By focusing our attention on concussions, the NFL, NCAA & HS football organizations are diverting our attention from the lesser sub-concussive hits that leading researchers think are the actual cause of CTE.
It is the accumulation of these smaller hits that they think cause the brain diseases that disable and kill so many, so young.
At what point do fans look themselves in the mirror and ask how much human loss are they willing to accept in their quest for entertainment?
It is the accumulation of these smaller hits that they think cause the brain diseases that disable and kill so many, so young.
At what point do fans look themselves in the mirror and ask how much human loss are they willing to accept in their quest for entertainment?
6
I think improved medical technology will soon provide the answer, I.e. brain damage caused by concussions will be diagnosed in real time thus allowing parents of high school and college football players to immediately see the effects of this sport. Football programs at all levels will collapse (Pop Warner, high school, college and NFL). Problem solved!
3
Well written. To me, there seems to be an obvious solution to the issue of concussions, simply increasing (substantially) the size of helmets so there can be more padding inside! The players could hit each other just as hard as before, but the acceleration of their heads would be reduced. It might look a bit un-cool at first, but IMO, if there is a long-term future to football, I believe that today's helmets will someday look as archaic and hazardous as the leather "helmets" that Bronco Nagurski wore.
The NFL is not credible. Their experts and explanations seem carefully crafted to show improvement about injuries that cannot be avoided: concussions.
The Commisioner needs to resign as a first step. Then use an independent, outside, group to monitor and study injuries including, and especially, concussions. The NFL is acting for its own self interest and not the welfare of its players.
The Commisioner needs to resign as a first step. Then use an independent, outside, group to monitor and study injuries including, and especially, concussions. The NFL is acting for its own self interest and not the welfare of its players.
4
You don't have to get hit on the head to suffer brain injury. Your head is encased in a hard skull, cushioned by a thin membrane and cerebral fluid. A sudden swing back and forth or side to side may tear the lining, lead to bleeding, etc. So any sudden impact that causes sudden movement or jarring may cause injury - how many times per game does a head get jarred without a direct hit!
DCG, PhD - Retired Boarded Neuropsychologist
DCG, PhD - Retired Boarded Neuropsychologist
4
“There’s so much posing going on, so much pretending that you can make this sport safe,” Carmichael said. “How do you rationalize this roulette that we are playing with young men?”
The rationalization is millions into billions of dollars for those who run the games.
The rationalization is millions into billions of dollars for those who run the games.
5
You cannot engage in the sport of American football at any level without the very real risk of disastrous injury. I suffered a knee injury at 15 that has followed me throughout my entire life and will never simply go away. As to being paid, a fat paycheck today does not compensate for early-onset dementia tomorrow. It is what it is. The question is how long do we put up with it.
5
Unsafe at any speed.
3
Simple solution: Get rid of the helmets. Soccer players, rugby players, they don't wear 'em. No helmet on, player's gonna think twice about leading with his head. Result: a vast reduction in concussions.
I'm still working on ligament injuries: I'll get back to you.
I'm still working on ligament injuries: I'll get back to you.
1
Does anyone ever question the ethics of a doctor being employed by a team to take care of the players? After all, that means that he is not the player's doctor - he's the team's doctor. Whose interests does he really serve? How does "first, do no harm" apply here?
4
I would be interested in a comparison of rugby injuries to football injuries. Rugby: no helmets, no pads. So no one hits head first. Those things on the heads of football players are weapons, not the protective device that most people associate with the word "helmet".
Yet... I watch. I cheer. Perhaps I am no better than the Romans cheering for the lions. I'm educated, a white collar worker and a bleeding heart liberal in a very blue area. But still - love watching. Go ahead and judge me.
Yet... I watch. I cheer. Perhaps I am no better than the Romans cheering for the lions. I'm educated, a white collar worker and a bleeding heart liberal in a very blue area. But still - love watching. Go ahead and judge me.
