Is Football Too Dangerous?

[ChefChiTown]

Chef, and this is extremely rare, but I have to disagree with you here.

Of all the major sports played here in the U.S., football is by far the most dangerous.

Hockey is close, but because major fighting is allowed, I disregard it. (referring to Bertuzzi sucker punch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz9RE9RGrVY (WE WILL NEVER FORGET...........) the stupid FUCK went too far, but you get my point)

Football is fucking brutal. Seriously. You and I, and everyone reading this right now would not get up and walk away if subjected to a single hit dished out on any given Sunday.

Some never do.

I'll give you the fact that the entire point is to stop the ball. But fuck, some people have never gotten up and walked again just to move the ball forward a couple of yards.

Too brutal?

Yes.

How many life-altering injuries are suffered during NFL football? Sure, we could all think of some players who have obviously had problems, but the % of players that are seriously injured during NFL football is extremely small. Broken fingers, torn ligaments, bloody noses...those are common in the NFL, but paralyzation and other life-altering injuries are not.

Also, every sport can be considered "unsafe" if you think about it. Just look at catchers that play in the major leagues. Even if they never have any sort of hard nosed contact with another player or torn ligaments during their career, their knees are seriously fucked up for the rest of their lives. Hell, I played catcher for only a few of my 27 years of life and I have fucked up knees myself.

:2 cents:

 

[Violator79]

How many life-altering injuries are suffered during NFL football? Sure, we could all think of some players who have obviously had problems, but the % of players that are seriously injured during NFL football is extremely small. Broken fingers, torn ligaments, bloody noses...those are common in the NFL, but paralyzation and other life-altering injuries are not.

Agreed 100%. It seems to me that the only life-threatening injuries that occur are the ones that will happen if these players keep carrying guns when they go into nightclubs or have domestic issues at home and their significant other stabs, shoots or beats them over the head with a steel dildo.

 

[Magnet]

If the players play fundamental football then there it is not dangerous at all.

Its when these guys dive head first they not only could cause serious injury to the other player but to them selves. Thats why we see players get fined for all sorts of hits. If you lead with your helmet its illegal.

The play on Mcghee was clean even though their helmets did meet. It just so happened Clark from Pittsburgh used his right shoulder for the tackle which casue both their heads to be on the same side causing a helmet to helmet crash.

 

[gunslingingbird]

The risk of getting hurt is as much a part of the game as the defense's attempt to stop the offense from moving the ball down the field. Sure there are injuries that come from the violent nature of the game, but every player assumes that risk by putting on pads and a helmet. When I was in high school I suffered 2 concussions as a result of playing, but I don't blame anyone but myself for it because I chose to be out there playing. True, at the pro level the hits are generally gonna be much harder than what you see at other levels, but those guys know what they're getting into. That's why they spend so much time in the weight room, and, some of them, can bench press a car: to be better prepared for a smashing hit. It sounds ironic, but if a player shies away from a hit, he is more likely to get hurt than if he hits the other player.

 

[calpoon]

I think they should play it Aztec style where the losers punishment is to be sacrificed to the gods, and the winners reward is to be sacrificed to the gods. Also the audience members get to look under their seats and if they are sitting on a number, then they get to be sacrificed during halftime entertainment and their heads are substituted for the balls in play.

 

[Spleen]

s the game, with all it's helmets and pads to protect the tackler, now too rough to be called a ball game?

If rugby playings can do it without padding and without breaks every 30 seconds, I'm sure football players can manage.

 

[maildude]

No. The sport isn't a schoolyard tag game. These guys enter into it with the knowledge that there are inherent risks. Like any other sport that involves physical contact. They don't wear pads and protective gear because it's fashionable. They hit. Hard. And they are TAUGHT to be aggressive. That's the nature of the beast. These young men have the option of getting out. But they don't. Why? Because they believe that the rewards outpace the risks. God help us. But we love violent sports. Because it satisfies some need within us. And these guys are the catalysts. Voluntarily.

 

[member979979]

Big hits are apart of the game and the players are fully aware of what the risks are.


3 1/2 hour games are not long enough for you?

The 1st and 3rd quarters go buy super quick because hardly any time outs are called, so a game really feels like 2 hours. Maybe its just me :dunno:

 

[HeyFellas]

If rugby playings can do it without padding and without breaks every 30 seconds, I'm sure football players can manage.

But that's the problem. Rugby players don't wear pads and helmets, so they know they can get hurt. You rarely see full on tackles in Rugby, and I for one have never seen a player charge at someone intending to go head first into his opponent's head. But Rugby is also a different game, you have to take down a player and hold him down, in Football you just have to knock him to the ground, which means players hit, not tackle.

