American Football, Concussions, and The End of A Sport

[Strike For The South]

American football makes rugby look like a tuppaware party- Sue Lawley

This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart so be prepared for sappiness and anecdotes.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...?currentPage=1

This peice is by the New Yorker and it makes my blood boil. It's a bit long but it compares football players to dogs.

Now my first thought is to go to New York and burn the mans office to the ground. He clearly has never stepped foot on a gridiron, much less built up bonds with teamates over years.

However, as I sit in think about it more I realize he is probably right in some sense. I was 14 years old playing my first freshman football game, towards the end of the first half my hand was wedged between two facemasks. It hurt like all holy hell but I cowboy'd up and finished the game. I later found out I broke the hand and two fingers. Needless to say I didn't miss a practice.

As much as I would like to reference the above story as another escapde of my toughness (lord knows I would like to) I can't. The fact of the matter was I was scared. But I wasn't scared because of an overbearing coach or a parent whom had pushed me into this. I knew both of them would understand. I was scared that I would let down my teamates and be looked on as less of a man. I was scared that my brothers would lose respect for me because I couldn't play one game without getting hurt.

The hand still hurts when it rains and sometimes for no reason it pops on occasion. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of the guys I played with for 7 years. I built up bonds with these men that rival the ones I have with my family. From August to January I was with these guys about 12 hours of the day. I know I could call anyone of them up and they would help me.

But at what cost? Soccer is quickly becoming the most played youth sport and football is falling out of favor fast in places like the west coast and New England.

There is talk that the sport will go the way of the dogs, to dangerous at the high school level, to exspensive at the college level, to impure professionaly.

I love this game with all my heart and soul. The first time I saw Friday Night Lights, I was excited because that's what lay ahead of me. Now I watch it and get teary eyed. Not because I long for my HS days. College is deffitnely where the fun is! But I know never again will I share bonds with men like that (Well unless I have sex with them, but that's another topic)

That's what people who have never played the game don't understand, even men who rally against these injuries (as they should) say they would never give back what they had.

You can't get that by kicking a damn ball.

None of this made any sense but I'm glad I wrote it.

[HoreTore]

Start playing real football instead, you heathens.

Oh, and scrap the idiotic college system. I thought you people were supposed to be against unnecessary layers of bureaucracy....

[JAG]

Start playing real football instead, you heathens.

Oh, and scrap the idiotic college system. I thought you people were supposed to be against unnecessary layers of bureaucracy....

Gah, you are so wrong. It is the rest of the world - especially us over here in Europe - who need to adopt the college and draft system which works so well in the States.

SFTS - I understand everything you say, the emotion, the hurt - the everything. But I have never played American football, I played rugby. People really need to stop the debate about football and rugby, they are both similar sports, lets not resort to bashing either one. I broke my pelvis playing rugby when I was 16 and believe it or not carried on playing for a few minutes before I collapsed and had to get carried off by my coach and a team mate. The comradery and the team spirit is exactly the same in rugby as it is over there for football.

Fortunately rugby is growing over here at the moment and even though some people are trying to tamper with the rules to make it half the game it is now, they won't win and I doubt they will over there with football either. These things have a tendency to get overblown by a few people in the media and a couple of people with 'authority' within the game but then get roundly rejected - eventually - by the people who really love the sport. Basically, don't fret, it will be alright and hell, if they ever stop playing it over there come and play it over here. It is one of the biggest growing sports in the UK at the moment and the only way is up.

Oh and don't have a go at our football either, brilliant game if you ever give it a chance. Beautiful and elegant, yet brutal in its own way - there is a reason it is the worlds biggest sport.

[Strike For The South]

Gah, you are so wrong. It is the rest of the world - especially us over here in Europe - who need to adopt the college and draft system which works so well in the States.

Sport is one of the things that make college great.

SFTS - I understand everything you say, the emotion, the hurt - the everything, but I have never played American football, I played rugby. People really need to stop the debate about football and rugby, they are both similar sports, lets not resort to bashing either one. I broke my pelvis playing rugby when I was 16 and believe it or not carried on playing for a few minutes before I collapsed and had to get carried off by my coach and a team mate. The comradery and the team spirit is exactly the same in rugby as it is over there for football.

I understand, I've always just wanted to use that quote. Is Rugby ingrained in culture like football is over here? Football is what you do here. It's truly what brings Texans together. Black,white, or hispanic, football is held in the same reverence in every neighborhood and region of the state.

One day I plan to learn rugby but now is not that time. I do however respect the sport immensly. Sorry if my jesting came off as disrespect.

Fortunately rugby is growing over here at the moment and even though some people are trying to tamper with the rules to make it half the game it is now, they won't win and I doubt they will over there with football either. These things have a tendency to get overblown by a few people in the media and a couple of people with 'authority' within the game but then get roundly rejected - eventually - by the people who really love the sport. Basically, don't fret, it will be alright and hell, if they ever stop playing it over there come and play it over here it is one of the biggest growing sports in the UK at the moment and the only way is up.

