Will NFL football be gone in 20 years?

[Bilyous2 884]

We had a bunch of posts in another thread about concussions and the massive class action lawsuit against the NFL that is pending, and why the Chiefs are handling these things much more carefully.  Here are two links I saw today.  One has three short articles, all great, and one addresses these things regarding Randle El's recent problems.  The big question for me is what happens if the judge allows the class action suit to proceed with all the rights of discovery.  This could end in BILLIONS of dollars of settlement to all former NFL players and could wipe out the profitability and future of the sport itself.  Any thoughts?

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/brett-favre-latest-nfl-player-memory-loss/story?id=20681336

 

http://www.inforum.com/sports/3928032-randle-el-36-experiencing-pain-memory-loss-after-nfl-career

[SEMO 6,811]

The US might be gone in 20 years.

[kccrow 529]

My problem with the entire issue is kind of two-fold. For starters, this shouldn't be only the NFL's burden, since all of these guys played high school and collegiate football. Secondly, the sport has been extremely informative about the possibility of head injury for at least the past 40 years. There have been warning labels on helmets since NOCSAE introduced them in the 1970s. There is inherent risk, that all players are well aware of, in playing the game of football.

 

While knowledge about concussions has increased, the knowledge that you could get a concussion from playing football has been around for at least 50 years, and I'm sure as far back as the 1930's when Riddell introduced the plastic helmet to combat injuries suffered wearing leather helmets. There also has been knowledge that concussions, in general, are not good for you and there has been a recommended medical protocol to follow, after sustaining a concussion, for quite some time. Whether NFL players chose to ignore recommended medical advice or continued to subject themselves to the possibility of concussions is not the NFL's fault, it is the players' fault.

 

My personal opinion on the issue is that the NFL should not be held accountable for effects of concussions in a sport where it was known by the players that they were extremely likely, there were medical protocols in place to address concussions, the league couldn't control every individual that sustained a concussion and didn't report it to team physicians (some aren't as severe as others and players can hide them), and the league has continually evolved to combat concussions as it learned more about them. The league has been responsible regarding the issue, at least in my opinion.

 

This isn't a drug company making a bad drug that fucks people up. This is more akin to a car company that produces an automobile generally considered to be safe and I choose to drive. The car company can't control the fact that I might die because I get into a car accident driving their vehicle. I buy automobile and life insurance to protect my family financially because I am making the risky decision to drive a car, all the while knowing there is a legitimate chance that I could get into a wreck. NFL players take the risk of playing a very violent sport that they can get head and spinal injuries in that may severely alter their immediate or future well being, its on them to take precautions to protect their families' financial futures, not the NFL having to pay a class action suit that should be thrown out of the courts.

 

As for the NFL existing in 20-25 years, who's to say for sure. I certainly believe it won't exist as most of us have come to know it. I think we'll see a slightly watered down league with larger roster sizes to compensate for required time off or end of a players season if they do suffer a concussion. I don't think the league will go away, unless of course this class action suit goes through for billions of dollars. If that's the case, I don't think the league could financially recover for some time. There are only so many potential owners out there with the deep pockets required to own an NFL team. If it does make it through financially, we'll see players' salaries significantly reduced for quite some time.

[Bilyous2 884]

NIce post, kc.  You put a lot of time and thought into that.  I think there are a few false analogies and some lack of appreciation of how many concussed players were literally forced back into action when they had no idea what they were doing. The real stunning finding are the large studies that show that probably closer to 95% of players suffer brain damage to some degree that keeps getting worse with age.  How much the NFL owners knew the extent of the risk and whether they fully disclosed it to players (what did they know, and when did they know it?  And what did they tell the players?) will be a matter of legal discovery. This will take some time, but the discovery process will be huge.  This kind of reminds me of the "unsafe at any speed" thing that brought Detroit to its knees.  You may be right, but the woman who is the judge that will decide if the class action can proceed could be initiating the end of a sport that would slowly unfold.  It isn't going away.  And yes, this also applies to college ball.  The false analogy that I was referring to was your comparing automobile safety and your knowledge of risk when driving a car. This is completely unlike that, because the percentage of people who are permanently damaged from driving is completely unlike the 80-90% risk of damage from playing football. Not even in the same ballpark.  Discovery will also show exactly how risks were explained to players.  As you mentioned, these risks have been known over 50 years, so what will discovery find regarding whether this knowledge was completely conveyed to the young players?

[PhataLerror 370]

For what it's worth, the NFL might be around in twenty years, but I'm not certain I'll still be watching it.

 

I personally do not watch either boxing or mixed martial arts because the sports are not only inherently violent, but the stated purpose of the contests is for the contestant to beat their opponent into submission. Football on the other hand is inherently violent, but the stated purpose of the contest is to score points by finishing plays with a ball moving between certain markers. It is a very fine line that I walk, and my decision to view football is one that I review periodically. To me, whether the contestants participate willingly and with full knowledge of the potential consequences isn't the issue. I find violence for the sake of violence offensive, and it would be hypocritical of me to hold to the ideal of hoping for a world without violence while at the same time deliberately and for the sake of my own pleasure viewing violence.

 

People get hurt playing just about any sport. Most football players are not trying to hurt other players. Incidentally, the number of injuries sustained among players of the sport has increased because the participants are faster and stronger than in previous generations. Even so, the 'big hit' is more celebrated than it once was. Blows to the head, though incidental in the chaos of the play, are getting the publicity they should be, but I do not expect that the NFL is going to be ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing rules that would protect players.

 

In short, I don't want to be known as a viewer of the sport on the day in which a football player suffers an injury that ends his life, whether on the field or shortly thereafter. Right now I am struggling with the conflict of ethics presented to me as I hear reports about the long-term negative effects of playing competitive football. Football is a beautiful sport that balances wit with brute force, and execution with emotion. It's far more appealing to me than any other sport to be found on this planet, and yet my sense of regret over what the sport is becoming through no fault of its own seems to move inevitably toward the time when I won't be able to watch the sport and feel good about myself.

[eraser 722]

NASCAR changed to reflect the times. They tried throttling down the engines, starved them of fuel, starved them of air, limited their size. The speeds came down, but that had its own problems. The speed limitations in a race would seem counter intuitive. It was, and with the decreased speeds also came more congestion. With the congestion, the accidents increased. NASCAR decided to improve harnesses, and helmets. Someone invented SAFER walls. Finally, the deaths, and the severity of injuries have dramatically gone down. 

 

We can tell old stories about Butkus, Lambert, Blount, Lott, and Youngblood, and tell ourselves there is no problem, but this would be delusional. If we do that, there will not be football as we know it in the future. In a way, it has already started to happen. Kids have started to move to other sports. The talent level coming into college is less than before. There is no way to eliminate all risk, but the NFL needs to do a better job. They talk the talk, but so far most of it is just that...talk. 

 

The best way to prevent brain injuries has nothing to do with throwing more money at players who have brain injuries. That is not to say these players do not need some remediation. However, it fixes nothing. In fact, in a sick way, it sort of promotes the danger in the NFL. The way to fix the NFL is to take the dangerous plays away. That is hard to do. Most of the money goes to very few players, and those tend to have longer careers. The  majority of guys do not fall into that category. There are quite a few who languish on the periphery. Eighty some players come to camp.  Fifty three players move on with the club, while another dozen or so filter on and off the practice team. The most dangerous spots are on special teams. These players last the least, suffer the most severe injuries, and get paid the worst of players actively on a team.

 

So borderline players typically take the biggest chances, and that would not be unpredictable. Typically, players with a lot of skin in the game do not use their helmet to stop an opposing player. They know their chances of making money exists best by staying healthy. Guys on the fringe don't have the luxury to worry about such things. Maybe if the incentives were taken away, players who do questionable things will be less likely to be reckless.  Even more, if there are disincentives in place, guys will be even less likely to lead with their head. 

 

Guys who injure other players should be out of commission for as long as the players they injure. If a player gets speared in the noggin, and has to miss games, the other player should be removed from the game, especially if there was clear intent. In addition, the player who caused the injury due to recklessness, should be out as long as the player that was hurt. Teams will get the idea when the teams have to rework their roaster, especially if the CAP hit stays in place. 

