Football And Concussions

[BooT]

Let's get a little debate going on here on a very hot topic in the Sports industry.

Do you think that Football does severe damage to one's brain and body, even though they are wearing so much protective gear?

Do you ever think that there will be a safer way to play the sport? (Other than lame ass flag football...)

 

I believe that the worst concussions happen due to poor training and coaching.

 

At a younger age, players should really be taught the proper techniques and forms for the position that they play. With that, they could safely make plays and ensure a safe game.

[PerryThePlatypus]

The game should be left the way it is to be honest. Maybe reinforcing or padding helmets more would stop more concussions but other then that alot of the big hits are what attract crowds and makes the game what it is. I'm not a huge football fan but when I watched it I tend to follow the bears.The game is incredibly fun to watch even if I think its just people running around smashing into eachother, abit like rugby with ALOT better hits.

[BranHorse]

I played football for 5 years and managed to get one concussion. Probably had what is considered to be a "concussion" many times but only one time did i get hit in the head and actually pass out.

Of course getting hit in the head is gonna cause trauma. There is plenty of proof. Helmet is going to help, but if you are taking multi shots to the head on a daily bases then your brain is going to get rattled and suffer damage. The only way to prevent this is to not hit with the head.

Most dangerous head injury's aren't caused by helmet to helmet contact which the league is so determined to stop, its actually worse when the head slams backwards on the ground.

I played middle line backer and was obsessed with getting the big jaw dropping hits, but my head was always aimed towards the ball, but still hit helmet to helmet unintentionally (you cant predict whats gonna happen when the whole team is piling on one guy).

Linemen have it the worst (played nose guard a few years) because they always hit there heads on damn near every play....if your leading with your arms on the line and trying to block then the d linemen will just make you eat dirt.

This isn't really avoidable in my opinion. Head injuries are gonna happen unless it turns into flag football. People just need to understand that if you are going to make a couple million a year playing football then its going to be dangerous (WHO FUCKING KNEW FOOTBALL COULD BE DANGEROUS???).

[AnonyHorse]

Play rugby pussies. Even if you hit each others heads, you have optional headgear which wont lead to as many concussions as this massive ass plastic helmets you guys use. 2 rocks with a soft layer on the outside hit each other, that rock will feel very little. Put a hard cover and the shock will go through it.

[Dolan]

Play rugby pussies. Even if you hit each others heads, you have optional headgear which wont lead to as many concussions as this massive ass plastic helmets you guys use. 2 rocks with a soft layer on the outside hit each other, that rock will feel very little. Put a hard cover and the shock will go through it.

this

 

RUGBY ALL DAY!

[Cookie]

Play rugby pussies. Even if you hit each others heads, you have optional headgear which wont lead to as many concussions as this massive ass plastic helmets you guys use. 2 rocks with a soft layer on the outside hit each other, that rock will feel very little. Put a hard cover and the shock will go through it.

You can't hit as hard playing rugby as football fisics 101

[LazaHorse]

You can't hit as hard playing rugby as football fisics 101

Yessir. Scrums do not involve as high energy hits as open-field football tackles. Collisions are more often, but not as severe.

 

Concussions happen in professional sports especially because we pay for them to happen. When Madden introduced the "Hit Stick" turned "Truck Stick" turn "Highlight Stick", he was pandering to what has become the end goal of professional contact sports: Damage. We pay for theatrics. That involves, a lot of the time, people getting hurt. The Colisseum would not have survived for as long as it did as Rome's most famed center of entertainment if it did not involve the actual death of most of its participants. Injuries pay the bills, and as long as we keep training athletes to PRODUCE damage and fans to EXPECT damage on the field, that will continue to be the case.

 

As far as my opinion, I don't think it matters much. Football's always been about letting out steam. It just so happens that today's athletes have far less concern for where that steam goes than they used to.

[Goat]

Yessir. Scrums do not involve as high energy hits as open-field football tackles. Collisions are more often, but not as severe.

 

Concussions happen in professional sports especially because we pay for them to happen. When Madden introduced the "Hit Stick" turned "Truck Stick" turn "Highlight Stick", he was pandering to what has become the end goal of professional contact sports: Damage. We pay for theatrics. That involves, a lot of the time, people getting hurt. The Colisseum would not have survived for as long as it did as Rome's most famed center of entertainment if it did not involve the actual death of most of its participants. Injuries pay the bills, and as long as we keep training athletes to PRODUCE damage and fans to EXPECT damage on the field, that will continue to be the case.

 

As far as my opinion, I don't think it matters much. Football's always been about letting out steam. It just so happens that today's athletes have far less concern for where that steam goes than they used to.

 

I agree completely. Well said sir.

[eclipse]

Yessir. Scrums do not involve as high energy hits as open-field football tackles. Collisions are more often, but not as severe.

 

Concussions happen in professional sports especially because we pay for them to happen. When Madden introduced the "Hit Stick" turned "Truck Stick" turn "Highlight Stick", he was pandering to what has become the end goal of professional contact sports: Damage. We pay for theatrics. That involves, a lot of the time, people getting hurt. The Colisseum would not have survived for as long as it did as Rome's most famed center of entertainment if it did not involve the actual death of most of its participants. Injuries pay the bills, and as long as we keep training athletes to PRODUCE damage and fans to EXPECT damage on the field, that will continue to be the case.

 

As far as my opinion, I don't think it matters much. Football's always been about letting out steam. It just so happens that today's athletes have far less concern for where that steam goes than they used to.

 

Completely agree.

[DeathShot]

I haven't gone through the rants, but I believe that if you're going to play the sport, then you're most likely aware of the risks. I play football, and I know that if I go for a tackle wrong, I can snap my neck, and my life can practically end there. But, that's just the risk that you take playing a sport. Honestly? I think the "improving" should stop, all they're doing is making the sport less fun to play, and imo, even watch.

[BluHorse]

There is no safe way to play what has become popular in football. Many advances in the game have lead to the new helmets you see players sporting, however nothing will ever stop the concussions from happening in this game. I played for something like 13 years (about 12 of them tackle) and was only diagnosed with 3 concussions (probably suffered at least 6+). This game is very physically demanding and regardless of what position the player plays there will always be lasting physical damage to the individual.

 

tl;dr: football is a dangerous game and the individuals that play it know the risks stepping on the field.

[LazaHorse]

Frankly, people over-exaggerate injuries in Football. Yes people get hurt a lot in football, as it is a very high contact sport. But to be frank, the daily toll of closing pitching in baseball, the leg strain and body sacrifice of hockey goaltending, and the stamina testing nightmare of soft court tennis are all just as if not more taxing than most football positions (save perhaps runningback and linebacker). Football players play more or less half the game. At that, most football players find "hard contact" in very few of those plays (Ray Lewis led the Ravens game with 17 tackles in 87 total recorded plays; a fairly ridiculous ratio might I add, man's a beast). Most other sports ought to have as much focus on injury (one wrong stretch, one wrong step, or one bad line-drive and a pitcher's career is over), but football is glorified (negatively I guess) because of how flashy those injury-inducing plays are.

[-O-P-rime]

Real.