2
As a long-time fan of football and of sports in general, as well as a participant, mainly when I was younger, this issue also reminds me of how I felt about boxing as early as my teenage years. For example, I remember marveling about the dynamism of boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson and, of course Ali, but I said early on that if a public referendum was held on whether boxing should be allowed I would have voted against its allowance. I confess my guilt feelings on the subject. Simply put, why should we want human beings to brutalize one another? If I walk up to an individual and punch that individual in the face I could be charged with a crime--unless people pay to see me do it.
1
It is a physical sport. But let's keep things in perspective. Twenty-two million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. Last year, U.S. business paid more than $1.5 million in penalties for not protecting workers from noise. As forgetfulness in 60 year-olds is unusual, so is hearing loss in middle-aged people working jobs that pay fractional of NFL salaries.
While it's impossible to put a number to the human toll of hearing loss, an estimated $242 million is spent annually on workers' compensation for hearing loss disability.
While it's impossible to put a number to the human toll of hearing loss, an estimated $242 million is spent annually on workers' compensation for hearing loss disability.
No one is forcing these young men to play NFL football. With information provided by their player's union and the sporting press concerning the long term health risks they continue to sign contracts to be paid to play the sport. I have little sympathy for their plight given they have made informed choices.
Informed choices???
Only since March, 2016 when the NFL admitted CTE was linked to concussions
Only since March, 2016 when the NFL admitted CTE was linked to concussions
4
These are not informed choices by anyone in the NFL right now: the science is new and the NFL has not been forthcoming on the injuries players have suffered.
2
And the owners and TV networks who incur no risk dance all the way to the bank with this consensual brain damage.
We don't really "know" how much the owners make off of this carnage. Except we know they get the public to build the new Roman Coliseums.
That these semi literate men play for the "promise" of millions at the risk of life altering injuries, suicide and frequently premature death....that makes these "new gladiator games" ethical and legal.
We don't see many children and grand children of the owners and network executives on the field.
We don't really "know" how much the owners make off of this carnage. Except we know they get the public to build the new Roman Coliseums.
That these semi literate men play for the "promise" of millions at the risk of life altering injuries, suicide and frequently premature death....that makes these "new gladiator games" ethical and legal.
We don't see many children and grand children of the owners and network executives on the field.
4
These are blood sports.
The Roman gladiators in football helmets.
Now instead of getting a sword stuck in your guts
You get your head and brains pounded to dust
And your limbs ripped off and joints turned backwards.
And then there is boxing
And its newest for (compared to roman times}
These "Ultimate Fighters" who fight until brain damage is inflicted on their opponents or onto themselves.
At least it isn't war. Yet.
The Roman gladiators in football helmets.
Now instead of getting a sword stuck in your guts
You get your head and brains pounded to dust
And your limbs ripped off and joints turned backwards.
And then there is boxing
And its newest for (compared to roman times}
These "Ultimate Fighters" who fight until brain damage is inflicted on their opponents or onto themselves.
At least it isn't war. Yet.
3
There is one obvious EASY way concussions and injuries generally in football would be SIGNIFICANTLY decreased. Just one rule change is required. Any player penalized for "roughing" another player will be EJECTED from that game immediately. If it is further deemed TARGETING and involves helmet to helmet contact that player will also become ineligible for at least one additional game.
Further if the injured player is lost for even more games or the entire season the guilty player will be suspended for a comparable amount of games.
This one rule change making the penalty comparble to its impact will decrease concussions and serious injuries by at least 50% in my view maybe more. Why. Because LOSING playing time is simply too expensive to both that player and his team. The cost of rouging another player becomes too high to justify it.
Right now a 15 yard penalty for "unsportsmanslike conduct" for seriously handicapping another player's performance with a brutal hit is a joke. In fact that relatively minor penalty is an inducement to excessive violence. In fat it is exactly the same penalty for a player who spikes a ball or verbally taunts another player. Making the currents rules even more ridiculous if there are off setting penalties on a play even the 15 yard penalty is negated as does happen.
So why doesn't the NFL make this simple rule change and never will. Because of their complete hypocrisy. Let's hope they pay the price of ever decreasing ratings and audiences.
Further if the injured player is lost for even more games or the entire season the guilty player will be suspended for a comparable amount of games.
