Are colleges, high schools, the NFL, and fans prepared for the demise of US Football?

[fried eggs]

If not, they should start preparing. More and more health conscious parents of small boys are looking at the studies and deciding that football is too dangerous for their kids.

An estimated 43,000 to 67,000 players endure a concussion during every high school football season, though because many such injuries go unreported, that number may well exceed 100,000, as noted by a Purdue University study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, "Functionally-Detected Cognitive Impairment in High School Football Players Without Clinically Diagnosed Concussion.(7) " That study also examined the health of 21 players throughout the course of a season. The 21 players experienced 15,264 significant collision events across 48 practices and games (an average of 15.5 collision events per player per organized activity); four of the 21 players were diagnosed with a concussion. The study also found that a portion of the players with no clinically observable signs of concussion still showed significant functional impairments when observed with MRI technology or verbal/cognitive testing. This suggests that a new category of brain-related injury problem needs to be diagnosed. Overall, the data suggest "the presence of a previously unknown, but suspected … group of athletes exhibiting neurocognitive deficits that persist over time, but which does not present observable symptoms." The study's authors say the findings indicate current on-field tests for concussions may not be sufficient in determining full risks to the brain.(8) Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_issues_in_American_football

Anything else with such dire stats would have been banned long ago. If an adult chooses to play football, that's his or her right, but children and teens should be protected.

[trumad]

1. It's inevitable that it will decline

maybe not for years....but the evolution of the human body will make it impossible to play the football we know today.

A 6:5 Linebacker who can run a 4.5, 40---- can absolutely devastate anything he hits.

I've stood on the sideline of an NFL football game and it is the unbelievable thing I've ever seen or heard. Folks who watch it on TV or in the stands have no idea how loud it is when they hit each other.

I've said it before and I'll say it again---the NFL is the hardest hitting sport on the planet.

[bigwillq]

2. It's pretty intense on a high school sideline too

Kids are bigger and stronger, whether through advanced training, steroids, etc, so the hits are certainly more potent.

[trumad]

3. I'm a huge old school Dolphin fan

back in the days of Griese, Czonka, Warfield, etc. The pale in comparison to the size of the NFL players today.

15 years from now...WOW! who knows.

[Cryptoad]

70. Soccer will prevail in the long run! nt

[awoke_in_2003]

81. Lots of concussions in that sport, too. nt

[LittleBlue]

4. Yeah sure.

40 years from now, I'll tune into an NFL game and think of this hilarious thread.

[fried eggs]

6. If there are no new bodies coming up the pipeline,

then football is done. You're betting that parents will ignore the concussion info, I'm betting they won't. In the last days of football, recruiters will focus heavily on poor schools but I think the backlash will be spectacular.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. Yes, many parents will ignore the concussion information.

Most any guy who grew up playing football will think it is OK for his son to do the same. He will think that his son is strong enough to play the game and not be seriously hurt.

Some kids not playing won't change anything. There is still so much money in it that the vast majority will take the risk.

Maybe the NFL will try a few more tweaks to the rules. Or some health care protection for players (active and retired) but not much more will be done. It will be more than enough.

Add in college scholarships and the deal is done. Kids will play because the rewards outweigh the risks. They always will.

[truebluegreen]

88. Another "poverty draft"--like the armed forces.

[LittleBlue]

53. With the salaries paid in the NFL

the risks are worth it. People go to prison and die for far less money than the average NFL player makes.

Where there is money, there are willing people.

[GeorgeGist]

83. Willing parents too, I suppose ...

for your opinion to hold another 40 yrs.

[Warren Stupidity]

87. You might want to research that claim.

When you acquire dementia or als in your 40's after the average 4 year career, you end up broke pretty quickly. It isn't worth it, and prisons are filled with idiots who made bad choices.

[LittleBlue]

92. Think again

The median wage in the NFL is $770k, and the mean is $1.9m. Maybe for you that isn't worth it, but I can assure you that for many from poor areas this represents their only realistic chance of making it big in life. Become successful in the NFL and you're looking at a contract of $60m and some positions over $100m.

The supply of kids who dream of money and fame in the NFL will never dry up. In 30 or 40 years when you're hearing about Monday Night Football and the first $500M contract, remember this thread.

[Warren Stupidity]

93. 3-4 years @800 = 1.2M after taxes.

If you end up with dementia in your 40's, as an astounding number of players do, you will go broke within a few years. Bryan Gumbel and others have been covering what is going on in the NFL with head injuries, and it is appalling.

Very few players are making 60M.

[LittleBlue]

96. How much will they make in Compton?

Or any other slum where people barely have the money to survive? For many football players, they have no realistic hope of wealth aside from football.

