How long left for football?

[wilwhite]

And I don't even mean AP and Rice - although they're not helping.

I brought this up last year, but with the NFL now setting "almost a third" as the number of players who will develop Alzheimer's and other dementia, and develop them young, I wonder, say a couple of years from now when this sinks deeper into the collective consciousness...

• How many parents will let their kids play high-school football?
• Of the ones that do, how many elite college athletes will opt for football if they have other options?
• Will football become a second-class sport only played by desperate people?
• Will the NFL try to re-engineer the game to avoid concussions - and if they do, will anyone watch?

I guess enjoy fantasy football while it lasts... and no grumbling when your guy is out from a concussion.

 

[The Foot]

As long as there is fantasy football around the NFL will be around. I see your point Will and it has crossed my mind a few times before but football is probably going to develop a new kind of helmet. I remember watching a segment on a guy who develops helmets for race care drivers and the technology that goes into was far advance than the Football helmet he said and was able to prove somehow if I remember correctly. At some point as new helmet with bubble wrap or something like that will be developed.

MAybe it will develop into this [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U3d3IntHpg]Bubble Football! You MUST try this! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[TREFF]

As long as high school football has college scholarships attached to it, there will be high school football players. A as long as they are billion dollar TV contracts, there will be college football players who choose the NFL.. even if they only choose it by default since they never actually attended college classes anyways. The league will last as long a as people watch and give it 14+ratings, and there's not a single argument that can be convincing otherwise.

 

[Chef99]

As long as high school football has college scholarships attached to it, there will be high school football players. A as long as they are billion dollar TV contracts, there will be college football players who choose the NFL.. even if they only choose it by default since they never actually attended college classes anyways. The league will last as long a as people watch and give it 14+ratings, and there's not a single argument that can be convincing otherwise.

True, but it won't be the same game that we grew up with. It actually will be more like Foot's "Bubble Football".

 

[tlance]

There will always be people willing to play and parents allowing their children to play.

The issue that may doom the NFL is when the institutions (colleges and high schools) stop having football teams because the liability becomes too great. I think this could happen in time, but we are still pretty far away from this day. It may not be in our life times.

 

[Chef99]

As long as there is fantasy football around the NFL will be around.



Not for nothin', but shouldn't this be the other way around?

 

[3riverbabe]

There will always be people willing to play and parents allowing their children to play.

The issue that may doom the NFL is when the institutions (colleges and high schools) stop having football teams because the liability becomes too great. I think this could happen in time, but we are still pretty far away from this day. It may not be in our life times.

As long as football is a lucrative sport, it will exist. Liability issues will force changes in helmets and other equipment, but like everything else, it will evolve and move with time and technological advances.

 

[leftypower]

And I don't even mean AP and Rice - although they're not helping.

I brought this up last year, but with the NFL now setting "almost a third" as the number of players who will develop Alzheimer's and other dementia, and develop them young, I wonder, say a couple of years from now when this sinks deeper into the collective consciousness...

• How many parents will let their kids play high-school football?
• Of the ones that do, how many elite college athletes will opt for football if they have other options?
• Will football become a second-class sport only played by desperate people?
• Will the NFL try to re-engineer the game to avoid concussions - and if they do, will anyone watch?

I guess enjoy fantasy football while it lasts... and no grumbling when your guy is out from a concussion.

I have a feeling the game as we know it will eventually completely change. The NFL has become too lucrative thus setting itself and the players up as a whipping boys (no pun intended) for lawyers, the press, and anyone wanting to make a 'name' or financial gain. There was a time when the media was charged with protecting the image of players (our heroes), now it is posed to do just the opposite.

Most NFL players are not equipped to be under a 'celebrity microscope' - they are simply football players - but they are now multimillionaires making them targets in a share the wealth society. Not saying there aren't good guys and bad ones, every organization has them. But with all the social media, if you are wealthy and under a celebrity status, you may as well expect to have all your dirty laundry exposed at some point and be publicly crucified. Most players, and even coaches, cannot stand up to that kind of scrutiny.

