NFL goal of stopping concussions, is it realistic? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

NFL goal of stopping concussions, is it realistic?

twix2500

twix2500

Active Roster
Joined
Mar 16, 2006
Messages
1,362
Reaction score
17
Concucssions, the number one topic that the NFL has put on display the past years. The NFL has gone on full public display to show that they are doing everything possible to stop concussions, but is it realistic? I played pop warner and highschool football, and the first time I received a concussion was in 7th grade pop warner. It wasnt cause by a big hit or some fictional "bounty", I was kick in the head by accident while laying on the ground. A concussion can happen in various scenarios, not just cause by a big hit on a QB or Receiver. Even if it was possible to develope a tackling method that will not cause a concussion, there are other events going on during a football game that does. Many of and maybe even most concussions that happen during the game go unnotice and not diagnosed. So is the advertised movement to fight concussions a realistic fight that can be won.

Well lets say the fight is not to eliminate but to reduce amount of concussion in the NFL. How many concussions are they actually preventing with the current changes in the game? And what is a significant amount of improvement worth making changes for? There are many opinions that the game has to totally different to even make a significant impact on concussions. That the nature of football will involve injuries of all kind and that its something that has to be accepted. Is this opinion true, well you can say that the NFL may share that same opinion and have a plan to gradually force us to watch a dramatically different game. You hear talks of totally taking away kick offs and punt game out of football. The NFL is now trying to change the team culture by monitoring how the players motivate each other in the locker room, with the overblown "bounty" act. How much are you as fans will to give up in football, in order to fight the bigger fight in concussions even thou it can not be fully eliminated?

Or is this not about Goodell desire to find a safe injury free game. But more a about a legal battle that the league has been facing about taking care of players medical problems after football. Former players have put pressure on the league about some type of pension or compensation for putting their bodies and minds thru the physical abuse. Former players have claimed that league doctors and coaches have turned the blind eye towards the diagnoses of a concussion for many years. Forcing players to just shake it off, and get back on the field. With the mental and physical handicaps cause by football injuries the players cant live a fuctional life even with the money they made during their time in the NFL. This could be just a legal strategy to say okay, since you want to be taking care after football players, current players will have to play without any aspect of the game that cause a concussion (even thou thats not realistic). That the NFL could go as far as saying take out tackling and you wont have these injuries to worry about in the first place. Using every oppurtunity that may be related to concussions and showcase it to the world as a PR movement to use in court more so than to actually protect players. For an example the "Bounty" Act, was more so about defying Goodell and preventing any illegal money activity that could of happened. But the media and the Goodell took advantage of media exposure by running the "myth" scare that players were being injured because of the "bounty". Again laying the responsibilities on the players like the players are trying to lay responsibilities on the league for forcing them to play thru a concussion.

In the end, the who PR movement of trying to solve the concussion theories, even a realistic goal or is it something deeper behind it?
 
They will never eliminate concussions from the game, but taking measures to reduce the number of concussions suffered by players during the season is a good thing, and there are definitely effective ways to do that.
 
keeping players out until they are fully cleared is one of the biggest agendas.
 
registeredguy said:
They will never eliminate concussions from the game, but taking measures to reduce the number of concussions suffered by players during the season is a good thing, and there are definitely effective ways to do that.
Click to expand...

How much as a fan are you willing to give up? Are you willing to lose punt and kickoff returns?
 
I don't think they will ever completely stop concussions. But as helmet tech improves they can keep them from happening as often.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
 
twix2500 said:
How much as a fan are you willing to give up? Are you willing to lose punt and kickoff returns?
Click to expand...
no im not. its apart of the game. these guys know what they are getting into. i would make the players sign in thier contract they cant sue after they retire bc of concusions, bc they know the risk of playing the game. but the nfl also needs to give these guys health insurance and stuff after they get out
 
cuban_refugee said:
keeping players out until they are fully cleared is one of the biggest agendas.
Click to expand...

