Interesting Take by Antwaan Randle El

Football is definitely under attack right now, and it's too bad they cannot find a way to make the game more safe.  I love it, but I cannot lie, I worried every time my son went out on the field.

The way to make the game safer is to penalize players/teams heavily for illegal hits. Such as the helmet to helmet hit. I think colleges have made it illegal. Not sure about the nfl.  I'd ban any helmet hits whether direct or to the mid sections.  But I imagine doing so may make the game less interesting to some.

College players get ejected for hits to the head. NFL players only get fined. Given their incomes they consider a 25k fine the cost of doing business.

rynoattack posted:

Football is definitely under attack right now, and it's too bad they cannot find a way to make the game more safe.  I love it, but I cannot lie, I worried every time my son went out on the field.

Read somewhere about a guy who says that the way to make it safer is get rid of helmets.  He points out that brain injuries are rare in Rugby.  Players know their heads are exposed, so they don't hit each other with them.

Notice also that deaths happen in high school football, not so much in college. Seems to me an issue of spending on quality gear and coaching. 

My sons last football game ended with him on a backboard going to the hospital. Doc called it a stinger, not serious, although when they drove the ambulance down on the field, it seemed pretty serious.

At age 12 son decided that while he liked football, he LOVES baseball and didn't want to get hurt doing what he likes and not be able to do what he loves.

I thank god every day for that.  And then pray that someone makes helmets for pitchers cool. 

Played a lot of hockey in my younger days we wore helmets but no face masks, they hadn't been invented back then. I never got a head hit nor a high stick to the facial area. I have noticed though that once face guards were introduced high sticking has gone through the roof. It seems as the equipment gets better the more invincible players seem to think they and those they play against become. I am not against the better protection but better enforcement of the rules needs to be done.

JCG posted.

Read somewhere about a guy who says that the way to make it safer is get rid of helmets.  He points out that brain injuries are rare in Rugby.  Players know their heads are exposed, so they don't hit each other with them.

 

My former dentist and good friend is playing rugby into his late 50s.....said the exact same thing the last time I saw him.  He's had one concussion in 20+ years as he caught a knee to the head.  Interesting perspective.

Rugby also has less hard collisions because the Forward pass is not allowed. that means People are not catching the ball in full sprint but take the ball at a stand still and then start to run. that means usually you are tackled already after like 10-20 feet before you got up to serious Speed.

of course there are also some tackles at high Speed but usually then the will be from behind or from the side as someone is chasing you and not face on collisions.

I played football in grade school and high school and rugby in college. Although there were violent collisions in rugby, and injuries, I thought football was a much more violent game overall. Part of the reason is that in football every inch matters -- the defense needs to stand up the ballcarrier and drive him back so that the offense doesn't gain 10 yards and thus get a first down. In rugby, it doesn't really matter if the ballcarrier gains an extra yard or two, as long as he goes down, he has to release the ball (resulting in a scrum or ruck, etc.)

I will say this -- take a bunch of American football players and put them on a rugby pitch and the result is a lot of broken noses. It's hard to remember that you no longer have a face mask!

Iowamom23 posted:

Notice also that deaths happen in high school football, not so much in college. Seems to me an issue of spending on quality gear and coaching. 

My sons last football game ended with him on a backboard going to the hospital. Doc called it a stinger, not serious, although when they drove the ambulance down on the field, it seemed pretty serious.

At age 12 son decided that while he liked football, he LOVES baseball and didn't want to get hurt doing what he likes and not be able to do what he loves.

I thank god every day for that.  And then pray that someone makes helmets for pitchers cool. 

Most high school deaths are from heat exposure. In high school coaches think they are turning boys into men. In the NFL the players are protected by the CBA.

He talks about pulling yourself out of the game when something doesn't feel right. Agree 100%. But I suspect most coaches (men) will see that as weakness.  That's just how we're wired.  Penalize players/teams much more heavily with game suspensions that sort of stuff.