If they DO ban kickoffs...

[Deus Irae]

There are problems you can’t solve by throwing money at them. Nobody will develop a magic bubble wrap that will make crashing into each other safe. The reality is that all the equipment gives the player a false sense of safety which results in reckless play.

Look no further than the Shazier injury. In what world does it make sense to launch yourself st another player at that angle ? Take away the false sense of security and players might become more careful.

1905 football deaths | Tom Benjey's Weblog

 

[luuked]

1905 football deaths | Tom Benjey's Weblog

This is where the word might comes in.

But maybe you are right and people have not gotten any more reflective over their own health and risks in over a hundred years.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

Honestly, the NFL is almost dead to me.

 

[fnordcircle]

I think football could be dead in less then 10 years if they follow through with that

Yeah, casual fans live for the kick off.

 

[fnordcircle]

This is what happens when a sport gets unbelievably popular. You get the pink hatters who come in and start demanding **** be changed. Get rid of this. Get rid of that. It's unsafe. blah blah blah.

I like that caring about people not getting life-destroying brain trauma is some sort of wacko leftist SJW thing to you.

 

[Deus Irae]

This is where the word might comes in.

But maybe you are right and people have not gotten any more reflective over their own health and risks in over a hundred years.

I'm sure you realize it, but I was responding to the following part of your comment:

Take away the false sense of security and players might become more careful.

The point is that injuries and death happen with, and without, the equipment, and all the rules changes and form tackling and equipment improvements haven't stopped it. They went to equipment in the first place in order to protect against injuries, and those injuries were obviously happening before any false sense of security about equipment could have set in.



But maybe all the laws of physics will change now that this rule has been passed.

 

[luuked]

I'm sure you realize it, but I was responding to the following part of your comment:



The point is that injuries and death happen with, and without, the equipment, and all the rules changes and form tackling and equipment improvements haven't stopped it. They went to equipment in the first place in order to protect against injuries, and those injuries were obviously happening before any false sense of security about equipment could have set in.



But maybe all the laws of physics will change now that this rule has been passed.

I get your point. I was just pointing out that I wrote: players might become more careful

Equipment has definitely been a net positive as the lack of dead players on the field shows but ultimately -- as you point out yourself -- this game was violent before billions of dollars went into researching protective gear and now that we have all this tech the game is still violent. There is only so much money and technology is able to do when it competes with the laws of physics.

Either way big change will come to this sport over the next decade. This can't be stopped.

 

[maineman209]

The reality is that all the equipment gives the player a false sense of safety which results in reckless play.

Good point.

I wonder if the LFL has the same injury problems. Their players don't appear to wear much ... ummm ... protective gear.

 

[luuked]

Good point.

I wonder if the LFL has the same injury problems. Their players don't appear to wear much ... ummm ... protective gear.

My speculation without doing any research is that injuries will just be differently distributed. e.g. Play without helmets and over time people will adjust to that by using different techniques that might overall reduce the injuries of one type but increase others because those different techniques will just strain other parts of the body.

The bottom line is that in a full contact sport like football there is just no way to avoid any of that. Now this risk might be acceptable to consenting adults but as we all know the real issue the sport will have is the high school and college football part of it .

We are already at a point where a lot of players are coming out of the draft -- sometimes even picked early -- not ready to perform in a pro defense or pro offense because of reduced practice times (OL, TE), simpler spread offenses (QB, WR, TE), playing against peers in terms of age (coverage LB, DB). If the sport needs to be adjusted at youth level to account for its dangers any more this will lead to a huge feeding issue for the NFL and considerably lower quality of games. And this is in my opinion really the death spiral of the sport.

Hopefully I am totally wrong about all of it.

 

[Soliel]

I like that caring about people not getting life-destroying brain trauma is some sort of wacko leftist SJW thing to you.

It is a crazy lefty fringe idea. It’s right up there with the crazy amphibians claiming inter species racism over yard flamingos

 

[patriot1136]

If they get rid of kickoffs and punts they should change the name. Should be just "ball" since the kicking part will be removed.

 

[Clonamery]

This is where the word might comes in.

But maybe you are right and people have not gotten any more reflective over their own health and risks in over a hundred years.

It’s usually after the fact, take Corey Widmer for instance.

Former New York Giants LB Corey Widmer declines Montana Football Hall of Fame nomination

 

[Kontradiction]

If they ban kickoffs, the sport as we know it is over. I like that the idea persists that we can make a violent sport non-violent. It's as if everyone forgets that these guys know what they're getting into, known that they can die on the field on literally every down, and still choose to take that risk. Maybe we should ban blocking or just outlaw line play altogether? After all, most of the helmet to helmet contact is initiated there. Maybe the defense can just execute the five second rule every play where they count to five before they rush into the offensive backfield?

 

[Soliel]

If they ban kickoffs, what will be next? Ban the pass. Too many injuries. Ban the run

 

[Tunescribe]

We’re about 10 minutes from the NFL being Arena Football.

* Ban kickoffs ... check.
* Make tackling impossible ... check.
* Make the receiver touching a pass a catch ... check.
* Make football scores look like basketball scores ... check.
* Build sideline stadium lounges for millennials to drink light beer and play with their smartphones ... check.

 

[tasmlab]

90% of kick offs are boring. Most of the kicking game - kick offs, punts and PATs - are half just to seed more commercial breaks in the game it seems.

I like the onside kick though. It's that one ray of hope in some games where most people would be tempted to give up/turn off the game with 2 minutes left down 8.

 

[IcyPatriot]

There are the

90% of kick offs are boring. Most of the kicking game - kick offs, punts and PATs - are half just to seed more commercial breaks in the game it seems.

I like the onside kick though. It's that one ray of hope in some games where most people would be tempted to give up/turn off the game with 2 minutes left down 8.

I agree with this ... I could care less about kickoffs but the onside kick serves a purpose so how will they work around it?

 

[Kontradiction]

90% of kick offs are boring. Most of the kicking game - kick offs, punts and PATs - are half just to seed more commercial breaks in the game it seems.

I like the onside kick though. It's that one ray of hope in some games where most people would be tempted to give up/turn off the game with 2 minutes left down 8.

They weren’t until they moved the kickoff position up. Our own head coach called them some of the most exciting plays in the game.

 

[bormio]

They weren’t until they moved the kickoff position up. Our own head coach called them some of the most exciting plays in the game.

Kickoff returns can be a game-changing play. A chance for a team a bit inferior on offense and defense to turn the tables. A football game is made up of all phases of the game - this would remove one thing teams would need to master or strategize on.

 

[Brady6]

Then the Cordarrelle Patterson signing becomes kinda pointless.

Slater, Ebner, Bolden, and several others become unnecessary as well,