This one rule change making the penalty comparble to its impact will decrease concussions and serious injuries by at least 50% in my view maybe more. Why. Because LOSING playing time is simply too expensive to both that player and his team. The cost of rouging another player becomes too high to justify it.
Right now a 15 yard penalty for "unsportsmanslike conduct" for seriously handicapping another player's performance with a brutal hit is a joke. In fact that relatively minor penalty is an inducement to excessive violence. In fat it is exactly the same penalty for a player who spikes a ball or verbally taunts another player. Making the currents rules even more ridiculous if there are off setting penalties on a play even the 15 yard penalty is negated as does happen.
So why doesn't the NFL make this simple rule change and never will. Because of their complete hypocrisy. Let's hope they pay the price of ever decreasing ratings and audiences.
19
Sorry, that is unlikely to help. While the science of concussions and CTE is far from worked out completely it seems clear that there is a relationship to the cumulative amount of head trauma rather than simply the dramatic and violent collisions typically involving ball carriers/receivers. Many CTE sufferers have been interior lineman where there is helmet to helmet contact every play. Many violent collisions and helmet to helmet contact episodes are not deliberate but occur in the fraction of a second between fast moving bodies. I suspect that there are likely to be unintended consequences of an aggressive targeting prohibition resulting in an increase in lower ectremity and trunk injuries. The sad truth is that the football helmet, ironically intended to protect allows for the wanton launching of bodily missiles. We have evidence of what happens when you remove them, its called rugby and while it is not entirely safe it is a magnitude less harmful. Lets acknowledge that the violence is in part what makes the sport attractive rather than try to magically think we can make it safe. And lets find out the consequences for hundreds of thousands of young players who will never see the NFL.
2
Cool! 30 yards, or 2/3 of the distance to the goal line, and a flagrant is loss of possession - a turnover! That ought to make a difference!
Football may be “an inherently brutal and dangerous sport”, but I don’t think that the degree of violence is inherent. For instance, when did a “hit” become a football play instead of a tackle? With a hit, the goal is not to just stop the play, but to intimidate the opponent through fear of pain or injury. This of course leads to increased pain and injury (and often to missed tackles).
The result is a diminished game where, by the end of the season, some of the best players are out of the game. It becomes a question of not just which is the best team, but which team has the fewest injuries to key players.
The commentators and fans revel in and glorify hits. “Wow, did you see that hit”. Then they get somber when someone doesn’t get up right away. Then the relief when it appears the player has not suffered a crippling injury (with the greatest and often unspoken fear of a spinal injury).
I think without a doubt the rate of injuries would go down if the players’ goal was to just make the play - tackles and sacks instead of hits. Ratings might go down, too, and that really is the crux of the issue.
Football is an interesting sport with a lot of intelligence and wonderful athleticism within it, so there is much for the fans to enjoy. I think if the unnecessary violence was minimized, football might lose a few fans, but it also might regain a few who have been turned off by brutality for its own sake and the consequent injuries.
The result is a diminished game where, by the end of the season, some of the best players are out of the game. It becomes a question of not just which is the best team, but which team has the fewest injuries to key players.
The commentators and fans revel in and glorify hits. “Wow, did you see that hit”. Then they get somber when someone doesn’t get up right away. Then the relief when it appears the player has not suffered a crippling injury (with the greatest and often unspoken fear of a spinal injury).
I think without a doubt the rate of injuries would go down if the players’ goal was to just make the play - tackles and sacks instead of hits. Ratings might go down, too, and that really is the crux of the issue.
Football is an interesting sport with a lot of intelligence and wonderful athleticism within it, so there is much for the fans to enjoy. I think if the unnecessary violence was minimized, football might lose a few fans, but it also might regain a few who have been turned off by brutality for its own sake and the consequent injuries.
13
It would be even more interesting if all the players were eligible to receive a pass. There would be less mass blocking and attack and more dispersion of play. Pass rushers would have to account for their pass blockers and could not just run by them. Play would be more freeform, and therefore the physical aspects less concentrated. How do the NFL injury stats stand up against the Canadian Football League? In truth, their rules may be both better and safer. And more interesting.
1
Litigation payouts and unaffordable school budgets will kill football at the middle school and high school level. Football's current success and ultimate demise will be money.
