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Post by The Tax Returns Are in Kenya on Mar 19, 2015 8:58:12 GMT -5
I see 2 issues. One is concussions. The second is CTE. As to concussions, it's pretty simple. In the past we never allowed people to heal sufficiently from a concussion before exposing them to the risk of further damage. When I got my "bell rung" in high school, we'd laugh about it and then I'd go back in the game once I had regained my balance and wits. My sopne had a concussion last season. He stopped practicing and playing until he went 4 full days with no symptoms. His were a low grade headache and sensitivity to light. I think the modern concussion protocols solve a lot of the problems with brain injury risks. However, the fact is, if you suffer a few concussions in a short period of time, you should hang it up. The risk has then become one not worth taking. As to CTE, there is little doubt that frequent blows to the head "can" cause brain trauma and eventually CTE. The best evidence of this is former Boxers. But I use the word "can" because it does not happen to all boxers, heck I'm fairly certain it does not even happen to a majority of boxers. George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Evander Holyfield have all been hit in the head plenty in the course of their boxing careers and all seem fine. Why? I have not idea, but it seems like pretty solid proof that CTE is not "certain" to result from numerous blows to the head. Plus, boxing is a little different than football in that a boxer does not want to get hit in the head. In fact, he is trying to avoid it. In the recent past, players used their head/helmet as a weapon. In other words, in football, on the vast majority of plays, the player has a great deal of control over whether he is hit in the head. In junior football we taught our players that the helmet protected their head and was not to be used to tackle. You tackle with your arms and shoulder, not your head. We never had a concussion in a game. The only one's we ever had occurred at practice during Oklahoma Drills of Bull in the Ring. We evaluated these drills and eliminated them because they did not realistically re-create game situations and now we use better, safer drills to instill toughness and develop tackling technique. So, I guess I am in the minority who believe that CTE and risk of brain trauma was a real problem in the NFL (and football) at one time, but it is now a small manageable risk for a well trained player. It looks like there is more risk to concussion and resulting CTE in football from hitting your head on the ground at high speed after being tackled, or just hitting the ground fast and hard for whaever reason, more so than the tackling itself |
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Post by Sonny Werblin on Mar 19, 2015 9:09:34 GMT -5
I see 2 issues. One is concussions. The second is CTE. As to concussions, it's pretty simple. In the past we never allowed people to heal sufficiently from a concussion before exposing them to the risk of further damage. When I got my "bell rung" in high school, we'd laugh about it and then I'd go back in the game once I had regained my balance and wits. My sopne had a concussion last season. He stopped practicing and playing until he went 4 full days with no symptoms. His were a low grade headache and sensitivity to light. I think the modern concussion protocols solve a lot of the problems with brain injury risks. However, the fact is, if you suffer a few concussions in a short period of time, you should hang it up. The risk has then become one not worth taking. As to CTE, there is little doubt that frequent blows to the head "can" cause brain trauma and eventually CTE. The best evidence of this is former Boxers. But I use the word "can" because it does not happen to all boxers, heck I'm fairly certain it does not even happen to a majority of boxers. George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Evander Holyfield have all been hit in the head plenty in the course of their boxing careers and all seem fine. Why? I have not idea, but it seems like pretty solid proof that CTE is not "certain" to result from numerous blows to the head. Plus, boxing is a little different than football in that a boxer does not want to get hit in the head. In fact, he is trying to avoid it. In the recent past, players used their head/helmet as a weapon. In other words, in football, on the vast majority of plays, the player has a great deal of control over whether he is hit in the head. In junior football we taught our players that the helmet protected their head and was not to be used to tackle. You tackle with your arms and shoulder, not your head. We never had a concussion in a game. The only one's we ever had occurred at practice during Oklahoma Drills of Bull in the Ring. We evaluated these drills and eliminated them because they did not realistically re-create game situations and now we use better, safer drills to instill toughness and develop tackling technique. So, I guess I am in the minority who believe that CTE and risk of brain trauma was a real problem in the NFL (and football) at one time, but it is now a small manageable risk for a well trained player. It looks like there is more risk to concussion and resulting CTE in football from hitting your head on the ground at high speed after being tackled, or just hitting the ground fast and hard for whaever reason, more so than the tackling itself I guess we'll have to disagree on that. Plus, if that was the case, RB's, who are tackled far more often than any player on the field would all have CTE. Show me some. Floyd Little is the only RB I've ever read about who is having issues related to brain trauma. That's is a pretty small percentage. Thusfar, the guys you most hear about having CTE type problems from a career of getting their head hit are Defensive players, who do the tackling. |
