Posted on 05/12/2016 8:34:04 AM PDT by Don Hernando de Las Casas
CHICAGO -- Government research on more than 3,000 retired NFL players concluded suicides were less common among men in this group than in the general population.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports-ak.espn.go.com ...
I'm sure the game is unconstitutional. Waiting for a justice to make that clear to all of us.
The left has also done this sort of thing to NHL hockey. When covering the concussion lawsuits that have been filed against the NHL, some have expressed bewilderment over the number of 1980s and 90s players involved as opposed to from when many in the years before did not wear helmets or shields.
They never want to admit that those of us who said (and continue to say) that the increased protection (particularly around the head and face) could lead to an increased sense of invincibility leading to more stickwork and cheapshot offences and outright carelessness, resulting in (guess what)more head injuries.
Feminists will find some other way to demasculate men.
One might think that NFL retirees,particularly the more recent ones,would be more prosperous...have a higher net worth and higher income...than the typical middle class retiree.If true one could easily see how they’d live longer.
Jr. Sauh was not available for comment
Neither was Junior Seau.
Interesting information. That was something I wondered about after the horrible news about the suicide of Junior Seau. When former NFL stars like Seau and Dave Duerson kill themselves, it garners a lot of media attention - but men are driven to suicide by depression or other unfortunate circumstances every day, and we never had any idea whether the physical demands of NFL play had any bearing on highly publicized NFL suicides.
If i had a 10 year old son, I wouldn’t want him playing football. Too much risk of long term neurological damage. Broken bones, cuts and bruises don’t worry me. They heal. But I don’t want my kid not remembering my name when he’s 45 years old.
If you want to call that a “feminist” position, then so be it. But there’s no doubt that the constant head banging that goes on in the NFL (and lower levels of football) isn’t good for the brain. Plenty of studies back this up.
At the last superbowl they had the mvps from past super bowls introduced and walk up. 99% were still alive. That was surprising but then again they are athletes and very very competitive. I’m betting they look at death as a competitor.
Probably because there's never been an offensive lineman who was a Super Bowl MVP.
Yeah I messed that up I hit send to fast
Not to nitpick, but what NFL players don’t remember names at 45? There’s no doubt it takes a toll on the body at the NFL level, but I don’t recall hearing that type of damage.
Junior Seau was also unavailable, but that’s because he killed himself after bankrupting himself at the gaming tables.
I’m sure that’s the NFL’s fault, too.
Ever wonder how all the “excuse diseases” lead people to party, drink, gamble, have sex, etc.
As Theodore Dalrymple once wondered, “Why do these excuse diseases never lead one to study the declension of French nouns?”
Wonder how the NFL suicide rate compares to that of Wall Street Brokers.
Government research on more than 3,000 retired NFL players concluded suicides were less common among men in this group than in the general population.
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That’s because their brains are so screwed up from getting hit, that they don’t know enough to end their own lives. /sarc
Interesting point. Same earnings bracket, same personality traits....
That was funny!
My son started playing a 6 but stopped his freshman year in High school. I would have let him play but he wanted to pursue music instead. I am ok with either.
The point being that the city league ball was not very damaging. In the years that we played, I only saw one concussion and one neck injury that required an ambulance. The concussion was a straight up legal hard hit. The neck injury was to a girl player who was not fitted properly with her shoulder pads in my opinion. I did see a couple of muscle tears, several sprains and lots of scrapes and bruises.
The problem is with modern conditioning, the players are both big and fast. Also, when everything is based on open field passing first and three yards and a cloud of dust running as a backup, more speed, more collisions.
F = m * a
The number goes up faster than the individual components. Also, some bodies, even without steroids, overbuild for their frames. Adam Archeleta was a workout warrior who fell in that category.
So what is the solution, and still keep football football?
1. Get rid of the technology. No brain trust of coordinators making thousands of complex plays that can be radioed in. The guy on the sidelines better use had signals, yell out a play in code, call a time out, or trust his qb. Reduce the time between plays to make this happen.
2. Reduce the roster to 30 players to reduce injuries. Counter-intuitive. All these specialists being shuffled in for third down plays, special teams, and even offense and defense means the brutes are fully rested. A small roster means most players have to play two ways. The linemen, receivers, safeties will all be TIRED when they play both ways. They will slow down a bit.
3. Bring back the old holding rules. No open hands by the O-linemen, it makes cheating impossible to detect, and also callable by the refs at a whim. It also gives those high speed plays time to develop. There’s a reason why Roman Gabriel and Terry Bradshaw had worse TD/INT ratios than a middling QB today, and it isn’t because the middling guys are better.
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