(07-26-2017 11:09 AM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  

(07-26-2017 09:32 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(07-26-2017 02:46 AM)colohank Wrote:  The newer and more sobering reality is the recent disclosure that the brains of 87% of deceased football players from all levels of the sport (high school only, college, and pro) showed evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at autopsy. As expected, the highest percentage was evident in professional players (110 out of 111 brains examined). This issue isn't going away, and it's certain to affect the college game.

I'd anticipate the supply of talent to dwindle as informed and concerned parents forbid their kids to play entry-level and high school football. Of course, there will always be some parents who see their youngsters' participation as an avenue to upward mobility and will dismiss the risks involved, but some of those kids probably aren't even close to being college material. Time will tell.

Most of the kids who play college football today aren't close to being college material. However I think the rest of your analysis is true.

I'm conflicted on this. While I agree that 110/111 brains with CTE is troubling, I also recognize that technological advances mean safer helmets, safer other equipment, and better reviews that lead to penalties that will lessen the "dirtier" plays. Of course a hard hit that is legal will still happen, but I wonder if the idea of lessening participation is overblown.

I can certainly see some rule changes (kickoffs, etc.) to help with the safety issues, and obviously safety comes first, but when football was threatened before, it just adapted the forward pass. I think that is more what we may be looking at.

Our helmets are much better now than they have ever been as far as design and potential safety. The problem is you can't get these bozos to strap the danged things on and tighten the chin straps. The number of helmets that pop off after a hit means they have no effectiveness. Your head is supposed to be cushioned when there is a blow, but the helmet can't protect you if your head rattles around the inside of a helmet that is not fitted properly, and worse isn't truly strapped on. The whole time I played (line) my helmet never came off, and we had crappy helmets compared to these.

Another point is that 110 out of 111 were autopsies specifically ordered because of the suspicion of traumatic effects. So the sample is skewed toward those with damage. Now I'm not saying this isn't serious because it is. I am however saying that the % of those affected would be dramatically lower, too many, but much lower.