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Post by Raoul Duke on Mar 19, 2015 10:13:54 GMT -5
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Post by The Tax Returns Are in Kenya on Mar 19, 2015 10:18:46 GMT -5
It looks like there is more risk to concussion and resulting CTE in football from hitting your head on the ground at high speed after being tackled, or just hitting the ground fast and hard for whaever reason, more so than the tackling itself I guess we'll have to disagree on that. Plus, if that was the case, RB's, who are tackled far more often than any player on the field would all have CTE. Show me some. Floyd Little is the only RB I've ever read about who is having issues related to brain trauma. That's is a pretty small percentage. Thusfar, the guys you most hear about having CTE type problems from a career of getting their head hit are Defensive players, who do the tackling. IF RB's don't get concussions or CTE that kind of negates the whole CTE argument, doesn't it? |
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Post by morite on Mar 19, 2015 11:40:55 GMT -5
There are tons of current and ex-NFL guys out there that either don't realize they have these brain injuries, or they do realize it but aren't coming forward for some reason. The numbers are going to continue to grow. You can't have that many collisions both small and large and not have damage.
That being said, I would not forbid my son from playing. I played from pee-wee through high-school and I loved it. But I've also had at least 3 diagnosed concussions, and have had my bell rung a few times on top of that in football, lacrosse and hockey. My first one coming at the age of 10 in the mid-70's, hitting my head on a runner's knees as I went low for the tackle, then hitting my head hard on the ground with a helmet that had limited leather padding inside. They were just introducing newer helmets with the foam padding and thicker shells, but very few kids had them at that time. There was still a bunch of older, shitty leftover gear from the 60's floating around at the time.
Anyway, my son is 9 and I prefer he not play tackle football. At least not yet. He is playing flag football, basketball and baseball. Right now he is just getting used to learning and playing that non-contact game. He's too skinny and non-aggressive to play tackle football at this stage, but when he gets a little older, puts on a little more weight, I'd allow him to try it if he really wanted to once he gets a little older. I'd be monitoring the shit out of how he's doing and injuries and stuff, though, and might yank him if anything serious happened.
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kuntysoze
Full Member
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Post by kuntysoze on Mar 19, 2015 14:36:14 GMT -5
Did anybody catch that article on Wesley Walker on Bleacher Report yesterday? Forgot the exact site that published the article, but it talks about how Walker can only sleep for four hours a day, forgets where he's driving while on the road, has trouble walking, etc.
I think we're going to see a lot more players coming out about their past injuries. I hope Goodell has his PR team ready to roll on this one.
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Post by BEAC0NJET on Mar 19, 2015 14:56:48 GMT -5
Did anybody catch that article on Wesley Walker on Bleacher Report yesterday? Forgot the exact site that published the article, but it talks about how Walker can only sleep for four hours a day, forgets where he's driving while on the road, has trouble walking, etc. I think we're going to see a lot more players coming out about their past injuries. I hope Goodell has his PR team ready to roll on this one. I saw that. Wesleys doesnt seem to have alzheimers or dementia, and was never diagnosed with a concussion, but im sure he had them. Footballs a rough sport. Look at the daily pain that Ray Lucas deals with. |
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Post by rexneffect on Mar 19, 2015 15:35:17 GMT -5
Anyway, my son is 9 and I prefer he not play tackle football. At least not yet. He is playing flag football, basketball and baseball. Right now he is just getting used to learning and playing that non-contact game. He's too skinny and non-aggressive to play tackle football at this stage, but when he gets a little older, puts on a little more weight, I'd allow him to try it if he really wanted to once he gets a little older. I'd be monitoring the shit out of how he's doing and injuries and stuff, though, and might yank him if anything serious happened. I don't have kids and don't plan on having kids but I would think contact football for younger kids would be somewhat safer because the kids don't have the mass or strength to really slam into each other or aggressively tackle each other to the ground. |
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