I just wonder why a helmet to helmet is illegal unless the runner has the ball, as if it's somehow supposed to protect him. You can still have big, entertaining yet legal hits without such serious consequences. :2 cents: :wave2:

 

[gunslingingbird]

But that's the problem. Rugby players don't wear pads and helmets, so they know they can get hurt. You rarely see full on tackles in Rugby, and I for one have never seen a player charge at someone intending to go head first into his opponent's head. But Rugby is also a different game, you have to take down a player and hold him down, in Football you just have to knock him to the ground, which means players hit, not tackle.

I just wonder why a helmet to helmet is illegal unless the runner has the ball, as if it's somehow supposed to protect him. You can still have big, entertaining yet legal hits without such serious consequences. :2 cents: :wave2:

Helmet-to-helmet is illegal regardless of the situation. Period.

Now that we got that bit of bullshit out of the way, I'll say that it's only illegal when the helmet-to-helmet contact is obviously intentional. The hit that compelled you to start this thread, while an obvious helmet-to-helmet collision, was an unintentional one. In the replay you can see that the defensive back turned his body sideways so as to hit the runner with his shoulder and side. The reason why there was helmet-to-helmet contact is because they were both going at full speed and in opposite directions. Their bodies collided and stopped, but the momentum that they had forced their helmets to keep going.

 

[Ghaleon]

No football isnt too dangerous.

Very thoughtful are you?

 

[loveakirayui]

that hit wasnt a helmet to helmet to me. the defender clearly launched his shoulder at mcgahee and the momentum from both players is what probably caused the most damage. I think football has risks just like other sports for example basketball where u see some relaly hard fouls sometimes. does any1 remember when steve nash had a full heal on collision with tony parker i think and had a busted nose and still finish the game. I think the NFL does a very good job at trying to protect players probably too good sometimes like when the pittsburgh kicker fell down on his own and yet the baltimore D was flagged for "roughing the kicker". football is perfectly fine.

 

[titsrock]

Rugby is not as dangerous as American football because rugby players are schooled in the art of tackling. They don't dive at knees or spear or whatever. Tackling isn't being taught anymore in American football. Positional assignments and responsibilities gets the most "teaching" today...

Tackling has been on the decline in American football because it doesn't get a defender on the highlight package of ESPN. Horsecollar tackling, which can injure legs was the most recent rules adjustment. There will be more adjustments because modern players continue to get bigger, faster, stronger. The Linebackers who played in the 70s wouldn't be LBs today. They would be safeties or they wouldn't be on rosters because they were much slower than today's LBs.

Teams didn't pass much..it was a running game. The whole game has changed today...

 

[GabberMan]

Take off the pads and try Rugby Union. Sorry.

 

[marquis2]

Take off the pads and try Rugby Union. Sorry.

Agreed.They look bloody stupid and can't do anything but slow things down

 

[HeyFellas]

Rugby is not as dangerous as American football because rugby players are schooled in the art of tackling. They don't dive at knees or spear or whatever. Tackling isn't being taught anymore in American football. Positional assignments and responsibilities gets the most "teaching" today...

Tackling has been on the decline in American football because it doesn't get a defender on the highlight package of ESPN. Horsecollar tackling, which can injure legs was the most recent rules adjustment. There will be more adjustments because modern players continue to get bigger, faster, stronger. The Linebackers who played in the 70s wouldn't be LBs today. They would be safeties or they wouldn't be on rosters because they were much slower than today's LBs.

Teams didn't pass much..it was a running game. The whole game has changed today...

I totally agree with all of that.

The best game I've ever seen was a few years ago, I think it was Ravens / Browns, and not a single pass was thrown, it was all running and hard, but not dangerous hits, with the players barking at each other all the way through. It was far more entertaining than judges throwing pass interference flags or some douche reciever doing a choreographed "celebration".

Bring back the good old days.......:wave2:

 

[Adore this Girl]

lol lov calpoon comment so funny and no american football is fine not to dangerous.

 

[Lungzyn]

Believe it or not the pads in American Football make the sport more dangerous that Rugby.

I've heard that before, pretty strange, could you explain it again

I guess the thing they might be most worried about is the drastically lowered life expectancy, long term brain damage and stuff that comes along with it :dunno:

I know in rugby, they have changed some rules recently to make it safer, especially with neck and spinal injuries in scrums.

 

[bustybbwlover]

perhaps a bit dangerous but sizeably less dangerous than a shit ton of other occupations

 

[Member2019]

After watching last night's Pittsburgh match, I have to ask: has a player ever died as the result of a tackle?

Yes. If you knew the history of American football, you wouldn't even know if you needed to ask this question. Even the President of the United States wrote some of the modern rules to bring down the rate of fatalities at one point, and they did drastically.

Kids and young adults still play in organized and sanctioned school and semi-pro programs and suffer life-long injuries. I am one of them.