9
There is no way to make tackle football safe. There is also no way to blunt its popularity -- except by grinding each game to a near halt with relentless penalty flags and hours and hours of instant replays. Football fans will not quit watching football because it's a dangerous game; that's the main attraction. A few fans, like me, will give up on professional and big-college football because of the high cost of tickets and achingly slow pace of the games. But, thank heavens, there are other football games to watch at the small college and high school levels. The tickets are affordable and there aren't any media time outs. The stadiums are small and you can hear the crack of the pads and helmet-to-helmet collisions. The crowds cheer when a good play is made, and clap politely when an injured player is carried off the field. The world would be a cold, dark place without football in the fall.
3
Rationalization is easy when there is money to be made. This is America! Unsafe working conditions?! This is all by design. The brains of healthy humans are collateral damage to the money making machine that is the NFL. They only pretend to care because the publicity is poor. They need young healthy bodies for the spectacle. The young healthy minds are of no concern to the profit takers.
13
Referees looked the other way and deliberately did not call the shots on Cam. Gee, I wonder why?
15
Every game there are helmet to helmet hits that are not called. The out of bounds helmet to ribs hit on the Packer's Nelson that broke his ribs was not called. Until helmet-first hits ("spearing") are vigilantly called -- and severely fined -- they will not stop. Period. And until they stop, concussions and other injuries will continue to escalate. Coaches should be able to challenge such hits when they are either not seen, or ignored by officials. A helmet should not be a weapon.
11
Why can't they pad the helmets to mitigate its use as a weapon?
1
It isn't the contact from helmet to helmet that does the damage:
Inside the skull a sudden stop causes the soft brain to bounce back and forth against the bone. The living brain is only lightly attached to the inside of the skull and is the consistency of pudding. The sudden stop is the agent of injury.
Inside the skull a sudden stop causes the soft brain to bounce back and forth against the bone. The living brain is only lightly attached to the inside of the skull and is the consistency of pudding. The sudden stop is the agent of injury.
2
Football is demoted heathen hedonism. Of a relative mayhem scale football sinks beneath barroom brawling as sport and also below loosing road rage fusillades. Romans had gladiators as sport. Our society is on its way back.
3
The NFL is trying to navigate between two extremes: keep the game as it is, with the violence (and injuries that causes) that serves as its main attraction, or change the game to significantly reduce the violence and lose a big chunk of supporters. I don't see how the middle path will help them keep the huge audience they have now. I expect they will double down and try to distract us with a flurry of medical reports, public-service ads, and new, improved, "safer" helmets, but the violence will stay because the violence pays the bills.
5
Has anyone considered "softening" helmets and shoulder pads and whether or not that would lessen injuries? What are the comparative injury statistics in rugby? Time to think outside the box.....way outside.
2
Sure - helmets were originally leather. But a rigid helmet is a key design element to protect the player inside. Imagine if your helmet squashed at the bottom of a pile of 300-pounders....
The inherent violence of football will never change. The unnecessarily violent and late hits could. Penalties are too often missed and suspensions for obvious hits should be costly and frequent. A guy about to lose 8 games pay might find a way to grab an opponent's waist instead of crashing into his head.
4
"From high school to college to the pros, rationalization is a game that is increasingly difficult to play."
That's exactly why I stopped watching. How to cheer a hit when you know it may result in brain injury? How to support a team owned by a billionaire that holds a city financially hostage? How to watch players used up and tossed away like kleenex? No more for me.
That's exactly why I stopped watching. How to cheer a hit when you know it may result in brain injury? How to support a team owned by a billionaire that holds a city financially hostage? How to watch players used up and tossed away like kleenex? No more for me.
15
Article is right on. As it is the game cannot be made safe whether concussions or other injuries. There are all the hired NFL lackeys who will try to tell you different. There are all of the ex-players who will tell you the risk is worth it. For many it was the only way out of poverty and the risk may be worth it. Then there are the other NFL shills (such as coaches and sports reporters) who will tell you the game teaches leadership, how to overcome adversity teamwork, blah, blah, blah. How is football different than any other team sport?
