Brain Injuries and the future of football

[B-F-F-C]

Question...Will there be professional football in 50 years from now? 

I personally believe that unless there are significant improvements to equipment or we move to a non hitting league.   Football will be eventually fade away due to future liability to the league, owners and a dropping registration.  I've heard from younger parents who wont let their kids play football because of the prospect of brain injury.  I know other sports have brain injury problems but football leads the way.  

Discus...

.      

[Booch]

I don't care...cause I will be dead...most likely

also a lot of the issues with deaths and health follows how things were before...not so much now, but I guess without tests and proof and examining brains of guys playing and starting highschool/colleg/pro now we can't be certain..

[SpeedFlex27]

Players like Simoni Lawrence aren't helping. The CFL talking about getting tough on players who cause head injuries yet don't in reality makes the league look weak. 

[HC85]

I got a concussion 2.5 years ago from falling on curling ice and am still feeling the effects. I have a whole team of health care people helping me get back to normal, including rehab for vision disturbances. I have to say that it is less fun to watch football now because it really bothers me to see to head hits.

[sweep the leg]

Minor football in Manitoba is really struggling for players. I'm involved with the Falcons, and they're struggling at every age except peewee. Even peewee only has good numbers b/c Transcona won't have a feam, so their players are coming over. Youth tackle football is dying in this province.

[Jpan85]

Is flag football not doing really well.

[Jesse]

3 hours ago, sweep the leg said:

Minor football in Manitoba is really struggling for players. I'm involved with the Falcons, and they're struggling at every age except peewee. Even peewee only has good numbers b/c Transcona won't have a feam, so their players are coming over. Youth tackle football is dying in this province.

Parents are definitely having second thoughts about registering their kids. We'll see the ripple effect as time goes by.

Lots of Americans though. And the NI rules are on their way out the door.

[JCon]

There is still so much we have to learn about CTE and concussions. The next area of research will focus on micro-concussions, which athletes (and whatnot) incur on even small events. They may not lead to a visible concussion symptoms, like we saw with Collaros, but rather long-term effects on the brain. 

Research suggests, that's why we see CTE in linemen who never reported or showed concussion symptoms.

Football is in danger but so are many, many more sports. 

But, the good news is that as we learn more, we better be able to adjust, hopefully saving the sports we love. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by JCon

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

Parents are definitely having second thoughts about registering their kids. We'll see the ripple effect as time goes by.

Lots of Americans though. And the NI rules are on their way out the door.

My son plays both soccer and football. I asked his soccer mates who would like to play football. Most raised their hands. I then asked whose parents would allow them to play football. Most of their hands came down.

[Jesse]

14 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

My son plays both soccer and football. I asked his soccer mates who would like to play football. Most raised their hands. I then asked whose parents would allow them to play football. Most of their hands came down.

Yeah. It's tough when the kids probably don't understand the reasons they're not allowed to play.

They sure understand that their parents are having none of it though.

[All In on Blue]

Many parents in Manitoba and canada as a whole refuse to put their children in football because of their perception on head injuries in football. At the same time those parents allow their kids to play hockey even though the percentage of head injuries in hockey is comparable to football. Most of these parents probably played hockey in some capacity or a big fans of hockey so they disregard the fact that hockey is just as dangerous. One thing that I have noticed in football is that they are evolving the game and are actively taking steps to prevent those head injuries by reducing contact in practice, ensuring that all coaches are trained in safe contact ( taking the head away from the point of contact) and training coaches on identifying the symptoms of concussions. 

[Fatty Liver]

1 minute ago, All In on Blue said:

Many parents in Manitoba and canada as a whole refuse to put their children in football because of their perception on head injuries in football. At the same time those parents allow their kids to play hockey even though the percentage of head injuries in hockey is comparable to football. Most of these parents probably played hockey in some capacity or a big fans of hockey so they disregard the fact that hockey is just as dangerous. One thing that I have noticed in football is that they are evolving the game and are actively taking steps to prevent those head injuries by reducing contact in practice, ensuring that all coaches are trained in safe contact ( taking the head away from the point of contact) and training coaches on identifying the symptoms of concussions. 