This.
You are never going to completely eliminate concussions in any sport. Its part of the territory. Not just with football but in all sports and in life. They key is to raise awareness about concussions and have players (both in the NFL and all other levels on down to young kids) sit out until symptoms are completely gone. There has been a lot of work at the high school level with baseline testing and return to play protocol. By taking concussions seriously the NFL is helping to get these things done at all levels.
 
I don't think the NFL or Roger Goodell are ever going to be able to stop concussions unless they turn it into a flag football league. The NFL is changing and becoming "softer" and I think Vince Lombardi would be spinning in his grave seeing what has become of the game, and yelling, "What the hell is going on out there." Football is meant to be a rough sport. When you sign your name on an NFL contract you realize this and you get paid a lot of money to play this sport. I don't think anyone wants to see bounties on players or guys intentionally taking other guys out, but the NFL/Goodell has bent over too far the other way to protect players, especially QB's.

How often do you see defensive ends chasing a QB and making a nice hit only to be flagged for a "supposed" late hit, or "roughing the QB," when barely tapping the QB. It's ridiculous. Like Ray Lewis always says, "It's a man's game.",,,,,,,,well at least it used to be. If players aren't ready to put on the Big Boy pants the shouldn't play. I do think the NFL needs to do a lot more to help retired players with their health issues and medical insurance.
 
Concussions suck, but unless you're willing to wrap the players in pillows ... :idk:
 
Roman529 said:
I don't think the NFL or Roger Goodell are ever going to be able to stop concussions unless they turn it into a flag football league. The NFL is changing and becoming "softer" and I think Vince Lombardi would be spinning in his grave seeing what has become of the game, and yelling, "What the hell is going on out there." Football is meant to be a rough sport. When you sign your name on an NFL contract you realize this and you get paid a lot of money to play this sport. I don't think anyone wants to see bounties on players or guys intentionally taking other guys out, but the NFL/Goodell has bent over too far the other way to protect players, especially QB's.


How often do you see defensive ends chasing a QB and making a nice hit only to be flagged for a "supposed" late hit, or "roughing the QB," when barely tapping the QB. It's ridiculous. Like Ray Lewis always says, "It's a man's game.",,,,,,,,well at least it used to be. If players aren't ready to put on the Big Boy pants the shouldn't play. I do think the NFL needs to do a lot more to help retired players with their health issues and medical insurance.
Click to expand...

Post of the day.............:up:
 
You can't eliminate concussions from the sport but you can be proactive and take appropriate measures to reduce the risk by implementing the rules to protect the players.

Concussions on kickoffs were down 40% this past season. I wonder why.

People say, "Well that's part of the game."

This isn't a game anymore. This is a business. And the object of business is to create a superior product for your customers and make big profits off of your product. If what the NFL is doing to protect these players is hurting the league so much by making it the "No Fun League" then why is the NFL more popular than ever and why is it head and shoulders above everything else in the ratings department.

New England v. Indianapolis last season. How many of you were excited to watch Tom Brady v. Peyton Mann...I mean Curtis Painter. Exactly. That game doesn't have near the appeal with Curtis Painter as it does with Peyton Manning. You have to protect your star players in order to keep eyeballs on the television sets.

You can't twist the player's arms and "make them" sign contracts that have wording in them that says you can't sue them. This isn't owner-player negotiations. Have you guys forget about player unions and lawyers for both sides? That stuff would never fly in a contract and you'd probably get sued for attempting to place such nonsense in a contract.

Every year the NFL becomes more and more violent and star players are more and more prone to injury. The NFL has done everything they can to protect these players from serious injury yet some of you act like it's just a game. What about these guys who suffer serious concussions and serious injuries and it affects their family life outside "just the game." Defensive lineman goes down and is forced into early retirement, big whoop. We can draft another one next season. Kids and spouses can't draft a new Father. I think the NFL has done a great job addressing concussions in the league and doing everything that they can to prevent as many concussions in the future.
 
JCane said:
You can't eliminate concussions from the sport but you can be proactive and take appropriate measures to reduce the risk by implementing the rules to protect the players.