 

I love football. I don't love seeing a player suffer a brain injury, commit suicide, or do harm to someone else. It has to be fixed. The league needs to do more than lip service. They still don't get it. They better take a crash course. 

[Bilyous2 884]

For what it's worth, the NFL might be around in twenty years, but I'm not certain I'll still be watching it.

 

I personally do not watch either boxing or mixed martial arts because the sports are not only inherently violent, but the stated purpose of the contests is for the contestant to beat their opponent into submission. Football on the other hand is inherently violent, but the stated purpose of the contest is to score points by finishing plays with a ball moving between certain markers. It is a very fine line that I walk, and my decision to view football is one that I review periodically. To me, whether the contestants participate willingly and with full knowledge of the potential consequences isn't the issue. I find violence for the sake of violence offensive, and it would be hypocritical of me to hold to the ideal of hoping for a world without violence while at the same time deliberately and for the sake of my own pleasure viewing violence.

 

People get hurt playing just about any sport. Most football players are not trying to hurt other players. Incidentally, the number of injuries sustained among players of the sport has increased because the participants are faster and stronger than in previous generations. Even so, the 'big hit' is more celebrated than it once was. Blows to the head, though incidental in the chaos of the play, are getting the publicity they should be, but I do not expect that the NFL is going to be ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing rules that would protect players.

 

In short, I don't want to be known as a viewer of the sport on the day in which a football player suffers an injury that ends his life, whether on the field or shortly thereafter. Right now I am struggling with the conflict of ethics presented to me as I hear reports about the long-term negative effects of playing competitive football. Football is a beautiful sport that balances wit with brute force, and execution with emotion. It's far more appealing to me than any other sport to be found on this planet, and yet my sense of regret over what the sport is becoming through no fault of its own seems to move inevitably toward the time when I won't be able to watch the sport and feel good about myself.

I share your conflicted feelings for all the same reasons and have for some time.   But I am stuck.  I became a true fan of the Chiefs in an intense way at the age of 22, when I came back from college to KC and went to all the home games the year they won the Super Bowl in  the 1969 season.  When a person is 22 and becomes connected emotionally with something that strongly, it simply never goes away.  Here I am 68 years old, and I see the same truths you describe, but I simply cannot help but follow the Chiefs in every detail and live and die with the outcomes of every game, even though I know better.  I know I can never be any different.  The big question for me is who dies first? NFL football or me? I think it will be a real horse race.

[MAUI 4,758]

In 20 years it will probably be replaced by the LLL.., Lawyer Litigation League..,

 

Not sure yet what the Wild Card format will be..,

[Wolfscall 204]

I would say football as we know it right now will not exist. Just like football that we knew as kids doesn't exist. It's gonna be somewhere between what we know now and flag football, imo.

[PhataLerror 370]

I would say football as we know it right now will not exist. Just like football that we knew as kids doesn't exist. It's gonna be somewhere between what we know now and flag football, imo.

I know that most fans detest the idea, but I would be OK with that if it protected the lives of the players.

[BroncoStud 3,253]

It will exist but may resemble flag football more than what we see today.  It is only inevitable.  Either they vastly improve the armor/padding for players or contact is removed.

[eraser 722]

I recall a writer wrote about seeing Husain Abdullah before a game, and his padding was almost nonexistent. The shoulder pads were a bare minimum. He purposefully surrendered personal safety for speed, and agility. 

 

The NFL pays good money. Where else can kid get that much money that quickly? Outside of criminal activity, the options are extremely limited. So, if a young man has made it past all the hurdles to where he is actually making money, why would he pull back when the brass ring is within reach? This is why guys at the fringe take the risks they take. The other driver is the culture. This culture, that is so braggadocios, demands action. Those not willing to back it up are too easily tagged with the scarlet letter P for poser. 