I dispute this claim about kid's hockey, it's non-contact until age 14 and other than accidental collisions (mostly with the boards) there is not the same risk of impact to the brain as there is in football until body-checking is introduced later on.  A big factor in CTE is the accumulation of mini shocks which a lineman,  running back or linebacker absorb on many plays each and every game anytime they are severely jolted, these have a cumulative effect.  I agree once an athlete pursues professional status, hockey certainly provides a similar risk of brain injuries as football.

[All In on Blue]

Dispute if all you want but Most of the injuries in kids hockey comes from collisions with other unsuspecting players or  players  heads hitting the ice which has a lot less give then a grass field . Kids are skating at a higher speed than  running speed so the Impact is that much more powerful.

Edited June 20, 2019 by All In on Blue

[blueingreenland]

I think football will look dramatically different 50 or a 100 years from now. We will always have violent sports like wrestling and MMA, but these sports can be filled by adults. Football needs a minor league system, and, as stated, parents are less inclined to consent to their children playing the sport.

Dr. Daniel Amen, the leading neuro- psychiatrist in the world, whose clinics have done over 130,000 SPECT brain scans (functional brain scans that detect  under-active and over-active areas of the brain) strongly recommends parents do not put their children in hockey, football, or soccer.

[Bigblue204]

48 minutes ago, blueingreenland said:

I think football will look dramatically different 50 or a 100 years from now. We will always have violent sports like wrestling and MMA, but these sports can be filled by adults. Football needs a minor league system, and, as stated, parents are less inclined to consent to their children playing the sport.

Dr. Daniel Amen, the leading neuro- psychiatrist in the world, whose clinics have done over 130,000 SPECT brain scans (functional brain scans that detect  under-active and over-active areas of the brain) strongly recommends parents do not put their children in hockey, football, or soccer.

Soccer too?

[Sard]

On 2019-06-21 at 4:50 PM, Bigblue204 said:

Soccer too?

Headers in soccer could cause some pretty wicked brain movement.  I don't know for sure, but I suspect that's where it's coming from.

[JCon]

2 minutes ago, Sard said:

Headers in soccer could cause some pretty wicked brain movement.  I don't know for sure, but I suspect that's where it's coming from.

That is one. They've "outlawed" headers in the younger age groups and I suspect it will be expanded to older and older age groups. Frankly, as much as it's a part of soccer, the game would continue just fine without the..

Quite a few concussions in soccer come from collisions between the players and the players and the ground. That's not easily overcome and I can't see a natural solution. 

[SpeedFlex27]

In 50 years lawn bowling will be the number 1 spectator sport worldwide as all others will be banned.

[Fatty Liver]

2 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

In 50 years lawn bowling will be the number 1 spectator sport worldwide as all others will be banned.

I was going to suggest curling but I can't count the number of people I know who have slipped and cracked their heads on the ice.

[Tracker]

7 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

In 50 years lawn bowling will be the number 1 spectator sport worldwide as all others will be banned.

FYI: breakdancing will be an olympic sport next time. After that it will be either tiddly-winks or competitive knitting.

[Firekid]

Ooohh! Did you say Knitting!!?

[Firekid]

As long as there is money being paid and money being made, football will be played. Ask the future Jerry Jones type of guys this question. 

[HardCoreBlue]

14 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

In 50 years lawn bowling will be the number 1 spectator sport worldwide as all others will be banned.

Especially if they consider making it full contact.  That would be awesome to watch.

[ddanger]

Both my boys played football for a long time, and my grandson starts this year. Older son no reported concussions, younger one thinks he had a few. My daughter who rides horses has had more ambulance rides, broken bones, and hospital stays than both boys COMBINED. And a very nasty concussion.

Everyone is different, and the technology available for protection and testing continues to improve. Is football safe?? No. But it's not alone.  

[SpeedFlex27]

On ‎2019‎-‎06‎-‎19 at 9:16 AM, HC85 said:

I got a concussion 2.5 years ago from falling on curling ice and am still feeling the effects. I have a whole team of health care people helping me get back to normal, including rehab for vision disturbances. I have to say that it is less fun to watch football now because it really bothers me to see to head hits.

I fell on the ice as well back in the 80's but I tumbled on top of some rocks in the house. No fun falling on curling rocks & injuring my ribs & back.