I hope you're right. I watched the game in Wimberley and it looked like it was a good time

Oh and don't have a go at our football either, brilliant game if you ever give it a chance. Beautiful and elegant, yet brutal in its own way at the same time - there is a reason it is the worlds biggest sport.

I like Soccer to, watching or playing it makes for a good time. I just never have gotten into like football. Granted that's personal bias.

JAG I seem to remember you were a big baseball fan as well. Did you see Lees masterpeice yesterday?

[Crazed Rabbit]

You can't get that by kicking a damn ball.

How can you know that? There's some people who started playing soccer with their teammates in kindergarten and kept on playing to the end of high school.

I think you can get the same kind of camaraderie with soccer.

CR

[Strike For The South]

How can you know that? There's some people who started playing soccer with their teammates in kindergarten and kept on playing to the end of high school.

I think you can get the same kind of camaraderie with soccer.

CR

In my exp. that was not the case but then again in Texas there really is no premium on soccer.

[JAG]

You do get comradery in soccer, a real sense of team - but for me at least the collective team ethos was always higher and that much deeper in my rugby team. This is coming from someone who played football since I was 5 and rugby from only the age of 12. Though this is clearly a subjective thing and I know of people who have the complete opposite and just couldn't get into the whole rugby thing, which is all good.

I understand, I've always just wanted to use that quote. Is Rugby ingrained in culture like football is over here? Football is what you do here. It's truly what brings Texans together. Black,white, or hispanic, football is held in the same reverence in every neighborhood and region of the state.

There are pockets of it. Rugby is traditionally a very middle class game, so you don't get that same kind of togetherness, but it is there in places - where I live Twickenham, is the centre of rugby in England so you feel it pretty strong.

JAG I seem to remember you were a big baseball fan as well. Did you see Lees masterpeice yesterday?

Huge baseball fan, HUGE - possibly my Fav sport, and I have never even played it! I watched Lee's gem yesterday with awe, how he kept the Yankees so off balance throughout the whole 9 innings was a joy to behold. Dissapointed the Yankees just beat my fav pictcher of all time, Pedro Martinez, but I want this series to be a classic and I guess 1-1 going into Phillie sets it up well... There hasn't been a classic, Fall classic, for 5 or 6 years or so now, and I so want this to go the distance. Phillies in 7, taking it down with Lee going on a second start of 3 day rest ownage. Heard It here first....

[HoreTore]

How can you know that? There's some people who started playing soccer with their teammates in kindergarten and kept on playing to the end of high school.

I think you can get the same kind of camaraderie with soccer.

CR

I'm 23. I still play football(soccer). I'm still playing with the people I played with when I started at age 6....

[Louis VI the Fat]

towards the end of the first half my hand was wedged between two facemasks. It hurt like all holy hell but I cowboy'd up and finished the game. I later found out I broke the hand and two fingers. Needless to say I didn't miss a practice.

Ooohhh! My manicure would kill me for that!

[Fragony]

If you are fine with risking injuries riding a pony is just that more hardcore. I finished kickboxing matches with a broken hand, helps to have somethin to bite on

[Jolt]

I'm 23. I still play football(soccer). I'm still playing with the people I played with when I started at age 6....

Indeed. And so do I. And like us there are probably hundreds of thousands of cases like us in Europe alone.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I don't think the problem is inherrent in "football" as a sport, but, clearly, you shouldn't be head charding, you should be shoulder charging.

So, maybe the way you play does need to change. Also, I have to point out, Strike, that the majority of that article is actually from a football player, not from the journalist.

[HoreTore]

Indeed. And so do I. And like us there are probably hundreds of thousands of cases like us in Europe alone.

But do start taking care of yourself, Strike. Pain is your body's way of telling you it's time to stop what you're doing before you really screw things up. And I know what I'm talking about, I'm stuck with chronic injuries because I didn't care about things like that in my youth. Nowadays I can't run more than about 1km before I get an uncontrollable urge to saw both legs off with a rusty saw to end the pain. It ain't fun.

[naut]

I think you can get the same kind of camaraderie with soccer.

I've played with the same guys since age 11/12 and I'm now 19. So that's 7 seasons and we'll be playing again next season. Of course you get camaraderie, just a different type attitude wise, but no less poignant.

And on the subject of injuries, last season our goalkeeper broke our rival team's forward's leg in two places. And I played half the season with my knee joint out of alignment.

[Ronin]

As much as I would like to reference the above story as another escapde of my toughness (lord knows I would like to) I can't. The fact of the matter was I was scared. But I wasn't scared because of an overbearing coach or a parent whom had pushed me into this. I knew both of them would understand. I was scared that I would let down my teamates and be looked on as less of a man. I was scared that my brothers would lose respect for me because I couldn't play one game without getting hurt.

The hand still hurts when it rains and sometimes for no reason it pops on occasion. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of the guys I played with for 7 years. I built up bonds with these men that rival the ones I have with my family. From August to January I was with these guys about 12 hours of the day. I know I could call anyone of them up and they would help me.

