Players can no longer lower helmet.

[Reality Check]

We are moving closer & closer to a form of football which resembles a flag football game....it is just being done so incrementally with hopes that he average fan does not really notice the change.  It would be like moving the speed limit up 1mph per year for the next 20yrs.

 

People should watch games from the 70's, 80's, and 90's to understand just how much the game has changed...1 rule at a time.  Since 2005, there has been 45+ rules implemented in the name of "Player safety". 

[ColtsBlueFL]

57 minutes ago, Reality Check said:

We are moving closer & closer to a form of football which resembles a flag football game....it is just being done so incrementally with hopes that he average fan does not really notice the change.  It would be like moving the speed limit up 1mph per year for the next 20yrs.

 

People should watch games from the 70's, 80's, and 90's to understand just how much the game has changed...1 rule at a time.  Since 2005, there has been 45+ rules implemented in the name of "Player safety". 

 

And you're right.  There is more to come.  Kickoffs are on the radar next. Preliminary rule changes come this year to see what the ramifications are, then they will address those.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

On 5/23/2018 at 1:24 PM, Reality Check said:

We are moving closer & closer to a form of football which resembles a flag football game....it is just being done so incrementally with hopes that he average fan does not really notice the change.  It would be like moving the speed limit up 1mph per year for the next 20yrs.

 

People should watch games from the 70's, 80's, and 90's to understand just how much the game has changed...1 rule at a time.  Since 2005, there has been 45+ rules implemented in the name of "Player safety". 

 

The fact that you "quoted" Player Safety is pretty telling.

 

Who cares if they all get concussions every week... right?

 

That's what they did back in the 70s and 80s when players' careers lasted until that 3rd or 4th or 10th concussion ended their career (and their lives, but we shouldn't talk about that, right?)

 

Right?

 

[Reality Check]

13 hours ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

The fact that you "quoted" Player Safety is pretty telling.

 

Who cares if they all get concussions every week... right?

 

That's what they did back in the 70s and 80s when players' careers lasted until that 3rd or 4th or 10th concussion ended their career (and their lives, but we shouldn't talk about that, right?)

 

Right?

 

I am not stating an opinion on the matter ...either way.  Just want to highlight the FACT that the game of Professional football has changed dramatically due to specific rules targeting "Player safety" (as dictated by the NFL).

 

I do not think that I am going out on a limb by saying that he majority of today's football players (at ALL levels) are well aware of the risks they are taking re. concussions.  It is really their own personal choice... no different than a heroin junkie who chooses to risk his life by putting a needle into his/her veins. 

 

Personal choices....

[ColtsBlueFL]

11 hours ago, Reality Check said:

It is really their own personal choice... no different than a heroin junkie who chooses to risk his life by putting a needle into his/her veins. 

 

Trouble grasping this.  Does this mean football players want to get concussions, or that drug users should be paid enormously for using?

[Reality Check]

On 6/2/2018 at 12:22 AM, ColtsBlueFL said:

 

Trouble grasping this.  Does this mean football players want to get concussions, or that drug users should be paid enormously for using?

It means that players clearly realize they are playing a game of “Russian roulette” each time they step on the field....just like a junkie knows they are playing the same game each time they put the needle in their arm.

 

In both cases, they are making a personal,conscious choice to take known significant risk with their long term health and, possibly, their life.

[lollygagger8]

I'm actually not sure that this will create more or less neck injuries. 

[PrincetonTiger]

2 hours ago, Reality Check said:

It means that players clearly realize they are playing a game of “Russian roulette” each time they step on the field....just like a junkie knows they are playing the same game each time they put the needle in their arm.

 

In both cases, they are making a personal,conscious choice to take known significant risk with their long term health and, possibly, their life.

Everyone does that

3 minutes ago, lollygagger8 said:

I'm actually not sure that this will create more or less neck injuries. 

It will eventually 

[Lucky Colts Fan]

3 hours ago, Reality Check said:

It means that players clearly realize they are playing a game of “Russian roulette” each time they step on the field....just like a junkie knows they are playing the same game each time they put the needle in their arm.

 

In both cases, they are making a personal,conscious choice to take known significant risk with their long term health and, possibly, their life.

 

?  I think heroin use was a bad analogy.  Playing football isn't an addiction.  Nobody is getting paid millions of to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, do heroin, crack, meth, etc.

 

And players aren't stealing copper piping to sell for "football-money" so they can go play "just one more game, then I'll quit"...