 

Football injuries are not limited to the NFL. Sure, the speed, and force is greater at the professional level, but that does not mean injuries do not occur at the lower levels. Statistically, the more chances of things going wrong increase with greater numbers of participation. There are 1696 participants at the NFL level. In college, that number is estimated to be over 90,000. So, even though most of the collisions are not as violent, the odds are even greater for permanent damage. That number pales to those who participate in high school. 1,122,024 kids played high school football. Not only are the numbers greater, but the differences in size and ability are much greater too. In the same way a semi truck driving at 80 does more damage to a pinto driving 23 mph, a physically immature 90 lb kid does not have a good chance against the star 195 pound athlete, running at twice the speed. 

 

So, should we just ditch football? That would seem to be the response. It would be also be a mistake. Statistics sometimes skew the truth. For instance, there are 1.24 million deaths caused by automobile accidents in the world every year. There are thirty thousand such deaths in the USA each year. In excess of 30 million automobile accidents result in either death or severe injury in the world every year. So, easy fix... take away the cars. Right? NO. Mass transit cannot answer the transportation needs of the world. While the automobile may be partially responsible for these atrocities, it does not come close to the number of deaths or injuries that would have happened had they not existed. Third world death rates are much higher due primarily to the lack of available transportation. While the largest contributing factor for deaths in the world is traffic accidents, it would pale in comparison to deaths that would have happened had modern transportation not existed. 

 

Football keeps kids involved in activities that promote teamwork, individual responsibility, loyalty, and duty. According to John Harbaugh, football, "teaches him the importance of doing his job well. Currently, there is a war on young men. Women used to be the outcasts in education. In 1994, women outnumbered men in entering college by 2 %.. Today, the gender gap has completely reversed, and many more college entrants are female. Black male entrants lag black female entrants by 15%. In fact, black female college graduates are nearly twice as many as their male cohorts (63.6% female to 36.4 % male). http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_gendergap_universities.html  Where do males go, if not college? Prison. 96% of inmates, 24 years old or less, have never attended college. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/ecp.txt However, the question remains, does football contribute to college attendance or character development for that matter? I could not find a validating article to say it did. I found an article from Brown university that asserted high school sports actually lowered academic achievement. However, I will not include this article as it was an embarrassment to academia as the piece was as horrendously as it was biased. This is what we have come to find in academia today. No longer does there seem to be a quest for knowledge as there is a political mandate for validation, without regard to truth. So, to be fair, I cannot say whether football helps or hurts. It is an unknown. My guess is it depends upon the character and ability of those who instruct the game of football. 

 

In my experience, our football coaches were low in character, and deficient in intelligence. Our teams tended to be undisciplined and under-performed. Our teams did not win, so the challenge was to find a way to make it enjoyable. Some of my teammates found this enjoyment through hurting opposing athletes. I recall a time when our interior defensive line decided they would have a contest to see how many face masks they could pull back. Instead of tackling the running back in a normal fashion, three consecutive flags were thrown before our coach said anything to the team. Football ended for me due to an injury that year. It was not an injury on the football field. It was an injury as a result of being stabbed in the lunch room by an older kid, held back two years. He never finished high school, and entered prison as is customary for thugs. 

[wilkie 1,518]

A great  thread.  Not an easy question to answer and the answer is probably different for each of us.  The violence of professional football is an attraction that makes it entertaining to a spectator.  And yes,  I have seen it spill over into genuine tragedy.  The Jack Tatum/Darryl Stingley incident is a reminder that professional sport can intrude into real life.  Chuck Hughes,  wide receiver for the Detroit Lions who was killed on the football field during an NFL game is another.   Stone Johnson,  a rookie for our Chiefs, was killed on the football field during an exhibition game.

 

The video of Mike Webster  is a recurring nightmare.

 

Yet the question remains........ the residual damages didn't happen to everybody who played.   Why didn't it?  Most of the guys I played with at one time or another had a concussion.  We called it getting your bell rung.  The solution was to put an ammonia capsule under your nose which immediately brought you around.  Then sit out a play then back on the field.

 

Do the benefits outweigh the risks?   Mike Ditka says no.  Evidence of long lingering injury is becoming more and more compelling.  At the same time,  the Chiefs have finally won a playoff game after 22 years and that renews this communities interest in professional football to a higher intensity.

