Modern NFL Deathwatch thread

[SP33Demon]

The UCLA researchers used a patented brain-imaging tool to examine Fred McNeill, a 59-year-old former Vikings linebacker; Wayne Clark, a 64-year-old former backup quarterback; and three other unidentified players: a 73-year-old former guard; a 50-year-old former defensive lineman; and a 45-year-old former center. Each had sustained at least one concussion; the center sustained 10.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_...igns-cte-living-former-nfl-players-first-time

Now that med technology has caught up, R.I.P. football as we know it. I predicted a slow and dying death with a 20~ year duration but this could chop the head off of football as we know it today. Being able to detect CTE in living people is Goodell's worst nightmare come true.

Welcome to sumo wrestling/flag football hybrid, coming soon to a stadium near you.

Edit1:Now the Seau family has filed a wrongful death suit.

We know this lawsuit will not bring back Junior. But it will send a message that the NFL needs to care for its former players, acknowledge its decades of deception on the issue of head injuries and player safety, and make the game safer for future generations.
”
-- Seau family, in statement

Edit2: Obama would think long and hard before allowing his son to play football.

The president says that some of those changes might make football, in his words, "a bit less exciting" but that it will be much better for players.

"And those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much," he said.

Edit3: Bernard Pollard confirms the NFL Deathwatch

"Thirty years from now, I don't think it will be in existence," Pollard told CBS Sports. "I could be wrong. It's just my opinion, but I think with the direction things are going -- where they [NFL rules makers] want to lighten up, and they're throwing flags and everything else -- there's going to come a point where fans are going to get fed up with it."

 

[dave_the_nerd]

...good?

I'd rather not have people dying for my entertainment, especially if they're going to kill other people - like their girlfriends - first?

 

[Red Storm]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_...igns-cte-living-former-nfl-players-first-time

Now that med technology has caught up, R.I.P. football as we know it. I predicted a slow and dying death with a 20~ year duration but this could chop the head off of football as we know it today. Being able to detect CTE in living people is Goodell's worst nightmare come true.

Welcome to sumo wrestling/flag football hybrid, coming soon to a stadium near you.

So what exactly are you saying? Do you enjoy seeing these people take years off their life as they play for your enjoyment?

 

[CPA]

So what exactly are you saying? Do you enjoy seeing these people take years off their life as they play for your enjoyment?

If it's their decision.

 

[Ken g6]

It looks like they didn't have a control group. So we don't know how often "CTE" occurs in people who don't have chronic head trauma. But now maybe we can find out.

 

[Brigandier]

So what exactly are you saying? Do you enjoy seeing these people take years off their life as they play for your enjoyment?

Yep, and they do it for free too.

 

[Red Storm]

If it's their decision.

Yes, because we all know that those who want change are going to go start their own league and be successful.

The guys who are raking in the most money (and they aren't the players) need to support change, but I see them taking money over the well being of their players.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If it's their decision.

"Informed" decision.

But some people will do anything for money.

The NFL would have to deal with the public backlash, afterwards, though. They won't want that. They've got 20 times the annual revenue of, say, UFC. Risking that'd be a bad business decision.

(Nonprofit my left nut.)

 

[KeithTalent]

So what exactly are you saying? Do you enjoy seeing these people take years off their life as they play for your enjoyment?

Well nobody is forcing them to play, however I believe all information needs to be made available so the potential players can properly assess the risks/rewards of playing the game. I also hope all of the research going on can help make the game safer for everyone.

KT

 

[SP33Demon]

So what exactly are you saying? Do you enjoy seeing these people take years off their life as they play for your enjoyment?

I'm saying that the NFL is dead. RIP once current players start getting scans and the lawsuits increase from 3000 to god knows how many.

 

[zinfamous]

It looks like they didn't have a control group. So we don't know how often "CTE" occurs in people who don't have chronic head trauma. But now maybe we can find out.

but we can compare it to the general population. brains of boxers have also been examined, with non-surprising results.