 

 

Maybe a better analogy would be other people that risk their lives for lots of money?  Dangerous jobs like Ice truckers, Alaskan fishermen, oil-riggers, etc.    But wouldn't all of these people also want every precaution taken by their employer to make sure they don't get hurt on the job?

[ColtsBlueFL]

3 hours ago, Reality Check said:

It means that players clearly realize they are playing a game of “Russian roulette” each time they step on the field....just like a junkie knows they are playing the same game each time they put the needle in their arm.

 

Really? Frank Gifford, Dave Duerson, Junior Seau and a host of others (over 100 last I looked) knew they would get CTE from playing yet decided to chance it anyway?  Mike Webster, pro bowl center, was the first guy to say 'Football hurt my brain' and prove it. Both in the courtroom, and after he passed away. This was a recent discovery, and some players are suing, and others quitting the game early. Others hope new equipment and these new rules reduce the chance of getting CTE since it is now known.  The league is under pressure to reduce these injuries (caused by concussions from repeated head shots) and that is why Kickoffs (most concussion injuries per play than any other by far right now) and lowered head targeting are now getting rule changes, but I hear of nobody trying to make 'safer' heroine or 'Molly's', etc...

 

NFL is an occupation and reasonable protections are expected and afforded. Recreational drug use is not.

 

3 hours ago, Reality Check said:

In both cases, they are making a personal,conscious choice to take known significant risk with their long term health and, possibly, their life.

 

In football, the helmet is a protective device.  Players have made it into a weapon over time.  The league wants to get that use and mentality back out of the game. That lowers the risk and makes it easier to join or stay in the league.

[Reality Check]

20 hours ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

?  I think heroin use was a bad analogy.  Playing football isn't an addiction.  Nobody is getting paid millions of to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, do heroin, crack, meth, etc.

 

And players aren't stealing copper piping to sell for "football-money" so they can go play "just one more game, then I'll quit"...

 

 

Maybe a better analogy would be other people that risk their lives for lots of money?  Dangerous jobs like Ice truckers, Alaskan fishermen, oil-riggers, etc.    But wouldn't all of these people also want every precaution taken by their employer to make sure they don't get hurt on the job?

Semantics ....

 

You get the point.

[Reality Check]

19 hours ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

 

Really? Frank Gifford, Dave Duerson, Junior Seau and a host of others (over 100 last I looked) knew they would get CTE from playing yet decided to chance it anyway?  Mike Webster, pro bowl center, was the first guy to say 'Football hurt my brain' and prove it. Both in the courtroom, and after he passed away. This was a recent discovery, and some players are suing, and others quitting the game early. Others hope new equipment and these new rules reduce the chance of getting CTE since it is now known.  The league is under pressure to reduce these injuries (caused by concussions from repeated head shots) and that is why Kickoffs (most concussion injuries per play than any other by far right now) and lowered head targeting are now getting rule changes, but I hear of nobody trying to make 'safer' heroine or 'Molly's', etc...

 

NFL is an occupation and reasonable protections are expected and afforded. Recreational drug use is not.

 

 

In football, the helmet is a protective device.  Players have made it into a weapon over time.  The league wants to get that use and mentality back out of the game. That lowers the risk and makes it easier to join or stay in the league.

I think you missed the qualifying statement in my initial post/analogy.... was talking about "awareness of concussion risks amongst TODAY'S NFL PLAYERS"....

 

I am not stating an opinion on the matter ...either way.  Just want to highlight the FACT that the game of Professional football has changed dramatically due to specific rules targeting "Player safety" (as dictated by the NFL).

 

I do not think that I am going out on a limb by saying that he majority of today's football players (at ALL levels) are well aware of the risks they are taking re. concussions.  It is really their own personal choice... no different than a heroin junkie who chooses to risk his life by putting a needle into his/her veins. 

[Reality Check]

20 hours ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

 

In football, the helmet is a protective device.  Players have made it into a weapon over time.  The league wants to get that use and mentality back out of the game. That lowers the risk and makes it easier to join or stay in the league.

Your point is partially correct...but let's be honest here, the league has MANY agenda's here.  The league's concern for player safety is LARGELY driven by their desire to continue making money, avoiding expensive lawsuits, and financial preservation.

 

This is all driven by money.  Period.

 

If there was no financial risk, do you honestly believe these billionaires would be so concerned?  To your original point, how many at the league office were concerned about Webster, Duerson, etc... when they were ruining their brains playing for these owners/NFL?