 

Cannot answer it.  Like many,  I played the game and loved it.  I would hate to see it go  away.  I suffered no long term injuries from playing (that I know of) and I watch it every Sunday.   But I may be like the ostrich with his head in the sand.   Can't ignore the evidence as it continues to stack up.

[Bilyous2 884]

I recall a writer wrote about seeing Husain Abdullah before a game, and his padding was almost nonexistent. The shoulder pads were a bare minimum. He purposefully surrendered personal safety for speed, and agility. 

 

The NFL pays good money. Where else can kid get that much money that quickly? Outside of criminal activity, the options are extremely limited. So, if a young man has made it past all the hurdles to where he is actually making money, why would he pull back when the brass ring is within reach? This is why guys at the fringe take the risks they take. The other driver is the culture. This culture, that is so braggadocios, demands action. Those not willing to back it up are too easily tagged with the scarlet letter P for poser. 

 

Football injuries are not limited to the NFL. Sure, the speed, and force is greater at the professional level, but that does not mean injuries do not occur at the lower levels. Statistically, the more chances of things going wrong increase with greater numbers of participation. There are 1696 participants at the NFL level. In college, that number is estimated to be over 90,000. So, even though most of the collisions are not as violent, the odds are even greater for permanent damage. That number pales to those who participate in high school. 1,122,024 kids played high school football. Not only are the numbers greater, but the differences in size and ability are much greater too. In the same way a semi truck driving at 80 does more damage to a pinto driving 23 mph, a physically immature 90 lb kid does not have a good chance against the star 195 pound athlete, running at twice the speed. 

 

So, should we just ditch football? That would seem to be the response. It would be also be a mistake. Statistics sometimes skew the truth. For instance, there are 1.24 million deaths caused by automobile accidents in the world every year. There are thirty thousand such deaths in the USA each year. In excess of 30 million automobile accidents result in either death or severe injury in the world every year. So, easy fix... take away the cars. Right? NO. Mass transit cannot answer the transportation needs of the world. While the automobile may be partially responsible for these atrocities, it does not come close to the number of deaths or injuries that would have happened had they not existed. Third world death rates are much higher due primarily to the lack of available transportation. While the largest contributing factor for deaths in the world is traffic accidents, it would pale in comparison to deaths that would have happened had modern transportation not existed. 

 

Football keeps kids involved in activities that promote teamwork, individual responsibility, loyalty, and duty. According to John Harbaugh, football, "teaches him the importance of doing his job well. Currently, there is a war on young men. Women used to be the outcasts in education. In 1994, women outnumbered men in entering college by 2 %.. Today, the gender gap has completely reversed, and many more college entrants are female. Black male entrants lag black female entrants by 15%. In fact, black female college graduates are nearly twice as many as their male cohorts (63.6% female to 36.4 % male). http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_gendergap_universities.html  Where do males go, if not college? Prison. 96% of inmates, 24 years old or less, have never attended college. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/ecp.txt However, the question remains, does football contribute to college attendance or character development for that matter? I could not find a validating article to say it did. I found an article from Brown university that asserted high school sports actually lowered academic achievement. However, I will not include this article as it was an embarrassment to academia as the piece was as horrendously as it was biased. This is what we have come to find in academia today. No longer does there seem to be a quest for knowledge as there is a political mandate for validation, without regard to truth. So, to be fair, I cannot say whether football helps or hurts. It is an unknown. My guess is it depends upon the character and ability of those who instruct the game of football. 

 

In my experience, our football coaches were low in character, and deficient in intelligence. Our teams tended to be undisciplined and under-performed. Our teams did not win, so the challenge was to find a way to make it enjoyable. Some of my teammates found this enjoyment through hurting opposing athletes. I recall a time when our interior defensive line decided they would have a contest to see how many face masks they could pull back. Instead of tackling the running back in a normal fashion, three consecutive flags were thrown before our coach said anything to the team. Football ended for me due to an injury that year. It was not an injury on the football field. It was an injury as a result of being stabbed in the lunch room by an older kid, held back two years. He never finished high school, and entered prison as is customary for thugs. 

Great post, as usual, Eraser. 