Concussions on kickoffs were down 40% this past season. I wonder why.

People say, "Well that's part of the game."

This isn't a game anymore. This is a business. And the object of business is to create a superior product for your customers and make big profits off of your product. If what the NFL is doing to protect these players is hurting the league so much by making it the "No Fun League" then why is the NFL more popular than ever and why is it head and shoulders above everything else in the ratings department.

New England v. Indianapolis last season. How many of you were excited to watch Tom Brady v. Peyton Mann...I mean Curtis Painter. Exactly. That game doesn't have near the appeal with Curtis Painter as it does with Peyton Manning. You have to protect your star players in order to keep eyeballs on the television sets.

You can't twist the player's arms and "make them" sign contracts that have wording in them that says you can't sue them. This isn't owner-player negotiations. Have you guys forget about player unions and lawyers for both sides? That stuff would never fly in a contract and you'd probably get sued for attempting to place such nonsense in a contract.

Every year the NFL becomes more and more violent and star players are more and more prone to injury. The NFL has done everything they can to protect these players from serious injury yet some of you act like it's just a game. What about these guys who suffer serious concussions and serious injuries and it affects their family life outside "just the game." Defensive lineman goes down and is forced into early retirement, big whoop. We can draft another one next season. Kids and spouses can't draft a new Father. I think the NFL has done a great job addressing concussions in the league and doing everything that they can to prevent as many concussions in the future.
Click to expand...


Pretty much. I love watching some violent football as much as the next guy, but anyone who thinks it's a 'pussification' of the game to prevent guys from suffering brain damage is a goddamn idiot.
 
JCane said:
You can't eliminate concussions from the sport but you can be proactive and take appropriate measures to reduce the risk by implementing the rules to protect the players.

Concussions on kickoffs were down 40% this past season. I wonder why.

People say, "Well that's part of the game."

Every year the NFL becomes more and more violent and star players are more and more prone to injury. The NFL has done everything they can to protect these players from serious injury yet some of you act like it's just a game. What about these guys who suffer serious concussions and serious injuries and it affects their family life outside "just the game." Defensive lineman goes down and is forced into early retirement, big whoop. We can draft another one next season. Kids and spouses can't draft a new Father. I think the NFL has done a great job addressing concussions in the league and doing everything that they can to prevent as many concussions in the future.
Click to expand...

JCane, do you know why Concussions on kickoffs were down 40%?

Before the NFL season, one of the rule changes that received the most discussion was how moving kickoffs up five yards to the 35-yard line would affect the return game.

Kickoff Returns Last 5 Seasons

Ret pct
Touchback pct
2011
53.4
43.5
2010
80.1
16.4
2009
80.7
16.1
2008
82.1
14.4
2007
82.5
12.4


As expected, the raw number of kickoff returns and kickoff returns per game was significantly down from previous years. 1,374 kickoffs (5.4 per game) were returned in 2011, compared to 2,033 (7.9 per game) in 2010.

Expressed as a percentage, 53.4 percent of kickoffs were returned this season, a huge drop from 80.1 percent in 2010.

In a related note, touchbacks skyrocketed to 43.5 percent this season, more than two and a half times last year’s rate of 16.4 percent.

Did the rule change deprive fans of excitement? From a numbers standpoint, the answer is yes. Nine kickoffs were returned for a touchdown in 2011, compared to 23 in 2010.

The 2011 rate of 153 kickoff returns per touchdown was close to double the rate of 88 per touchdown in 2010. But it was actually better than the rate of 163 returns per touchdown from 2008.
Click to expand...

And I hear people say football has gotten more violent, ummm NO thats not true at all. If anything football has gotten less violent. Players are bigger and faster but not more violent. Maybe better cameras and vidoe are making some beleive this or maybe just repeating what you heard someone else say. The further you go back in time players were being tackled by wrestling clothes hang, facemasked, bloodly faces.

To say that the success of football has anything to do with the current rule changes, I have a hard time believing that.

I am trying to see some real legit info that there is a significant answer to concussion without taking away from the game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom