CSNbbs

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/foo...170.column

Thoughts?

If there wasn't incidental or unintentional contact to the head in football, helmets wouldn't be necessary. But that's not realistic.

For the most part Pro Football is not the game you see on Friday nights. It has been a bad influence that has been filtering down for years.

In HS we teach blocking and tackling without using the helmet as point of contact and if it occurs it is penalized. There is a concussion protocol that must be followed if a player exhibits any symptoms.

When was last time you saw helmet contact penalized in NFL? How many times have you seen teammates "head butt" one another to get "fired up" before a game or celebrate a big play? I literally cringe every time I see MNF opening in which the two teams' helmets crash into one another and explode.

If NFL players are using heads for anything but thinking they are a danger to themselves and other players.

Helmets are only a weapon if players choose to use them in that manner with impunity. They are not inherently dangerous much less illusory.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...ortCat=nfl

Best idea I've heard regarding the helmet issue. Tweeking the rules will have little effect on what is happening.

Put padding on the outside of the helmets and the number of injuries will go down. Heck, it would practically eliminate the usage of elbow pads by RB's.

Actually back in early '60s extra padding on outside of helmet was tried by some college teams.

Have seen old pictures of Ohio State, Duke, maybe others with them.

They were discarded because they didn't work and were cost-prohibitive.

What will lower the number of head-neck injuries is PLAYERS STOP HITTING WITH THEIR HELMETS!

(06-08-2012 10:37 AM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]Actually back in early '60s extra padding on outside of helmet was tried by some college teams.

Have seen old pictures of Ohio State, Duke, maybe others with them.

They were quickly discarded because they didn't work and were cost-prohibitive.

What will lower the number of head-neck injuries is PLAYERS STOP HITTING WITH THEIR HELMETS!

How in the world can they stop that from happening?

Penalties?
Fines?
Better coaching at the collegiate level? (I don't think that's the problem)
Eliminating kickoffs?

They hit with their helmets because it hurts the offensive player. Eliminating the temptation or the sudden impulse is practically impossible. Fixing their technique would be an incredibly daunting task.

However, the helmet is 100% controllable. I honestly think they can engineer an outside padded helmet that doesn't look completely ridiculous.

http://www.guardiancaps.com/

Here is a good example. These caps fit over the football helmet.

How long until high school teams start wearing these on a full time basis?

(06-08-2012 10:45 AM)EA3 Wrote: [ -> ]How in the world can they stop that from happening?

Penalties?
Fines?
Better coaching at the collegiate level? (I don't think that's the problem)
Eliminating kickoffs?

They hit with their helmets because it hurts the offensive player. Eliminating the temptation or the sudden impulse is practically impossible. Fixing their technique would be an incredibly daunting task.

However, the helmet is 100% controllable. I honestly think they can engineer an outside padded helmet that doesn't look completely ridiculous.

Are you serious?

If players are concerned about concussions and post-football quality of life, then they MUST STOP HITTING WITH THEIR HELMETS! That should "eliminate the temptation or the sudden impulse."

It's amazing to me they would do it to "hurt offensive players" - aren't these guys in same union? With free agency they could be teammates the next year.

Yes it's easy to fix. Our kids don't hit with their helmets because THEY ARE TAUGHT HOW TO HIT WITHOUT IT and are penalized for doing so. So they don't.

And Goodell is fining NFL players (James Harrison) too.

If a helmet with outside padding that would help can be made - regardless of appearance - so much the better.

But the problem is not going to go away so long as players CHOOSE to spear ball carriers or butt-block with their heads.

(06-08-2012 10:51 AM)EA3 Wrote: [ -> ]http://www.guardiancaps.com/

Here is a good example. These caps fit over the football helmet.

How long until high school teams start wearing these on a full time basis?

There are actually two such products: Guardian and ProCap. Both cost around $70 per (helmets cost between $200-$300 each).

However the consensus is the research they're using to support their contentions is flawed - not enough trials or field testing.

And NONE of the trials done in Wayne State study reached impacts where concussions were a possibility.

According to one helmet maker the Guardian localizes the contact (maximizing force) rather than dispersing it out over the hard shell of the helmet. And because the shock absorbers in them are thin, they won't absorb harder impacts any more after awhile.

The ProCaps were used by a few NFL players in the '90s (probably among them the two referenced in linked article). If they worked helmet makers would have been mass producing them for the last two decades.

That's the problem, a portion NFL players aren't concerned about concussions and especially not their post-football quality of life. If they were, they would stop doing it. Rather, the situation seems to be getting worse and worse despite the penalties, fines and increased awareness in the sport.

Do you think James Harrison is worried about 120k fine? It's a tax write off for him because all NFL fines go to charity.

We can teach high school and college players the correct way to tackle until we are blue in the face. The NFL will always have a segment of players that toe the line of dangerous hits. The problem has been getting worse and worse due to the huge contracts these players are rewarded with.

Reversing the trend, or at best curbing it slightly, is not realistic. Teaching the proper technique is impossible to control in high school and college.

I applaud the coaches that teach the proper techniques, and the players that utilize them. The problem is that we are dealing with NFL players who are willing to risk injury just so they can bank a multi million dollar contract.

Make them wear the padded helmets, keep penalizing them, keep the fines when necessary, and keep emphasizing the proper technique whenever possible.

The outside padded helmet will only help lower the number of injuries and concussions. It's not the only answer.


