4 yrs ago: 40% of Americans didn’t want their children playing football; Now, the # is 48%

[MepoDawg#]

My son has played since the 4th grade. He’s now a Freshman. He’s had 1 concussion but it happened in BASKETBALL. It was nasty and he sat out 60 days. Went to a concussion specialist and he said he does not recommend holding him out of any future sports. The pros of being in sports outweighs the cons of sitting your child out on the chance he might get another concussion.

With that being said, one more and he’s done.

For me, I counted up 5 concussions in my lifetime. Played 6 years of football. Zero concussions from football. All concussions came from being a reckless kid/adult.

It’s not all about concussions. It’s about the repeated blows to the head that don’t cause concussions, but like I’ve always said there has to be other factors otherwise we’d see a lot more cases of CTE. A lot of people have played football and lived long, healthy lives well past the normal life span.

 

[dciowa]

Laser treatment of traumatic brain injuries is already available. Google to your heart's content, laser treatment for tbi, laser treatment for head injury, etc. But then someone can't make billions of government dollars studying it forever.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

2 things:
I recall one of the players on the USA rugby team at the Olympics two years ago who also was an NFL player (Patriots, maybe). He said it was FAR safer playing rugby because their technique is way better and they "hit" correctly. He said the quickest and best way to reduce the dangers in the NFL would be to take away their helmets (I'm paraphrasing, but the point is still the same).

ESPN had one of those E60's a couple years back about a very good soccer player (male) who developed ALS (pretty sure that's what it was) but was determined to be from CTE after he died. It was from the repetitive thumps on the head from the ball and other guys' domes. It was very well done and had a pretty solid message with the research and data. Can't remember the guy's name, but he played semi-pro level if I'm recall correctly.

 

[bojihawk44]

2 things:
I recall one of the players on the USA rugby team at the Olympics two years ago who also was an NFL player (Patriots, maybe). He said it was FAR safer playing rugby because their technique is way better and they "hit" correctly. He said the quickest and best way to reduce the dangers in the NFL would be to take away their helmets (I'm paraphrasing, but the point is still the same).

He's right. And that's why a lot of teams have started to copy the way rugby players tackle. The Seahawks pretty much brought it to the mainstream and it's commonly referred to as Hawk tackling in coaching circles. Instead of trying to get your head across the runner's body as was taught for many years, it emphasizes chasing the near hip of the ballcarrier and planting your downfield shoulder into his thigh, wrapping with the arms and twisting to the ground. If you watch much football, you can see that tackling form has changed pretty drastically over the last few years, and for the better. That alone is going to make a huge difference in the number of head injuries players suffer.

 

[hawkfeever]

The point is there's risks with everything we do. The bad part is we don't know when they'll formulate and cause real damage. Football is a dangerous sport and obviously isn't for everyone, but not all people who play are going to suffer traumatic brain injuries. Luckily, this is an issue we are now educated on more than ever before and it's being taken seriously. New techniques will help tremendously and new equipment will help some. If you don't want your son to play, then fine. Fortunately, many boys still do want to play and the game will be better for it.

Sure risks but not all are equally likely. In football you are trying to hit someone or they are trying to hit you on every single play. I don't have someone trying to hit me out on the highway every time I go out.

 

[WhiteSoxClone]

The point is there's risks with everything we do.

Of course there are risks in everything we do, but that doesn't mean you ignore probability. Saying "there is risk in everything" is rationalizing ignoring risk probability. I'm not arguing for or against football participation, but I am pointing out that the "there is risk in everything" argument is a poor one.

 

[cocoem]

* CTE is on everyone's mind

* Justin Timberlake says during the Super Bowl that he would not allow his 3 year old son to ever play football

* Mothers are more and more against their sons playing football (on Sunday's Meet the Press they broke down the numbers and mothers were REALLY against football, which could be a big problem for the future of football)

* You have people like Tyler Sash dying at a young age

* You have articles like the one written by the Des Moines Resister with the heading
Football 'literally killed' 24-year-old Zac Easter of Iowa.

I can't cite it but I saw an article a while back, mentioning a high prevalence of CTE in military personnel. Just curious what other occupations might have a high rate.
Most people suffer concussions in their lifetime. I have had multiple. My first was falling off playground equipment in the third grade. The others were goofing off with my buddies. My son had his first in PE in Kindergarten. As for suicides, the rate of athletes is much less than the general population. They just grab more headlines[/QUOTE]
Exactly....absolutely nothing to link football directly to CTE.

You mentioned Sash....heavy drug abuse in his history. Would love to see a in-depth study about the football players testing positive with CTE with their abuse of drugs...prescription or illegal. To just assume that football is the cause of CTE is irresponsible. Millions upon millions of former football players show no signs of CTE but that doesn't get clicks or sell to the panic part of society.

 

[bojihawk44]

Of course there are risks in everything we do, but that doesn't mean you ignore probability. Saying "there is risk in everything" is rationalizing ignoring risk probability. I'm not arguing for or against football participation, but I am pointing out that the "there is risk in everything" argument is a poor one.

Nah, there's risks in everything. Can't possibly go through life like Reuben Feffer calculating just how risky everything is and basing your decisions off of that.

 

[jerot]

5000 kids under 21 die every year in auto accidents.
Another 20, 000 injured.
Nobody ever says squat about that, or ever will.
But lets ban football.

 

[anon_bb9wlf9kj42py]

Actually there is a lot of talk about that, because self driving cars will likely reduce that number significantly, and it's a great thing.

 

[hawkfeever]

48% of Americans had no clue playing a game that requires you wear a helmet may lead to head injuries.

People understand that, it is just that most believed the brain can heal itself like a cut on your arm or a bruise. We know now not necessarily the case. We knew injuries in football, we just didn't understand how the body (in this case the head) reacted to those especially long term. We probably should have known sooner with how the lives of boxers usually end up, like with Ali and Parkinsons.

 

[hawkfeever]

5000 kids under 21 die every year in auto accidents.
Another 20, 000 injured.
Nobody ever says squat about that, or ever will.
But lets ban football.

One of the reasons driverless vehicles are coming and yes they will. The other of course is $$ as companies can make money off you not driving. And realistically everyone has to know how to drive to make a living, we don't have to play football to make a living.

 

[hawkfeever]

If you have girls, better not let them play soccer.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170314081533.htm

Believe they ban using the head or on its way to that now. If they quit allowing a person to use their head to hit the ball in soccer will anyone really care??? The problem with football is that hitting is the essence of the game. One of the prime attractants of the fans.

 

[bojihawk44]

Believe they ban using the head or on its way to that now. If they quit allowing a person to use their head to hit the ball in soccer will anyone really care??? The problem with football is that hitting is the essence of the game. One of the prime attractants of the fans.

And they're already changing techniques/rules in football that eliminate the use of the head as well, as I and many others have pointed out in this thread. It will never be a perfectly safe sport, but there is no such thing.

 

[hawkfeever]

And they're already changing techniques/rules in football that eliminate the use of the head as well, as I and many others have pointed out in this thread. It will never be a perfectly safe sport, but there is no such thing.

Yep unfortunately accidentally banging heads is going to happen a lot in football even if you try not to. Maybe giant bubble wrap helmets or throw aways after each quarter where the helmets collapse more easily. Maybe spray cans of flex seal from the infomercials. There will definitely some sort of censor instrumentation put in at some point.