to tackle like they do nowadays.

Now the sport has come full circle as we're trying to teach players not to lead with their helmets and tackle with their shoulders.

This post could be posted almost word for word on a hockey forum.

All the equipment developed to make it "safer" in both sports has made it much more dangeruss.

 

[ivotuk]

I've gotten concussions from riding and jumping my snow machine.

I've got 24 screws and hardware in my spine from flying/loading bush planes, guiding, and a lot of manual labor.

Why did I do all of this? I was a young man, full of testosterone, and itching to prove myself against others. I thought lifting heavy stuff was cool.

My take;

Life is short, and everyone's trying to make their mark on it. And once you've seen someone young deteriorate and pass from natural causes, all caution goes out the window.

Injuries and deterioration are a part of life, and the only thing you can hope to change, is the severity.

Society is always changing, and we're learning the benefits of good physical health, healthy eating, and the importance of emotional health on the physical. Knowledge is the only thing that will change how we act in our youth and react to life.

Neil Peart died from Glioblastoma (a common form of brain cancer). If someone told him it was from being a drummer for Rush all of those years, do you think that he'd change his line of work?

Anyway, just my thoughts on the subject.

 

[jeremiah]

This post could be posted almost word for word on a hockey forum.

All the equipment developed to make it "safer" in both sports has made it much more dangeruss.

Just like gloves for boxing, made the sport more dangerous for the fighters. Without gloves, you can't just pound on a guys head, you bust up your hands and lose the fight on decisions. Gloves for boxing, is to make it more violent, big bad helmets for football do the same. Back to leather, let people play, like the same rules for QBs as for RB's.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

#

Just like gloves for boxing, made the sport more dangerous for the fighters. Without gloves, you can't just pound on a guys head, you bust up your hands and lose the fight on decisions. Gloves for boxing, is to make it more violent, big bad helmets for football do the same. Back to leather, let people play, like the same rules for QBs as for RB's.

Excellent points.

I think the same way about snow tires. All my employees (young dudes) with their speedy cars used to obsess about changing tires in the spring/fall. I've never owned a set of snow tires - I just drive to conditions. They put on snow tires and all of a sudden they're invulnerable. Until they crash

Good points.

 

[Flyingsquad23]

Just like gloves for boxing, made the sport more dangerous for the fighters. Without gloves, you can't just pound on a guys head, you bust up your hands and lose the fight on decisions. Gloves for boxing, is to make it more violent, big bad helmets for football do the same. Back to leather, let people play, like the same rules for QBs as for RB's.

So you’re saying nobody got concussions with the leather helmets?
Have you watched bare knuckle boxing? They pound each others face relentlessly.

 

[GemCity]

Always a risk…I bought my son an Axiom helmet and guardian cap (for practice).

We (6th grade coaches) constantly stress the importance of keeping your head up.

Of course, some of the kids have trouble with bad habits. It’s hard to teach them to tackle at the waist and below along with a near foot/near shoulder approach.

In the NFL, they’re used to seeing someone come in and try to “blast” the ball carrier to the ground rather than going low and wrapping the legs.

 

[jeremiah]

So you’re saying nobody got concussions with the leather helmets?
Have you watched bare knuckle boxing? They pound each others face relentlessly.

They are not going to be a fighter for long, as they are breaking their knuckles, or they are holding back on the power. How does one explain the "instant" concussion caused by falling on your back as a player? Is that from playing on turf? Is it because the helmet is so large that instead of the neck muscles keeping the head from striking turf by natural tightening, therefore lessening the blow? I don't know how many times I fell in life, and hit my head. When I grew up, houses didn't have carpeting.Floors were hardwood, and rugs would slip out. Kids CONSTANTLY would run in the house, slip on the carpet and BOOM.

When it comes to science, and scientists, what they truly think is more of an evolving belief. Science is as much a religion as religion. At one time, they believed in the flat Earth. They wouldn't believe that ulcers were caused by a bacteria, and the bleeding a patient would cure them. In that frame of thought, has there been studies showing that CTE is CAUSED by trauma, or is it one of those things where they assume it is the cause, so look for evidence it is true? Without unbiased studies of human, not knowing what their lives are, or events in it, it is impossible to KNOW. It is just a theory, like evolution.

Someone posited a theory, now it is taken as fact. Like going from scientists telling us of a coming Ice age in the 80's, to catastrophic warming in the 90's, to the less easy to prove "climate change" with a date, of today. All scientific BS, meant to move people to change behavior.

 

[Flyingsquad23]

The science changes with new discoveries and knowledge, if it didn’t change then it would be like religion.
If you don’t believe the science behind concussions then find the evidence to refute it. And a belief or anecdote isn’t evidence.

 

[49fansinceBrodie]

Someone posited a theory, now it is taken as fact. Like going from scientists telling us of a coming Ice age in the 80's, to catastrophic warming in the 90's, to the less easy to prove "climate change" with a date, of today. All scientific BS, meant to move people to change behavior.

The cooling stuff was more like the 60's and 70's, not the 80's. Wiki article about why postulates were made about global cooling: The Article

What nobody ever wants to say is that the real cause of global warming is overpopulation.

 

[GeekHawk]

Someone posited a theory, now it is taken as fact.

That's not how science works. You posit a hypothesis - a possible explanation for why something is like it is. If repeatable experiments are performed and research done that supports this hypothesis, then it *starts* moving to the realm of accepted theory. If even one experiment proves it wrong (and that also needs to be repeatable) then it goes in the shitcan. If many many repeatable experiments and observations continue to prove it right, then it really goes to the realm of accepted theory. Like Einstein's Theory of Relativity, where things like the fact that atomic clocks go slower on GPS satellites than on Earth (due to the orbital speed of the sat) continuously reaffirms that theory. Eventually, enough experiments and observations have happened that it becomes a law, like the 3 Laws of Thermodynamics.

Calling a hypothesis a theory just makes people think that when a scientist is referring to a theory they are referring to something that hasn't been backed up by repeatable experiments and observations.

 

[hgwellz12]

Don't talk about climate change and global warming! It's against the rules. Or so I was told.