As always follow the money and it leads right to the NFL!
As always follow the money and it leads right to the NFL!
6
I hate to say this but as soon as the Pats start losing again, I will stop watching the NFL.
1
They are the Roman Gladiators of our times. There's more violence in football than in boxing; than in hockey; than in NASCAR. On every down, men smash each other and look for opportunities to physically crush their opponent. They've been bred like pit bulls to perform this way since they were children.
And if they've made it to the NFL, they're the best at it.
I've made this suggestion before and I know it will go exactly nowhere, but in the end it is the only way to save the game:
No more helmets, and no more plastic pads.
And if they've made it to the NFL, they're the best at it.
I've made this suggestion before and I know it will go exactly nowhere, but in the end it is the only way to save the game:
No more helmets, and no more plastic pads.
8
I enjoy reading the NY Times archives and recently was looking at an edition from the fall of 1907 and there were 3 or 4 front page articles about the seriousness of football injuries occurring then at the college and high school levels; broken vertebrae and concussions were causing great concern about needed rule changes and the future of the sport.
9
dont get me wrong, I love watching a good professional football game. But, am I watching a modern day version of what Romans were seeing when gladiators fought?
2
I find myself watching games waiting for 'death by contact'. Just like race car fans waited to see crashes.
2
Now that you've soundly shown us the evidence, what is to be done?
Is football to be eliminated, or gone the way of boxing and marginalized?
Do you offer ANY solutions? The league is trying to institute safety measures.
Are they effective? Time will tell. No one wants to see the lives of young men ruined.
These studies will help parents make decisions about whether their kids should be allowed to play, but I suspect many will.
The NYT has systematically minimalized football from it's coverage, which considering it's still by far the most popular American spectator sport is journalistically irresponsible.
Is football to be eliminated, or gone the way of boxing and marginalized?
Do you offer ANY solutions? The league is trying to institute safety measures.
Are they effective? Time will tell. No one wants to see the lives of young men ruined.
These studies will help parents make decisions about whether their kids should be allowed to play, but I suspect many will.
The NYT has systematically minimalized football from it's coverage, which considering it's still by far the most popular American spectator sport is journalistically irresponsible.
1
This is the challenge I face just as a fan. I love the game, but I hate what is has done to the stars I have watched and admired since I was a kid. When I heard about the string of players that I loved to watch like Ken Stabler and Tony Dorsett suffer from the after effects of the game - I feel guilty. Guilty that I enjoyed the game and marveled at their talent while they were breaking down.
7
And my Father-in-Law wonders why I don't watch. This is why.
8
The critical nature of their concussion protocol is that is does not take into account a player who has multiple concussions during a career.
I am not an avid follower but I did hear that one player on the Jets this year missed two consecutive games due to the protocol and then mentioned that he had had one or two previously. CTE, as of now, is only diagnosed after death. At some point the NFL must consider the impact of multiple incidents. The NHL player Eric Lindros retired early because of his fear of multiple concussions.
As participation wanes in the United States, they are trying to export the game.
Just like everything else, dollar signs rule over common sense.
I am not an avid follower but I did hear that one player on the Jets this year missed two consecutive games due to the protocol and then mentioned that he had had one or two previously. CTE, as of now, is only diagnosed after death. At some point the NFL must consider the impact of multiple incidents. The NHL player Eric Lindros retired early because of his fear of multiple concussions.
As participation wanes in the United States, they are trying to export the game.
Just like everything else, dollar signs rule over common sense.
4
Well written article, Milke. Thank you.
Even were a significantly relevant number of players to die or be permanently disabled in a week or a month so as to represent a genuine occupational hazard, does anyone think the money interests cashing in on American football at every level are going to do anything other than pretend the sport is not ruining boys and men' lives? And with obfuscation, deceipt, lying and fake news and data the new American values modeled by the President, the NFL now has absolutely nothing to fear from any government employee safety regulation agency.
I stopped watching this "carnage", which applies here as much as anywhere in America, 3 years ago and will never go back!