 

I disagree some with the analogy about driving.  Only a tiny percentage of the non-lethal driving accidents result in permanent and progressive brain atrophy.  In contrast, at least 80%, and some show 95%, of NFL players develop congitive deterioration as they get older.  Some get as bad as dementia, others merely an acceleration or worsening of normal age-related cognitive decline.  It is rare for a injured person in a traffic accident to develop that, because the trauma is a single event episode.  It is repeated, low level, head trauma that seems like nothing at the time, but which occurs multiple times during the course of a game, especially for linemen, linebackers, and safeties, that causes much of this long-term, often debilitating brain decline as life goes on after retirement.  The worst of this trauma occurs with players on special teams, because the collisions occur at a much greater total speed.  The force of an impact is directly proportional to the mass of the objects but proportional to the speed squared.  And these are guys trying to win a spot on the starting defense or offense, so they are willing to sacrifice anything to make a violent collision.

 

That's a good point about high school and college ball being worse because of size differences.  However, this is a disorder that occurs from repetition over time.  Only a tiny percentage of high school or even college players go on to play for years in the NFL.  They play a couple of years at most. Sometimes three years.

[KCSLC2008 606]

The NFL will end with a court ordered injunction the day before the next Kansas City Super Bowl appearance. It will be overturned/reversed (with an outjunction ), but not before they decide to forego the Super Bowl.

[eraser 722]

If they cut me open, would they find CTE? Probably. I played sports, and got a few of those dingers. Most of my head injuries did not come from sports.

 

One incident involved when I worked in corn fields, taking the tassels off corn plants. We rode out to the fields on buses, and worked all day from 6 am until 4 or 5 pm. It was hard work, and we did not get paid much money ($1.35 per hour, and 10 cent bonus if you stuck it out for the entire season). A fellow doctor's son worked with me. His father was an incompetent doctor who used to practice in South Africa before moving to my home town. His son took a burlap sack, with an unopened, one liter bottle of soda, and struck me over the head. He was in the back seat on the bus. I was 5 rows forward, and turned around facing forward. He swung the loaded sack, and hit me on the back of my head. I was caught completely blind by the attack. I tried to retaliate. The wuss used a industrial sized trash container to protect himself, and I fell backwards with a delayed reaction to a concussion, as blood streamed from a huge gash in my head. I got stitched up. I rode the bus back home. I walked back to our house. The next morning, I got up at 4:45 in the morning, and was at the bus at 5:30 AM. I did not miss a day of work. That is one of many concussions I suffered in my life. Most did not happen at a sanctioned sporting event. 

[West 6,714]

I think the NFL will be around in 20 years because of several factors.

 

1. Despite all the risks, players still want to play and they LOVE the game.

 

2. Its big money and VERY profitable for the industry it has created.

 

3. Technology will continue to advance and new ideas to improve Player's Safety will advance. ( See NASCAR Thoughts from E)

 

4. American's LOVE the game and thankfully so. ( we are a great people that refuse the notion that participation in sports is nothing more than it sounds like.  American's LOVE  WINNERS and we want our WINNERS to have to COMPETE at the highest levels and then KICK ASS)

 

 

Interestingly, I had dinner with a few friends this past Saturday Night before the LMU-SCU BBall game.  Two of the guys were College Atheletic Directors and two of the guys were ex NFL Players.  This topic came up and EVERYONE said that "something has to change".  The ex NFL QB stated that when he was playing in the late 1990's he would see a teammate getting knocked out on the field 1 or two times a season. He said that today, he is seeing 1-2 guys getting knocked out every week.  The guys are just so big and incredibly fast.  I then began to discuss the kinetics of football......ZZZZ 

[Bilyous2 884]

If they cut me open, would they find CTE? Probably. I played sports, and got a few of those dingers. Most of my head injuries did not come from sports.

