Making Football A Safer Game

There is a lot of concern (rightly so) about the number of concussions and other injuries in football. There are some ideas being put forward about making the game safer including one that the commissioner recently mentioned (I think it was someone else's idea; he was just repeating it) about eliminating kickoffs. While I am all for less injuries in sports, is it necessary to eliminate some of the most exciting plays in the name of safety, or are there other ways to address safety?

One thing that disturbs me is the number of defensive backs who don't actually ever "tackle" anyone--they simply launch themselves and hope the collision puts the other guy on the ground. They do not even attempt to wrap up the other player; they either go down from the violent collision or they continue to run. Helmets often end up in the lead on this type of play.

Do you think that player would launch himself the same way if his helmet was leather? What if his helmet was covered in a 2 inch layer of cushioning material? These ideas may sound crazy; that is the point--they might not be the "right" ideas, but isn't it time to think about keeping the game exciting while offering solutions that reduce injuries.

I'm also not 100% in agreement with all the helmet on helmet calls because I am not sure how good referees are at determining if the hit was to the helmet or if the helmet moved into the path of the hit as the tackler attacked the ball carrier. Perhaps that is another issue, but it is part of the whole safety issue.

Quote: RonC

Do you think that player would launch himself the same way if his helmet was leather?

The helmet has put them into a fix. It is probably realized now that sticking to leather was actually safer, but now they can't go back.

They are going to try to ban the game over the next 30 years. First at the high school level.

Leather helmets would help as woul enforcing proper tackling as you said. But in the end we just gave to accep it is a rough and dangerous game. You have to accept a person getting hurt for your entertainment. That they willingly walked on the field for pay. Some people do not accept this as a fact of life.

The way Goddell is running the league I will care about nothing but a point spread, even for the Steelers, by 2020.

The league is turning a great game into something less than a great game with the over regulation of the sport. I'm ok with penalties for aggregious violence such as intentional head to head collisions (leading with the helmet, spearing, whatever you want to call it). But let's not over do it. There are too many personal foul penalties called on perfectly fine (and legal) football plays. I'm not at all ok with the amount of protection the QB's are afforded that other players are not, nor am I ok with the limitations they put on the defensive secondary that result in interference penalties for what amounts to no more than a touch on a receiver.

And to consider changing the game completely by doing away with kickoffs is the most ridiculous idea yet!

It's a rough game, and those that choose to play it do so knowing that. I for one would gladly give up 10 years of my life expectancy to be given a chance to play at that level, and I think many others would as well.

Quote: AZDuffman

They are going to try to ban the game over the next 30 years. First at the high school level.

Well, hopefully, non-pro players won't be expected to assume the same risk as pro players. They don't recieve the same compensation (at least not legally).

Quote: rxwine

Well, hopefully, non-pro players won't be expected to assume the same risk as pro players. They don't recieve the same compensation (at least not legally).

Nobody forces anyone to play. Some are so good they will turn pro. Some have dreams of maybe doing so. Some just want to play. But you know it is a contact sport going on the field.

Some people choose to accept risk. Some actually look for more risk as a thrill. Some want a life with no risk. It is the later group that is destroying America.

Well, sure, the sooner you can start accumulating head injuries, the sooner the career is over. Assuming they're in the nth, of whatever of 1% who gets a career.

Football is violent. Officiating is not going to change that.

There are helmets that are larger, and supposedly safer. Ryan Clark (PIT safety) wears one. He hates it because he thinks it looks funny. Most players probably feel this way. Why doesn't the NFL force players to wear these larger, safer helmets?

Otherwise, players will gradually start hitting low. Season ending / career ending knee injuries will be more common. Anybody see what happened to Heath Miller (PIT tight end) last week?

Quote: AZDuffman

They are going to try to ban the game over the next 30 years. First at the high school level.

I played high school football for 3 years, albeit at a tiny school. We were in the smallest classification of sports is Idaho (1A, which was <250 total enrollment grades 9-12), and played 8-man football (5 on the line, 3 in the backfield). Our total roster was about 20 guys each year.

I mention the details because I was going to say that I never witnessed a concussion during all 3 years of my playing, but given that we were very small, the level of athleticism was pretty low. I tend to believe that the bigger and faster the players get, the more the risk of concussion. I don't know if that's been conclusively proven, but it seems obvious based on intuition. One of my teammates did suffer a neck injury that put him in a neck brace and out for the rest of the season, but there was no permanent damage and he's fine to this day.

I really enjoyed my time playing football - it taught me a lot about teamwork, hard work, respecting authority, dealing with adversity, etc. I would hope it would never be outlawed at the HS level where life-threatening injuries are rare and probably no more common than in other sports.

Here's how you fix football:

1) limit the weight of players by position and height.

2) redefine a tackle so that knocking someone down allows the ball carrier to get back up and advance the ball. For a runner or ball carrier to be tackled and the play to end, he must be taken down. Knocking someone out of bounds would still end a play. This also does away with nonsense like "down by contact," when the contact consists of a finger barely brushing the receiver's jersey.