Prediction: Football (as we know it) Will be Completely Obsolete Within 20 Years.

There is zero chance that either of my kids would allow their kids to play tackle football one day. I don't think that's just anecdotal.

 

Football "as we know it" won't exist in 10 years. There will be major changes.

I'll say it again and again: Until the NFL pads the crown of helmets, they aren't serious about safety. They must remove that devastating weapon from the game.

 

It’s going to be a quick painful death.

After Shazier’s injury I’m done with it. Even with Deshaun here. Can’t keep supporting a sport where ambulances on the field are just normal.

 

Baseball can ruin your elbow and shoulder
Basketball can ruin your knees and ankles
Football ruins both and kills your brain.

I think we all know which one needs to go

 

What do you mean by "pads the crown of helmets" ??

 

They have to put some kind of padding on the weaponized (my words) part of the helmet that inflicts damage on opposing players.

A strip starting at the very top, forward to just above the face mask. Maybe 2-4 inches wide. Doesn't have to be very thick. Just enough to convert the helmet from a 200-300 lb cannon ball to something a bit softer. Paint it just like the rest of the helmet. I don't think changes to the inside of helmets will ever be enough.

If football continues to decline in popularity, the NFL will eventually give in and do this. Other levels of football will also.

 

just make the helmets bigger.

 

We sure have spent a lot of public money recently on ridiculously overpriced football stadiums for school districts.

 

They built one in Marble Falls a few years ago, before my dad passed away. Raised property taxes to do it. His quote to me was "I loved playing football here, some of my best memories, HS football was really good to me, but these boys don't need a $17M football stadium."

I know the ones in Allen, Katy, etc... are exponentially more egregious money-wise.

 

Brandon Wilson carted off tonight with a head/spine injury.

Football is going to have to actually take away pads and implement rugby style tackling - way too many gruesome injuries.

 

Coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!
The National Flag Football Leauge.

 

Listened to a podcast of Houston Matters one day...they were talking about this subject. It's been a while since I heard the podcast, but as I recall they were talking to a man who had been a football coach somewhere in Katy. And he was lamenting the new stadiums being built with public funds...said that there's no way public schools are going to be able to continue to put out tackle football programs with the evidence looming about CTE...and that these stadiums were being built unnecessarily using public funds. Interesting perspective.

 

Definitely not a wise long-term investment.

They can convert them all to soccer or lacrosse...wait, what?...oh, nevermind. Frisbee it is then.

 

The NFL’s Concussion Protocol Can Work, But Only If It’s Enforced

What you see above is Texans quarterback Tom Savage experiencing what’s known as the fencing response after getting his head slammed into the ground, as obvious a sign of a brain injury as there can be. His Sunday should have ended right then and there, and yet just a few minutes later, Savage returned to the game. Finally, after running three more plays, he was mercifully removed from the field for good.


This disturbing sequence of events once again brought attention to the NFL’s concussion protocol, which is once again being widely criticized as inadequate. It’s true that the protocol cannot definitively account for every concussion-related scenario during a practice or game, but the real scrutiny ought to be brought to bear on the NFL’s continued reluctance to enforce what’s actually in the protocol, rather than the protocol itself.


The protocol is a set of guidelines the league and the NFLPA put into place in 2013 to codify what should be done when a player sustains what appears to be a brain injury. It has its limits, but by mandating the presence of certified athletic trainers (ATCs) up in the booth to look for instances of head trauma, in addition to placing neurotrauma consultants (UNCs) with no team affiliation on the sidelines to assist in the diagnosis of possible concussion symptoms, the protocol was a significant step toward safeguarding players’ health. In addition to the in-game protocol, there is also a separate set of specific procedures that governs how to handle players after a concussion diagnosis has been confirmed. All told, it’s a marked improvement from the way things used to be.

After a public outcry following a 2015 hit taken by Case Keenum, the league and the NFLPA last year rolled out an enhanced protocol that added compliance guidelines and specific punishments for any violations—in effect, policy measures designed to ensure the protocol would be enforced. Violators now risk disciplinary actions ranging from fines to the forfeiture of draft picks, with a neutral arbitrator to settle any disputes. But, as befits the NFL’s approach to disciplining anyone other than the players, the enhancements have proven to be all bark and no bite. The arbitrator is empowered only to issue a report to commissioner Roger Goodell, who retains (in the league’s own words) “absolute discretion” to determine any penalties. And since these enhancements were put into place just before the start of the 2016 season, not one punishment has been meted out.

In fact, it took all of one gamefor the toothlessness of the supposedly improved concussion policy to become obvious. In last year’s season opener, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton—at the time, the league’s reigning MVP—endured a series of brain-rattling hits, yet was never checked for a concussion until after the game. A cursory reading of the protocol that was in place at the time made it plain that the guidelines weren’t followed. The league and the NFLPA launched an investigation; one month later, the two sides explained awaythe whole thing by saying Newton didn’t have to be checked out despite what everyone watching the game had seen:

[full article]

https://deadspin.com/the-nfl-s-concussion-protocol-can-work-but-only-if-it-1821255174

 

Take their pads away. Bring back leather helmets. Make it like rugby, but with NFL rules. Guarantee you the amount of injuries are cut in half.

 

Another major problem: huge exciting play... Holding, holding, holding.

Way too many flags.

 

As a former high school linebacker, it's more like there's way too much holding. Make the penalty harsher, like 15 yards or something from the spot of the foul, and there will be fewer holding calls. There's not enough risk for the reward that holding provides.

 

As a former lineman, I don't think there would be.

Actually, I think they are far too inconsistent in calling holding. They miss so many on people like Clowney and Watt, yet other times, they call so many ticky tack holding calls.

 

True, with all the great materials available a thin soft pad on the outer part of the helmet would make a huge difference. It should have been done already but I guess its like professional boxers vs amateur. Ironically (or counterintuitively), the talk lately has been that amateur boxers need to remove the head gear to prevent injuries and that would go along the lines of making the players look more like rugby players, which someone already mentioned. Something will have to change.