Here is a good example. In the last 10-12 years we've seen baseball bats get more and more regulations because of how dangerous a batted ball can be to a pitcher. The bat isn't intended to be used as a weapon to hurt people, no different than the football helmet isn't meant to be a weapon. However, recognizing that it can be a weapon, high school and college baseball adopted rules that lessened the trampoline effect off the bat.

Now, given that the football helmet can be used as a weapon, intentionally or unintentionally, doesn't it make sense for us to start thinking of ways we can reduce the negative effects when it comes to the design?

Glad to liven up the board some.

Or is it the bored some?

A batter does not INTEND to hit the pitcher with the ball off his "weapon" - the bat.

Knowing that repeated helmet contact can be dangerous - and the Warning stickers have been on every helmet manufactured for the last 30 or so years - and a player still INTENTIONALLY strikes an opponent with it, then they're at fault.

Like ignoring the warning on cigarette packs and blaming tobacco company when one gets lung cancer.

(06-08-2012 11:43 AM)gobaseline Wrote: [ -> ]Glad to liven up the board some.

Or is it the bored some?

Not bad for a hoop head.

(06-08-2012 11:35 AM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-08-2012 10:51 AM)EA3 Wrote: [ -> ]http://www.guardiancaps.com/

Here is a good example. These caps fit over the football helmet.

How long until high school teams start wearing these on a full time basis?

There are actually two such products: Guardian and ProCap. Both cost around $70 per (helmets cost between $200-$300 each).

However the consensus is the research they're using to support their contentions is flawed - not enough trials or field testing.

And NONE of the trials done in Wayne State study reached impacts where concussions were a possibility.

According to one helmet maker the Guardian localizes the contact (maximizing force) rather than dispersing it out over the hard shell of the helmet. And because the shock absorbers in them are thin, they won't absorb harder impacts any more after awhile.

The ProCaps were used by a few NFL players in the '90s (probably among them the two referenced in linked article). If they worked helmet makers would have been mass producing them for the last two decades.

The product could still be in a development stage...but that doesn't mean it can't help the sport.


The NFL has millions and millions tied up in this mess. They should be leading the charge.



The solutions to this problem so far have been:

1. 15 yard penalties - have not worked, the problem has gotten worse
2. fines for helmet to helmet contact - have not worked the problem has gotten worse.
3. teach better techniques for tackling and blocking - impossible to control thousands of players and coaches on a national level


The only legit drawback I can think of is that a player might gain a false sense of being invincible and develop worse technique over time.

(06-08-2012 11:46 AM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]A batter does not INTEND to hit the pitcher with the ball off his "weapon" - the bat.

Knowing that repeated helmet contact can be dangerous - and the Warning stickers have been on every helmet manufactured for the last 30 or so years - and a player still INTENTIONALLY strikes an opponent with it, then they're at fault.

Like ignoring the warning on cigarette packs and blaming tobacco company when one gets lung cancer.

I realize that a batter isn't intending to use his bat as a weapon. Likewise, plenty of concussions and injuries occur when a football player isn't intending to use his helment as a weapon.

Again, you cannot control the technique of thousands of players. It just won't happen.

I agree the players are at fault if they choose to strike another player with their helmet. But what about the unintentional hits? What about the accidents on the field? There is a certain element that cannot be controlled during competition. Put pads on the outside of helmets and it can help prevent some injuries. It isn't the complete solution, but its a start.

(06-08-2012 11:46 AM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-08-2012 11:43 AM)gobaseline Wrote: [ -> ]Glad to liven up the board some.

Or is it the bored some?

Not bad for a hoop head.

it beats going back and forth about our most recent departed bball player....again

(06-08-2012 11:46 AM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-08-2012 11:43 AM)gobaseline Wrote: [ -> ]Glad to liven up the board some.

Or is it the bored some?

Not bad for a hoop head.

Even better than called a bucket head.
And another post!

(06-08-2012 11:59 AM)EA3 Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-08-2012 11:46 AM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-08-2012 11:43 AM)gobaseline Wrote: [ -> ]Glad to liven up the board some.

Or is it the bored some?

Not bad for a hoop head.

it beats going back and forth about our most recent departed bball player....again

Who dat?

Where is your proof that Seau (or any other player) committed suicide due to concussions?

Five years ago former athlete's suicides were being blamed on Steroids.

78% of NFL players are bankrupt or in serious financial distress within two years of retirement due to poor decisions and-or divorce.

They have been a star, a favored celebrity for years. Now they no longer are hearing the roar of the crowd. They have to a great extent lost their identity. Many have never had to "fend for themselves" and cannot cope with life after football.

Depression has many causes. So does suicide.

In fact former NFL players are 59% less likely to commit suicide than the general population according to a study published in the January American Journal of Cardiology.

You EA are one of the many guilty of a "rush to judgment" without getting the data and science.


http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and...ible_.html

(06-08-2012 01:24 PM)MajorHoople Wrote: [ -> ]Where is your proof that Seau (or any other player) committed suicide due to concussions?

Five years ago former athlete's suicides were being blamed on Steroids.

78% of NFL players are bankrupt or in serious financial distress within two years of retirement due to poor decisions and-or divorce.

They have been a star, a favored celebrity for years. Now they no longer are hearing the roar of the crowd. They have to a great extent lost their identity. Many have never had to "fend for themselves" and cannot cope with life after football.

Depression has many causes. So does suicide.

In fact suicides by former NFL players is less than half the general population (nine to 22 per 1000).

I never said anyone committed suicide because of brain injuries sustained playing football.

I'm not debating that.

Simply stated: there is a concussion and injury problem in football. Part of that problem has to do plastic helmets.