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2015-2016 NFL Season Thread

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Chris Borland retiring after his rookie season is big news. Brave decision to walk away from the millions of dollars he could have made during his NFL career but sensible if he has health concerns.

I wonder what implications this has long term for the NFL. I think we are now beginning to see the effects of the studies into head injuries from participating in contact sports like football. Borland will certainly not be the last player who retires after a season or two in the NFL for these reasons (I suspect there may yet be others in this off-season).

It just remains to be seen whether there will be a rush of other players who think the risks of potentially living the rest of their lives after football with crippling diseases or severe neurological problems outweighs the huge financial rewards from playing the game as long as they can.

The sustainability of football is also at risk. Financial rewards or not, I suspect many parents are now less inclined to allow their children to play football and favouring non-contact baseball or basketball. If there is an appreciable effect at the grass roots level, it is difficult to see how the sport can be sustained in the long term.
 
Football is still a huge cash cow for players, sponsors, and teams. Until the money dries up people will keep pushing the limits.
 
MacNut said:
Football is still a huge cash cow for players, sponsors, and teams. Until the money dries up people will keep pushing the limits.
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No kidding. There are 10,000 kids who want Chris Borland's job. I admire his decision, and yet I do not feel this at all endangers the game of football.
 
MacNut said:
Football is still a huge cash cow for players, sponsors, and teams. Until the money dries up people will keep pushing the limits.
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Maybe. But all we need is one Black Swan moment with a famous active NFL player getting maimed or even killed during a regular season game and you know all heck will break loose. Already, participation in youth football has fallen dramatically; this is the type of thing that could eventually lead of American football viewed 20-25 years from now like we view boxing in 2015 and in that future, the main American professional sports will become baseball (April to September), basketball (November to June) and soccer (August to early December and mid-February to end of May, somewhat akin to what we see in most European leagues now).
 
SactoGuy18 said:
Already, participation in youth football has fallen dramatically; this is the type of thing that could eventually lead of American football viewed 20-25 years from now like we view boxing in 2015 and in that future, the main American professional sports will become baseball (April to September), basketball (November to June) and soccer (August to early December and mid-February to end of May, somewhat akin to what we see in most European leagues now).
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I think the grass roots level is where we will see the slow demise of football. If fewer young people are playing, there will be fewer players going through to play at high school, college and eventually professional level and the talent pool becomes limited. Football is great now because competition at all levels breeds the talent that we enjoy on any given Sunday at the pinnacle of the sport.

The vast majority of participants at the grass roots level do not play with any thoughts of reaching the NFL and to make football their career therefore the large financial rewards aspect of the football equation is taken away. Accordingly, they are left with only the risk of onset of neurological disease and other injuries attributable to years of hitting their heads playing football at school and college.
 
Vogue Harper said:
I think the grass roots level is where we will see the slow demise of football. If fewer young people are playing, there will be fewer players going through to play at high school, college and eventually professional level and the talent pool becomes limited. Football is great now because competition at all levels breeds the talent that we enjoy on any given Sunday at the pinnacle of the sport.

The vast majority of participants at the grass roots level do not play with any thoughts of reaching the NFL and to make football their career therefore the large financial rewards aspect of the football equation is taken away. Accordingly, they are left with only the risk of onset of neurological disease and other injuries attributable to years of hitting their heads playing football at school and college.
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The very fact mothers are more and more against their sons starting in youth football is why I think the sport of American football could suddenly go into rapid decline like what happened to boxing by the middle 1990's. That's why I said 20-25 years from now, we could see a combination of baseball, basketball and soccer become the primary American professional sports, especially with the increasing influence of the Latino community. I can see American football stay popular only in Texas and the southeastern USA.
 
Sounds like the Cowboys are close to a deal with Greg Hardy. Other teams who had been mentioned have all backed away....seems like the Cowboys are gonna get Hardy at a good price as all bargaining chips have been exhausted.

I think it's a good get. They've obviously done their homework as this has dragged on for a while. If they feel they can get a young talent like his for a good price and a deal that protects themselves from any future infractions that may take place, I like it.

It essentially fills a HUGE need and they can move to focusing on depth and the RB in the draft.
 
jrswizzle said:
Sounds like the Cowboys are close to a deal with Greg Hardy. Other teams who had been mentioned have all backed away....seems like the Cowboys are gonna get Hardy at a good price as all bargaining chips have been exhausted.

I think it's a good get. They've obviously done their homework as this has dragged on for a while. If they feel they can get a young talent like his for a good price and a deal that protects themselves from any future infractions that may take place, I like it.

It essentially fills a HUGE need and they can move to focusing on depth and the RB in the draft.
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If I put the blinders on, it's football brilliant. Problem is, I have trouble putting them on for monsters.

That being said, the Cowboys couldn't stop a one legged Aaron Rodgers last postseason, so whatever.
 
AustinIllini said:
If I put the blinders on, it's football brilliant. Problem is, I have trouble putting them on for monsters.