 

[techs]

What will kill the NFL is if parents start prohibiting their kids from playing in large numbers.

 

[T2urtle]

Its your choice to play football and its your choice to join the armed forces. Put that info out there and let me make educated choices. Some people can see it as easy money. Play 5 years as a sub par player and book $1 million vs some people working their whole life and not making that same million.

 

[Red Storm]

If we lived in a vaccum then maybe "If it's their decision" would work, but we don't. The whole man up culture of the NFL and football would keep the majority of players quiet. The guys who are worried enough about their future well being that speak out for changes are going to find themselves ostracized cause there's a giant supply of people who will be more than willing to take their place, and the owners know this.

The change has to come from management, not the players.

 

[Sixguns]

Not my body so I dont really care. I am sure that they are all aware of the risks and they choose to play. Thats why I dont care if they juice either. Let them and make the game better for me to watch.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Not my body so I dont really care. I am sure that they are all aware of the risks *snip*

Have you seen these guys talk? How they manage their money? They're not all brain trusts, especially not after the first few concussions.

Add in deliberate misinformation from the league and coaches, and you have an awareness problem.

There are still people who don't know smoking is bad for you, or think DUI is no biggie, for crissakes.

 

[Ken g6]

but we can compare it to the general population. brains of boxers have also been examined, with non-surprising results.

Let's look at baseball players, basketball players, racecar drivers ... and I'm still trying to think of a sport where head trauma doesn't happen ... chess players? I gather soccer players may actually be more at risk than football players.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i love football but its getting harder and harder to support it. im all for people making decisions on what to do with their bodies and lives, but I dont know how much longer i can encourage it...

i also will not be surprised if the NFL had damning knowledge prior they did not share (ala cigarette companies)

 

[Slew Foot]

No ones putting a gun to their head to play football. They can flip burgers if they want

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I gather soccer players may actually be more at risk than football players.

That's because apparently being within 12 feet of another human being on a soccer field causes the same reaction as being shot with a 50-caliber sniper rifle.

 

[Fern]

What will kill the NFL is if parents start prohibiting their kids from playing in large numbers.

Yes, this has the potential to be a problem.

I don't think we'll ever get to the point where there aren't enough good players to have good teams. However, seems to me that generally people are particularly interested in watching sports that they participated in when they were young. I believe soccer has had trouble catching on here because so few played it when they were kids.

Parents steering their kids into other sports, particularly soccer I'm hearing now, will eventual shrink the fan base of football and instead create a bigger one for soccer and other sports.

Things always go in a cycle. Football will eventually diminish like baseball and be replaced by something else.

Fern

 

[Sixguns]

How they manage their money?

Again, they do it to themselves.

I find it funny when they blow all their money and are broke. I cannot feel sorry for somebody who is handed more money than anybody needs to play a childs game and then blow it all on a house, car(s), and whatever else they do.

 

[Phoenix86]

Soon...

 

[techs]

Soon...

Nuh uh. Violent video games will cause young people to go out and start throwing crack back blocks.

 

[KeithTalent]

...and so it begins

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8872778/junior-seau-family-files-wrongful-death-suit-vs-nfl

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in California Superior Court in San Diego, blames the NFL for its "acts or omissions" that hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head. It says Seau developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from those hits, and accuses the NFL of deliberately ignoring and concealing evidence of the risks associated with traumatic brain injuries.

The lawsuit accuses the league of glorifying the violence in pro football, and creating the impression that delivering big hits "is a badge of courage which does not seriously threaten one's health."

It singles out NFL Films and some of its videos for promoting the brutality of the game.

"In 1993's 'NFL Rocks,' Junior Seau offered his opinion on the measure of a punishing hit: 'If I can feel some dizziness, I know that guy is feeling double (that),' " the suit says.

The NFL consistently has denied allegations similar to those in the lawsuit.

Should be very interesting to watch how this plays out.

KT