This is true of any sport that is the main sport in a country, it is as true for (real) football here as it is for American Football over there and it might be basketball somewhere else.

As for the injury issue...I would say this...injuries can happen in sports, this is normal, any physical activity opens up the possibility of damage to one part of the body or another.
But when it gets to the point when injuries aren´t something that accidentally just happens but instead are almost expected and par for the course of the game I would say something is wrong in that particular sport.

[Centurion1]

lets see injuries in football

broke left hand (played the rest of the season, 2 more weeks)
broke six fingers over four years (never sat out)
broke left leg (well i had to sit out but the season was over)
fractured a rib (played last week of the season)

currently platying with a sprained ankle. (been three weeks)

wouldnt quit football for anything dont regret it at all, hell i probably play in college and im not even considering the injuries


two a days- blood sweat and tears
regular season- painful
playoffs- sometimes sweet but often bitter
playing on the team- PRICELESS

[Vladimir]

I think Kukri was shot in 'Nam. But you go ahead a play your little game.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I think Kukri was shot in 'Nam. But you go ahead a play your little game.

Kukri lives to make all other men feel inferior. He's a force of nature.

[Fisherking]

Strike doesn’t know it but what he is talking about is camaraderie.

It is not so hard to find but you may not want to know!

[Strike For The South]

Strike doesn’t know it but what he is talking about is camaraderie.

It is not so hard to find but you may not want to know!

Explain in simple english plz

[Pannonian]

There are pockets of it. Rugby is traditionally a very middle class game, so you don't get that same kind of togetherness, but it is there in places - where I live Twickenham, is the centre of rugby in England so you feel it pretty strong.

Northern France, white South Africa, New Zealand and some of the Pacific islands affiliated with New Zealand are probably where rugby union are most ingrained in the culture. Rugby league has some fanatics oop north, but for most of the Britain, it's association football first and everything else nowhere, not even cricket.

[miotas]

It might sound a strange way to reduce head injuries, but maybe you should stop wearing helmets, that way people would tackle with the shoulder rather than using their head.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

It might sound a strange way to reduce head injuries, but maybe you should stop wearing helmets, that way people would tackle with the shoulder rather than using their head.

It wouldn't help that much I don't think...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cc8fwpYAHM

[Pannonian]

It wouldn't help that much I don't think...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cc8fwpYAHM

That's an accident rather than an endemic problem. One of the criticisms of American football, healthwise, is that the padding and armour makes people feel invulnerable, and thus encourage them to throw themselves around beyond what their bodies can cope with, harming both themselves and others. Rugby players are pretty much standard human beings, if bigger and fitter than average, and they are more aware of what their bodies are doing. There's the odd nutter like Chabal, and some scummish tactics like spear-tackling and eye gouging have been tried (and outlawed), but for the most part, anything physical is balanced by the need to avoid injury to oneself, and thus has limits.

[KukriKhan]

I think Kukri was shot in 'Nam. But you go ahead a play your little game.

No bullet holes in the Kukri body. Maybe you're thinking of Gawain; he might have mentioned getting hurt in the Nam.

But you raise a point about sport = stylized warfare. Especially US football. Back in the Pleistocene, I played high school football, basketball, track and swimming. Mostly with the same guys. Even though the rosters were nearly identical the level of camaraderie I felt was highest in football. I think it's because of the shared higher level of risk of physical injury.

[Fisherking]

Mutual Interdependence is what it is about!

The level of risk promotes it.

Close combat is where you will find the most of it but it could be hazardous to your health...

[Pannonian]

No bullet holes in the Kukri body. Maybe you're thinking of Gawain; he might have mentioned getting hurt in the Nam.

Kafir mentioned being sniped in Vietnam. And still thinking it was better than being in Korea.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

That's an accident rather than an endemic problem. One of the criticisms of American football, healthwise, is that the padding and armour makes people feel invulnerable, and thus encourage them to throw themselves around beyond what their bodies can cope with, harming both themselves and others. Rugby players are pretty much standard human beings, if bigger and fitter than average, and they are more aware of what their bodies are doing. There's the odd nutter like Chabal, and some scummish tactics like spear-tackling and eye gouging have been tried (and outlawed), but for the most part, anything physical is balanced by the need to avoid injury to oneself, and thus has limits.

How can armor make people feel invulnerable if there are so many injuries?

Also, in rugby it's not a big deal where you tackle someone. If they get an extra foot or two it's no big deal. In football that extra foot can be crucial.

[KukriKhan]

How can armor make people feel invulnerable if there are so many injuries?

I don't understand the syndrome either, but I've seen it in my workplace. About 10 years ago, they issued everyone those suspender back-brace contraptions to cut down on back injuries. Result = more back injuries (a higher rate) because guys wearing the belt thought they could lift heavier loads. They had a false sense of security/invulnerability. After 6 months, and a doubling of back injuries, they recalled the belts, and now outlaw them.