That being said, the Cowboys couldn't stop a one legged Aaron Rodgers last postseason, so whatever.
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Here's my deal....

No one is above reproach in my opinion. In Hardy's case, the justice system ran its course and the charges were dropped. While I don't condone ANYTHING he did, there were also circumstances on the other side that did not make the situation an easier.

All that said, he'll serve his suspension and have a shot to prove he's worth it on the field and off. From what I've read, the Cowboys aren't out any guaranteed money. If he screws up again, they can say "see ya" without any financial repercussions.

Football-wise, I love it. It fills a huge need that we can now look to fill other needs with top draft picks (RB, DB, DT).

Such is life, if you have talent and/or useful skills people are far more inclined to forgive you. Which is sad - because we're all sinners and none of us deserve forgiveness but we get it anyways.
 
jrswizzle said:
Here's my deal....

No one is above reproach in my opinion. In Hardy's case, the justice system ran its course and the charges were dropped. While I don't condone ANYTHING he did, there were also circumstances on the other side that did not make the situation an easier.

All that said, he'll serve his suspension and have a shot to prove he's worth it on the field and off. From what I've read, the Cowboys aren't out any guaranteed money. If he screws up again, they can say "see ya" without any financial repercussions.

Football-wise, I love it. It fills a huge need that we can now look to fill other needs with top draft picks (RB, DB, DT).

Such is life, if you have talent and/or useful skills people are far more inclined to forgive you. Which is sad - because we're all sinners and none of us deserve forgiveness but we get it anyways.
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We'll see. The suspension will be between 2 and 6 games. I think he is likely to get 4. Any more than six and the Panthers will lose their compensatory pick and Hardy would win an appeal easily.

Agreed on the football side. This is a no-brainer.
 
Onion story

just dropping this here
[url=http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-already-sick-of-baseball said:
With the MLB season still less than a week old, millions of weary Americans across the country confirmed Wednesday that they were already sick of baseball. “Three innings into opening day and I was completely bored to death,” said 36-year-old Michael Simpkins, echoing the sentiment of the entire U.S. populace while expressing that he could not wait for the tedious MLB season to finally end. “I was sort of excited before the game, but once they started playing I immediately realized that I couldn’t take one more second of this unwatchable s___.” At press time, the nation was reportedly reading articles on the NFL Draft and asked reporters to let them know who won the World Series.
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(emphasis mine) because I did not want to piss off everyone in the baseball thread
 
Sydde said:
just dropping this here

(emphasis mine) because I did not want to piss off everyone in the baseball thread
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For me, football on Sundays and baseball are completely different. NFL games are an event I want to watch every week. Baseball, on the other hand, is something I watch while doing something else.
 
Sydde said:
just dropping this here

(emphasis mine) because I did not want to piss off everyone in the baseball thread
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I almost feel bad admitting it but I agree :( I grew up watching, playing and loving baseball but now its something I just watch every once in a while if I get free tickets to go to a game. Football on the other hand I can't get enough, I watch any game thats on whether its my team or not.
 
AustinIllini said:
For me, football on Sundays and baseball are completely different. NFL games are an event I want to watch every week. Baseball, on the other hand, is something I watch while doing something else.
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bigjnyc said:
I almost feel bad admitting it but I agree :( I grew up watching, playing and loving baseball but now its something I just watch every once in a while if I get free tickets to go to a game. Football on the other hand I can't get enough, I watch any game thats on whether its my team or not.
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In my opinion the thing that makes football so appealing to fans is that every game matters. I just can't get interested in MLB or NBA until the playoffs come around. Watching some random game at the beginning or middle of the season in sports that have such long seasons really bores me.
 
bigjnyc said:
I almost feel bad admitting it but I agree :( I grew up watching, playing and loving baseball but now its something I just watch every once in a while if I get free tickets to go to a game. Football on the other hand I can't get enough, I watch any game thats on whether its my team or not.
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I used to be a huge baseball fan. Watched probably 100 games a season and went to as many as 10 games a year. Now I don't even watch a game and go to maybe 1 or 2 a year with a buddy who has season tickets.
 
rdowns said:
I used to be a huge baseball fan. Watched probably 100 games a season and went to as many as 10 games a year. Now I don't even watch a game and go to maybe 1 or 2 a year with a buddy who has season tickets.
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Same here, every year it is harder and harder to get back into baseball. Moved away from where my team was televised so I bought MLB.tv subscription last year. However, I used it far less than I expected.
 
sk24iam said:
Same here, every year it is harder and harder to get back into baseball. Moved away from where my team was televised so I bought MLB.tv subscription last year. However, I used it far less than I expected.
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MLB.tv is just so bad at this point . I listen to a lot with At Bat, but I expect better from the MLB for the price.
 
bigjnyc said:
The only downside is that teams affected can no jack up ticket prices without worrying about not selling out.
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I'm not sure this makes sense.

There's still supply and demand.
Teams will still try to maximize revenue, not just jack up prices.

-t
 
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