The Problem with Football

[RickKY]

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will080412.php3

"Bear Bryant’s 1966 undefeated Alabama team had only 19 players who weighed more than 200 pounds. The heaviest weighed 223. The linemen averaged 194. The quarterback weighed 177. Today, many high school teams are much bigger."

Thought provoking indeed.

[mbyron]

Thought provoking indeed.

What thought does it provoke?

[Curious]

What thought does it provoke?

Jewish players have gotten bigger............??

[bossman72]

Mind you back then, weight lifting was thought to make you "bulky" and "immobile", so basically nobody strength-trained at all.  Water also "made you weak" back then.

[APG]

Failing to see "the problem with football" from your statement.

[RickKY]

The problem?  With players getting bigger, stronger and faster, does that present a greater risk of injuries, seen and unseen?  I enjoy watching football, but I would not want my son to start playing it now, understanding the risk of repeated pain and mild injuries, much less the risk of hidden damge to brain and other body parts.

Experts now say that CTE can begin as early as youth football with repeated contact to the head, with helmet on. 

[BIG UMP]

I have seen where many former and present players won't let their sons play football, just because of the injuries.

But your corelation I don't understand.

[TampaSteve]

Notwithstanding FB players being bigger, faster, stronger; other sports' athletes are too. 
Subsequently, wouldn't other "stick & ball" sports carry increased risk too?

[bossman72]

Plus your son can also get bigger, faster, stronger as well!

[DallasLJ]

I still contend that more injuries happen in youth soccor and baseball than youth football.  Once you decide high school football and beyond you know and understand the risks.

[mbyron]

I still contend that more injuries happen in youth soccer and baseball than youth football.  Once you decide high school football and beyond you know and understand the risks.

I would encourage you to stop contending that. Even combined, soccer and baseball have fewer injuries than football. Here is some data (a little old, but probably representative):

According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program:

    In 2001, the number of sport-related injuries for each sport are as follows:
        Gymnastics — 99,722
        Basketball — 680,307
        Baseball — 170,902
        Softball — 118,354
        Football — 413,620
        Soccer — 163,003
        Volleyball — 55,860
        Track & Field — 15,113
        Hockey — 63,945

Source: http://www.sportssafety.org/sports-injury-facts/

More data:

In 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported the following statistics on injuries to youth under age 18 [4]:

    Football sends 1,024,022 kids to doctor’s offices, emergency rooms and hospitals.
    Soccer is next on the list, with 368, 726 injuries for that same age group.

Source: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/sportsaf.htm

Football and basketball have FAR, FAR more injuries than other sports. A couple things to bear in mind here:

1. Some sports, like soccer and basketball but unlike football, have both boys and girls playing.

2. These data don't indicate level (varsity, rec, etc.) or the nature or severity of the injury. Presumably to be tracked the injuries would have to be fairly severe.

3. Football has more injuries in part because it has more participants. A more complete statistical picture would include the RATE of injuries (or injuries per 1000 participants).

[HLinNC]

Strictly ancedotal from my college days in the 80's and hanging around the gym but the per capita injury rate of our gymnastics team was staggering!

[Rulesman]

Strictly ancedotal from my college days in the 80's and hanging around the gym but the per capita injury rate of our gymnastics team was staggering!

Now that 2 weeks of Olympic gymnastics is about over, I'd be willing to bet a few London training rooms could pass for M*A*S*H units.

[RickKY]

The problem is that many parents don't want sons playing football because it s a rough sport.  Little junior might get hurt.  We used to laugh at those people and tell them to sign him up and let him play.  Now there are experts doing actual research on the effects of contact on the brain, and former players committing suicide.

Don't you agree that will bring attention to the risks associated with playing football, potentially hurt the image of football as a healthy activity, and turn people away from the sport?  I do.  And that is a problem.

[mbyron]

The problem is that many parents don't want sons playing football because it s a rough sport.  Little junior might get hurt.  We used to laugh at those people and tell them to sign him up and let him play.  Now there are experts doing actual research on the effects of contact on the brain, and former players committing suicide.

Don't you agree that will bring attention to the risks associated with playing football, potentially hurt the image of football as a healthy activity, and turn people away from the sport?  I do.  And that is a problem.

I would caution parents about drawing inferences from the experience of NFL players and former players compared to conclusions about the vast majority of high school and youth programs. It's vanishingly rare to see John Lynch-style hits at HS varsity and below.

IMO the technology for protecting players will improve before the sport goes away. Till now, that's been a matter of money: when the money for research and product development shows up, manufacturers will improve the performance of their safety equipment.

[Osric Pureheart]

I would caution parents about drawing inferences from the experience of NFL players and former players compared to conclusions about the vast majority of high school and youth programs. It's vanishingly rare to see John Lynch-style hits at HS varsity and below.

The latest science is suggesting (in sufficiently vague terms to go fishing for more money to do a longer study) that the problem may well be that HS players can cop enough damage just playing football, even without taking many big hits, for the cumulative effect of incidental head contacts to start affecting their brains.  If this is true, then football as we know it is dead, and the question becomes whether there's going to be another Roosevelt/NCAA period in which the sport reinvents itself to become safer, or another sport rises to take its place.

[bama_stripes]

It's vanishingly rare to see John Lynch-style hits at HS varsity and below.

Agree, at least around here.  The increasing popularity of the spread offenses have put more emphasis on speed & finesse.  Hopefully, coaches are now fully aware of the dangers of leading with the head, and are teaching correct tackling techniques,

As long as we officials do our part by penalizing illegal helmet contact EVERY TIME, this should be less of a problem in years to come.

[TampaSteve]

You know, rugby & aussie football are pretty darn rough.  No helmets, yet seemingly much lower incident of head-related issues.

[ECILLJ]

If the lawsuits that are beginning to appear in the courts prove successful. Insurance companies will begin applying financial pressure to schools. Boards and administrators will begin re-evaluating the cost / gain ratio of football. IMO, we have seen the best days of football and we are going to see it slip from the pinnacle of american sports.

[Amir]

You know, rugby & aussie football are pretty darn rough.  No helmets, yet seemingly much lower incident of head-related issues.

True, although you typically don't get the high-impact hits in rugby or aussie-rules that you do with football. In rugby, the most serious injuries occur in the scrum; if it collapses, there's a real danger of a broken neck happening. Also, kids are usually taught to tackle low as this is more effective at bringing a runner down (or at least stopping him in his tracks), so naturally there's less scope for a clash of heads.

[Welpe]

IMO, we have seen the best days of football and we are going to see it slip from the pinnacle of american sports.

I'm loathe to agree but I think I do. Will football go the way of boxing did from it's height in the early 20th century? Time will tell but the studies on CTE have been disturbing to say the least.

I played the game up through high school and even as an official now, if I were to have a son that wants to play, I'd have to think long and hard about it. Football is great at building character but it is not the only means of doing so.

[VALJ]

You know, rugby & aussie football are pretty darn rough.  No helmets, yet seemingly much lower incident of head-related issues.

True, and I think the lack of helmets is a cause of that.  If there's nothing protecting your dome, you're less likely to leave it out there where it can be damaged, and you're less likely to use it as a weapon.

[TampaSteve]

True, and I think the lack of helmets is a cause of that.  If there's nothing protecting your dome, you're less likely to leave it out there where it can be damaged, and you're less likely to use it as a weapon.

The point I was trying to make.