American Football Head Injuries

[Huntn]

In the last couple of years, there has been a lot of lip service given to concern about head injuries/concussions. When I played high school football (defensive end, circa 1971), I got my bell rung, did not know the day of the week, or who we were playing , ran to the sidelines, told the coach and was told, you are doing great, get back in there! Parents are starting to avoid signing up their kids for it, at least that is my impression.

Today we were watching the Patriots vs the Bills and a player got knocked out and he was allowed to keep playing- What?

As best as I can tell, these players are expendable. 😬

I thought there was a thread on this, but could not locate it...

 

[decafjava]

Maybe this is the place to start one. Honestly I think some of these athletes are pushed way to hard especially at that age.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

In the last couple of years, there has been a lot of lip service given to concern about head injuries/concussions. When I played high school football (defensive end, circa 1971), I got my bell rung, did not know the day of the week, or who we were playing , ran to the sidelines, told the coach and was told, you are doing great, get back in there! Parents are starting to avoid signing up their kids for it, at least that is my impression.

Today we were watching the Patriots vs the Bills and a player got knocked out and he was allowed to keep playing- What?

As best as I can tell, these players are expendable. 😬

I thought there was a thread on this, but could not locate it...

I can't speak for American football, but this has become an issue in rugby football - some players have developed serious brain injuries, and injuries to their bodies.

Rugby is a contact sport, and sometimes, a violent one, and - since the professional era started - a little over twenty years ago, players have become much bigger, fitter and stronger, which means that the "contacts" are a lot more jarring.

Hurling yourself at opponents (a tackle to block or stop) is seen as a badge of courage, good team play, and an expression of robust masculinity.

However, in recent years, the proliferation of brain injuries and other injuries (some leading to degrees of permanent paralysis) from contact on the rugby field have prompted the beginnings of a re-think re concussion (and dirty play).

Players clearly concussed, confused, or with a head injury are taken off, examined, and given what the sports media describe as a "concussion test"; if they fail that, they do not - they are not allowed to - resume the game, and instead receive medical attention and an examination, which may perhaps include or result in a spell of hospitalisation.

My father liked rugby, but my mother - who herself had been an outstanding sportswoman playing table tennis at just under international level in her youth - would not permit my brothers - who were both slight in build - to play it, lest they get injured. Soccer, tennis, athletics, and so on, she had no trouble with and encouraged.

 

[Huntn]

I can't speak for American football, but this has become an issue in rugby football - some players have developed serious brain injuries, and injuries to their bodies.

Rugby is a contact sport, and sometimes, a violent one, and - since the professional era players have become much bigger, fitter and stronger, which means that the "contacts" are a lot more jarring.

Hurling yourself at opponents (a tackle to block or stop) is seen as a badge of courage, good team play, and an expression of robust masculinity.

However, in recent years, the proliferation of brain injuries and other injuries from contact on the rugby field have prompted the beginnings of a re-think re concussion (and dirty play); players with a head injury are taken off, and given what the sports media describe as a "concussion test"; if they fail that, they do not resume the game, instead receiving medical examination, which may perhaps include a spell of hospitalisation.

My father liked rugby, but my mother - who herself had been an outstanding sportswoman playing table tennis at just under international level - would not permit my brothers - who were both slight in build - to play it, lest they get injured. Soccer, tennis, athletics, and so on, she had no trouble with and encouraged.

I was unaware that rugby had the same issue. I played both high school football and one intramural rugby match in college, thought it would be fun. After playing with a helmet, rugby taught how to tackle without one. Now regardless it makes sense in a sport played basically like American football, but without protective gear, head injuries have to happen. Even in soccer at the grade school level they don’t want students using their heads to deflect balls.

I’ve told this story before, but my rugby career consisted of many practices and one game in my junior year at Syracuse University. First game, I caught a lateral pass, passed it away as I was tackled, but came down on my shoulder and broke my collar bone. No pain, just felt a twang, reached up and could feel the point of the broken bone under the skin.

I jumped up jogged to the sidelines and the coach gave me this look as in What? I pulled down the collar of my shirt to show him and he grunted “Oh”. I started feeling like I was in shock so they took me to hospital where all that could be done was some pain drugs and a butterfly brace to hold my shoulders back.

After the player who took me to the hospital asked me if I wanted to go to the after game party. In no uncertain terms I said take me back to the dorm and that was the end of college rugby and me.

At the time I was lined up to go into the USAF as a pilot and this injury threatened that. Four months later or so after the bone set, I had to have surgery to shave the tip of the broken bone that was still visible under the skin. Untreated, this would hinder my ability to wear a parachute harness snugged down like it needed to be.

In American football there is more focus on concussions, but what seems insurmountable is not having a helmet that can prevent concussion. Players still get them and I imagine an accumulation of concussions is what causes older (retired) players to have a variety of problems later in life that cover a spectrum of mental issues.

Timeline: Six Studies of Head Trauma in Football That Helped Establish Link to CTE

Timeline: 6 studies that helped link NFL to CTE

Monday's startling study is not the first to link football with the neurodegenerative disease.

www.si.com

Why High School Football Is Dying A Slow Death (It's Not Just Concussions)

Why High School Football Is Dying A Slow Death (It's Not Just Concussions)

Concussions are part of the reason high school football participation is falling -- but they're not the whole story.

www.forbes.com

High school football participation continues to drop as concerns over cost, injuries persist

High school football participation continues to drop as concerns over cost, injuries persist

In the past decade, football enrollment has declined 6.6 percent.

www.washingtonpost.com

The problems facing high school football don’t appear to be going away, and according to new data released by the National Federation of State High School Associations, neither is the downward trend in participation.
Fewer than 1.04 million high school students played football in 2017. That’s 20,000 fewer athletes than in 2016, a 2 percent drop. In the past decade, football enrollment has declined 6.6 percent, according to NFHS data.
Experts say the same issues — cost, single-sport specialization, demographic shifts and injury concerns — continue to plague the sport, which remains the top boys participatory sport by a “large margin,” NFHS reported. Twenty schools nationwide dropped football completely, including junior varsity and freshman programs.
“Football is not on a good path right now and I think you have to be creative to find opportunities for kids to play,” said Jeff Reilly, coach of the West Windsor-Plainsboro (N.J.) school district varsity team.