The rules for contact have already changed dramatically and all indications are the contact portion of the game will continue to lessen making the true football lovers begin to lose interest. I see it going in the same direction as NASCAR. They pulled away from the roots of what made it interesting and exciting, and made it just plan boring, at least to me. Can you imagine football without contact ? I don't profess to know the answer as to what is the 'right' amount, but I do know that none is not the answers. Yet that is the only way to truly prevent all injuries. Guess I'm just old school. I like football because of the contact. A big hit is exciting. I don't like some of the contact rule changes already - and that will only increase.

I just think within 10-20 years, we will be setting our lineups for fantasy curling ...... enjoy football while you can.

 

[wilwhite]

There's the liability consideration Tlance mentioned, but also legislative consideration. Imagine, for example, a law prohibiting public schools from using kids under 16 in contact football, and what that would do to the supply of players.

Unfortunately for brains, helmets are better at protecting skulls. As long as your head stops suddenly, your brain will slosh up and smacks the inside of your skull like an enchilada in a take-out box when you slam on the brakes. The box may be fine, but the enchilada's not. And football inherently has lots of these sudden-head-stopping events.

 

[tlance]

There's the liability consideration Tlance mentioned, but also legislative consideration. Imagine, for example, a law prohibiting public schools from using kids under 16 in contact football, and what that would do to the supply of players.

Unfortunately for brains, helmets are better at protecting skulls. As long as your head stops suddenly, your brain will slosh up and smacks the inside of your skull like an enchilada in a take-out box when you slam on the brakes. The box may be fine, but the enchilada's not. And football inherently has lots of these sudden-head-stopping events.

I think something like that will happen sooner rather than later.

Football can survive death at the high school level. There would be plenty of grass roots organizations springing up and providing playing opportunities. The irony is that such a system could make youth football much more dangerous because it could potentially extend seasons into spring and summer.

The real issue would be if Universities did away with football. Then I think the NFL would lose much of its talent pool and the fan base would gradually become less interested.

 

[Clayton]

Football will always be around but the quality of the product has dropped and will probably continue to drop

 

[TKOSpikes]

Break out the flags!

 

[SmokingMonkey]

I think something like that will happen sooner rather than later.

Football can survive death at the high school level. There would be plenty of grass roots organizations springing up and providing playing opportunities. The irony is that such a system could make youth football much more dangerous because it could potentially extend seasons into spring and summer.

The real issue would be if Universities did away with football. Then I think the NFL would lose much of its talent pool and the fan base would gradually become less interested.

or.........hello minor league football in america!
basically what college football has become anyway, but if the colleges did away with it, then the NFL would have to figure out the financials for paying an entire minor league system, as opposed to just plucking what they want out of the college ranks like they do now.

 

[averagejoe]

With the arrest of Dwyer, I had a thought...

What if more NFL wives are abused and have just kept silent all of this time? Maybe they figured, that their situation, while unpleasant, is part of being married to an NFL player.

But now with this being exposed by the actions of a few, and hearing the national outcry from fans and law-makers, perhaps some "silent" wives are realizing that they don't have to put up with their situation anymore.

Maybe this will start to snowball.

 

[Ram Tough]

All i know is i would never draft Jamies Winston if i were a GM in the NFL. He is going to be the next ray rice, greg hardy, aaron hernandez or jamarcus russell in the next three years.. He seems to have a terrible head on his shoulders

 

[TREFF]

All i know is i would never draft Jamies Winston if i were a GM in the NFL. He is going to be the next ray rice, greg hardy, aaron hernandez or jamarcus russell in the next three years.. He seems to have a terrible head on his shoulders

Lol.. who would have ever thought, Jamarcus Russel is actually the good guy in that group

 

[ZepTepi]

As long as there is fantasy football around the NFL will be around.



Not for nothin', but shouldn't this be the other way around?

This!

 

[wilwhite]

John Abraham now on IR for his "first" concussion; probably the end of his career. They say he's been suffering memory loss for a year already. Dude is 36.

 

[wilwhite]

And now this. Of course if the kid can establish any liability for the NFL, the Chiefs, and maybe the University of Maine, the damages will be crazy.

And Belcher was only 25.

Jovan Belcher?s brain showed signs of CTE, according to post-mortem exam | The Kansas City Star