 

One incident involved when I worked in corn fields, taking the tassels off corn plants. We rode out to the fields on buses, and worked all day from 6 am until 4 or 5 pm. It was hard work, and we did not get paid much money ($1.35 per hour, and 10 cent bonus if you stuck it out for the entire season). A fellow doctor's son worked with me. His father was an incompetent doctor who used to practice in South Africa before moving to my home town. His son took a burlap sack, with an unopened, one liter bottle of soda, and struck me over the head. He was in the back seat on the bus. I was 5 rows forward, and turned around facing forward. He swung the loaded sack, and hit me on the back of my head. I was caught completely blind by the attack. I tried to retaliate. The wuss used a industrial sized trash container to protect himself, and I fell backwards with a delayed reaction to a concussion, as blood streamed from a huge gash in my head. I got stitched up. I rode the bus back home. I walked back to our house. The next morning, I got up at 4:45 in the morning, and was at the bus at 5:30 AM. I did not miss a day of work. That is one of many concussions I suffered in my life. Most did not happen at a sanctioned sporting event. 

You realize, of course, that you just posted exactly the same thing five minutes ago...

 

j/k

[eraser 722]

You realize, of course, that you just posted exactly the same thing five minutes ago...

 

j/k

I thought I was seeing double again. Sorry. sorry. 

 

I thought I was seeing trouble and sin. rorsy. 

[Bilyous2 884]

I think the NFL will be around in 20 years because of several factors.

 

1. Despite all the risks, players still want to play and they LOVE the game.

 

2. Its big money and VERY profitable for the industry it has created.

 

3. Technology will continue to advance and new ideas to improve Player's Safety will advance. ( See NASCAR Thoughts from E)

 

4. American's LOVE the game and thankfully so. ( we are a great people that refuse the notion that participation in sports is nothing more than it sounds like.  American's LOVE  WINNERS and we want our WINNERS to have to COMPETE at the highest levels and then KICK ASS)

 

 

Interestingly, I had dinner with a few friends this past Saturday Night before the LMU-SCU BBall game.  Two of the guys were College Atheletic Directors and two of the guys were ex NFL Players.  This topic came up and EVERYONE said that "something has to change".  The ex NFL QB stated that when he was playing in the late 1990's he would see a teammate getting knocked out on the field 1 or two times a season. He said that today, he is seeing 1-2 guys getting knocked out every week.  The guys are just so big and incredibly fast.  I then began to discuss the kinetics of football......ZZZZ 

Any sport is dangerous.  Don't play checkers with someone you don't know who is packing and looks like Ted Nugent.

[West 6,714]

So you agree with my take?  The game will still be around in a similar if not more exciting form?

 

w

[Bilyous2 884]

So you agree with my take?  The game will still be around in a similar if not more exciting form?

 

w

Yes. But today's form of the game won't.  It will be less exciting.  I don't think it will make enough money to get the kind of advertising revenues, press, and fan involvement.  The giant stadiums will probably feature more types of events or will be money losers and will be bulldozed.  Maybe they can be used for encampments for people displaced by climate change.     There will be far fewer teams, and it will be more a sport of skill than violence. Play will require bigger fields, and uniforms will have sensors and chips that transmit whether a player has been "touched" or not.  Basically, touch football with more speed and playing areas that are wider. It might even have a big following.   Players will be smaller and faster.  QB's will have arms the size of oak trees and will throw huge distances. RB's will start out with much wider gaps between players on the defensive lines. Players will be drafted for speed and cutting ability and vision. Actual contact will be a penalty. Kicking will be a huge part of the game, helping the game to live up to its name "FOOT ball." If I am still alive, I will probably be a big fan and like it.

 

- B

[ATLchief 3,126]

I think it will be replaced by this...

 

 

 

[PhataLerror 370]

So you agree with my take?  The game will still be around in a similar if not more exciting form?

Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts haven't been banned yet.

 

I doubt football changes. It will probably become more violent. If the NFL were to try to modify the game too extensively, we'd probably see the birth of the XFL 2.0, complete with the mad dash to the 50 to recover the football to determine who gets the opening possession of the game.

 

Until then, we'll probably see the occasional superficial rule change designed to "promote player safety", but which will still fail to protect the athletes most at risk for long-term debilitating injury.

[KCSLC2008 606]

I know people talk about the higher risk of injury in kickoffs, is it the same thing for punt returns?