Concussions in College Football

[WildcatLouis]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/ ... li=BBnb7Kz

Just saw this article on msn.com today - includes stories on two former Wildcats: C.J. Dozier and Dakota Conwell.

[Merkin]

Awful.

1 in 10 players reported suffering multiple concussions during their college career

I know if I was Anu's parents I would strongly encourage him to find another career.

[WildcatStunner]

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), is no joke. Very serious.

[Merkin]

Used to be one of my favorite players when I used to watch the NFL

[azpenguin]

As much attention as concussions are now (deservedly) getting in football, I still think a lot of people don't understand the threat this poses to the game. There are a lot of people who are not putting their kids on Pop Warner teams and are having them play baseball or soccer instead. Youth football participation has dropped a pretty good bit and parents are saying that they are worried about concussions and the long term effects. There are also fans who are starting to question if they should be supporting a sport that is leaving longtime players damaged (one interesting thing is that a lot of these people talk about how hard it is to stop watching football in the same terms as if like they were quitting a drug.) This is why I am a big fan of things like targeting rules. I know this isn't always a popular opinion. But the main focus of how aggressively they're enforcing targeting now isn't just about preventing injuries on hits, it's about modifying how the game is played. Players need to learn how to play football without trying to blow people up all the time. One key part of targeting rules is the language that says "when in question, it is a foul." This may lead to some controversial targeting calls, but it is what it is. Don't lead with the crown of your helmet, don't go high on hits, don't try to get on sportscenter with your huge hit on a guy.

[UAEebs86]

My son had 3 in HS, two from football and one officially undiagnosed (but he knew it from the previous one) in a car accident. The second one in football was
scary, no coaches/teammates noticed, he drove home, and had no business driving a car.

Pop Warner is not where kids are going to get a lot of concussions. The hits are nothing like high school, college, and pros.
Really need to not allow using one's own helmet as a weapon.

In case anyone wants to know what a concussion feels like:

UA App Uses Virtual Reality to Simulate Concussion Effects

https://news.azpm.org/p/state-and-local ... n-effects/

[Puerco]

CTE is the end of competitive football. After the first few lawsuits get resolved, insurance rates will rise too high to be affordable by any team not making multiple millions in profit every year. This will cause the eventual end of youth football, high school football, and small college football, which will eventually mean that there won't be a sufficient pool of players to feed major colleges and the pros. I give it somewhere around 20 years till the NFL is really, really struggling to put a compelling product on the field.

[Merkin]

I wonder if less equipment is better, not more. That way defenders will actually learn how to wrap up and tackle, instead of coming in as fast as you can and knocking into them with full force.

[ASUHATER!]

I don't think football will die or go away, but I can certainly see in 25-30 years there being wholesale changes to the rules and equipment to make it a much less violent game. Football in 2016 bares only a small resemblance to football from 1916. The NFL and college football could slip from their perches as the most popular sports to a lower place with the evolution and changes but I don't think they'd go away.

[catgrad97]

I wonder if less equipment is better, not more. That way defenders will actually learn how to wrap up and tackle, instead of coming in as fast as you can and knocking into them with full force.

The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research disagrees with you:

https://nccsir.unc.edu/files/2013/10/An ... -Final.pdf" target="_blank

The past 10 years (2005-2014) have recorded the lowest number of head and neck fatalities (36) since data collection began in 1931.

Before a 1976 rule change that eliminated the head as the initial contact point in blocking and tackling, fatalities in football averaged more than 10 a year.

Rule changes beginning in the 1976 football season that eliminated the head and face as a primary and initial contact area for blocking and tackling were of utmost importance...

Coaches who are teaching helmet or face to the numbers tackling and blocking are not only breaking the football rules, but are placing their players at risk for permanent paralysis or death. This type of tackling and blocking technique was the direct cause of 36 football fatalities and 30 permanent paralysis injuries in 1968.

Bolded is author's emphasis. The survey also found that the helmets have gotten more protective and the rule changes have prevented injuries or death that would have otherwise happened in the 20th century.

So it's the coaching, not the equipment, that's the problem, and ignorance of proper tackling technique is no longer an excuse.

[Merkin]

[azgreg]

That robot is 2 stars at best.

[azpenguin]

That robot is 2 stars at best.

His Sparq score is horrible.

[azcat49]

Like many NFL players would tell you, they are the modern day gladiators and we as the fans want to see viciousness in the arena.

I am all for taking the physical play down a notch but there is just too much one involved.

Players dieing at the rate of 4 a year playing a game is just way to much. As a grandparent now I would tell my kids to keep them in other sports when the time comes

[Merkin]

[Spaceman Spiff]

I remember Matt Scott vomiting after getting hammered against USC. I always felt very conflicted about that as an Arizona fan.

In that 110 of 111 stat, the one guy had to be a punter or kicker, right?

[Merkin]

[azcat49]

Will the NFL exist as we know it in 20 years? I am not so sure

[BearDown89]

Will the NFL exist as we know it in 20 years? I am not so sure

Doubt it. They're going to have to wrap-up at the shoulders and drag people down rugby style. They're going to have to take the collision out of it, but then there goes the game . . .

[Merkin]

Jesus. I'd ban him for life.

[CatinVA]

Jesus. I'd ban him for life.

Absolutely brutal and unacceptable.

[UAEebs86]

I take back what I said about Pop Warner.

JFC