Even were a significantly relevant number of players to die or be permanently disabled in a week or a month so as to represent a genuine occupational hazard, does anyone think the money interests cashing in on American football at every level are going to do anything other than pretend the sport is not ruining boys and men' lives? And with obfuscation, deceipt, lying and fake news and data the new American values modeled by the President, the NFL now has absolutely nothing to fear from any government employee safety regulation agency.
I stopped watching this "carnage", which applies here as much as anywhere in America, 3 years ago and will never go back!
5
The primary "weapon" in football, is shoulder pads. Over the years, those pads have grown significantly, and thereby, the "weapon" has become more substantial. If shoulder pads were reduced in size to be similar to lacrosse or hockey pads, the overall injury rate would decrease. While shoulder injuries would likely increase, concussions and knee injuries should decline.
1
I am an avid college football fan. I think I share with most fans an inability to distinguish a zone from a man to man, to count the number of defenders in the box, and to identify the sort of route run by a receiver. I coached basketball, so I can do all the comparable analysis when watching that sport. But football is much more complicated, so my appreciation of the game is reduced to the basics -- the athleticism of the players, their extraordinary skills, the teamwork, and the unique blending of white and black athletes. Still, the one thing that I always call my adult son to the TV to watch is the hardest of hits.
Those who don't know football can be outraged all they want. I have been watching the game for decades, and whoever I watch it with -- young or old, male or female, always gasps at the hits and knows they are among the game highlights. I believe that the hits can be moved away from the head. The hits that make us gasp include plenty of body tackless that cause the ball handler to flip.
Let's stop pretending that football will survive without violent contact. If you remove all hard contact from the game, it loses its appeal. But concussions have always been too much, and your fear for the player's well-being negates any entertainment value. For the sport to survive, it needs more hard body hits and few, if any, head hits. It's as simple as that.
Those who don't know football can be outraged all they want. I have been watching the game for decades, and whoever I watch it with -- young or old, male or female, always gasps at the hits and knows they are among the game highlights. I believe that the hits can be moved away from the head. The hits that make us gasp include plenty of body tackless that cause the ball handler to flip.
Let's stop pretending that football will survive without violent contact. If you remove all hard contact from the game, it loses its appeal. But concussions have always been too much, and your fear for the player's well-being negates any entertainment value. For the sport to survive, it needs more hard body hits and few, if any, head hits. It's as simple as that.
Matt Moore gets absolutely crushed by Bud Dupree in a playoff game and misses one play, even though his mouth is bleeding....how much of that 11% decrease in concussions is due to misdiagnosis?
I have a simple idea to make the game safer, take away the face guards. To much protection fosters a daring style of play that causes more injuries. Besides that, seeing the faces of the players will make it back into a game played by men and not Marvel-style warrior bots (like in the graphic Fox uses all the time).
1
It may be that kids stop playing the game and it dries up for lack of players. It is possible that fans will gradually find the spectacle of body after body being stretchered off the field unwatchable. Maybe ticket prices will at last price the average fan out of their seats. Municipalities might balk at being ransomed for billion dollar stadiums to be built for and owned by billionaires. In an echo of that, fans might find the spectacle of watching millionaire's destroying themselves in the service of billionaires an absurd waste of time. Whatever kills the NFL, the infection has long ago taken root in its host. In the end, what is happening in the NFL may be a sad, self inflected, slow motion metaphor for what is happening to this country.
8
Make fumbles a dead ball. Possession stays with the player at the spot of the fumble.
Don't allow hard hits on a receiver going to catch a ball. Penalize from the spot of the hit.
Don't allow hard hits on a quarterback. Make this a major penalty.
Not sure how to define hard hit. Could be a certai level of force, calculated automatically during replay.
Don't allow hard hits on a receiver going to catch a ball. Penalize from the spot of the hit.
Don't allow hard hits on a quarterback. Make this a major penalty.
Not sure how to define hard hit. Could be a certai level of force, calculated automatically during replay.
1
The most simple answer will stop the carnage:
Mom's don't let you sons or daughters play contact football.
Oh, I forgot there are billions of dollars at stake...
Mom's don't let you sons or daughters play contact football.
Oh, I forgot there are billions of dollars at stake...
6
Play any sport, and do any activity, but please recognize you can't train your brain.