Do you realize how much $1.2m sounds like to a child born into crushing poverty? If everyone based their actions on probability and not dreams, no one would play the lottery.

[davepc]

95. Yeah, thats why nobody boxes anymore.

The links between boxing and CTE have been known for decades.

[Aristus]

5. Not gonna happen.

There's too much money to be made. And the people making the money aren't going to be held back by an avalanche of brain injuries. Anymore than the coal barons are held back by mine collapses and explosions, debilitating lung diseases, and air that you can cut with a knife.

Don't forget, the people who should side with the voices of reason probably like watching football too much to be swayed by medical science and compassionate humanity...

[trumad]

9. Heard a lot of experts and former players say it will

Again...the size of player evolution will do the game in.

Not now...not tomorrow. But for sure in the future.

[GeorgeGist]

84. Parental approval ...

ring a bell?

[Aristus]

94. Yes. It rings a bell.

So does: "When my boy makes it to the NFL, he's gonna be a millionaire!

Again: $$$$$$$.

When a football family is chasing the gilded ring alongside a talented son, a retirement punctuated by agonizing and debilitating neurological and musculoskeletal ailments is just an abstract concept...

[NuclearDem]

7. I already don't watch.

I'm not giving any ratings to something that constantly results in TBI and serious limb damage.

[Vashta Nerada]

8. I was hoping it would decline because schools would take education much more seriously.

Bleh.

If this works too, I don't care. Less football is good.

[hughee99]

62. I don't understand that statement at all. Why is football the reason schools

don't take education seriously? When football declines and some other big moneymaking sport takes its place, why would education be taken more seriously?

[Vashta Nerada]

104. How many students get a pass in class because they can throw or catch a ball?

[mick063]

10. We can't get guns under control and you think football will die.

We can light tap water on fire and you think football will die.

It might change, but it won't die. Perhaps a size limit to players. Perhaps physical restrictors to speed similar to "restrictor plate" racing in NASCAR. Which brings up the dangerous topics of auto racing, or ultimate fighting, or deer hunting.


There is a long list of exposures that harm a greater percentage of the population than football.


Football is every bit as popular as guns. Similar to guns, I would call it nearly impossible to meaningfully legislate.

I predict there would be major backlash. Where would it end?

Do you envision a world where people live in bubble suits?

[furious]

13. Deer hunting harms a greater percentage of the population than football?

How so?

[mick063]

16. Why not?

How many folks have tripped over a log, burned their hand in a campfire, driven their truck off a hillside, or accidently shot another hunter?

I'll bet there are as many people injured in the act of deer hunting as playing football.

Perhaps bicycles should be banned as well.

[furious]

20. Possibly, but you said a greater percentage, not an equal percentage.

And there are several positives to deer hunting compared to football, like, putting meat on a table, keeping the deer population under control, revenue collected from deer tags.
Football, not so much, I would much rather be out hunting deer than watching/attending a football game, I could care less if it went away tomorrow.

[mick063]

24. I am close friends with several avid hunters.

They have given me an approximate cost per pound of venison. They claim that legal hunting may be the least cost effective way of putting meat on the table. Even when "set up" with all the gear, the cost of maintaining the sport doesn't justify the cost of the meat. They claim it is pure sport.

You tell me. If a guy were to start from scratch, what would a hunting trip cost in time and materials?

[furious]

43. It can be expensive first time around,

but if you hunt for food, in the long run, it's actually cheaper than buying in the store.

Here's what I paid years and years ago for my hunting rifle.
Remington 700 30.06-used, $500.00.

Here's what I pay yearly.
Hunting license-$33.00
Deer Tag-$50.00.
Cost of dressing deer-depends on how much the deer weighs, I dress all my own game, so I don't know what the cost is if done by a company.
Time-depends on how long one wants to stay out, usually for me, it's a day or two.

Plus the added cost of much better tasting and healthier meat, and for me, the joy of the hunt and the pleasure of knowing that I'm doing my part for conservation, which my fees go towards.

Hunting isn't for everyone, you have to have the patience and skill to take down wild game.

[iandhr]

18. I would say football is WAY more popular then guns.

Football transcends political differences.

But what is chancing is that even people who are fans of the game do not want there own kids playing.

[truebluegreen]

90. Boxing used to be the biggest sport in the country.

Is it now? And how much does the deterioration of Ali have to do with that?

The diehard fans will remain, the casual fans will drop away.

I was more than casual, but I won't even watch it now. Like boxing. Like horse racing. Never did watch deer hunting, except the movie.

[HappyMe]

12. I don't think it will die off.

I do think that new rules and equipment are on the immediate horizon.

[Journeyman]

27. Some 30 years, in an article on "60 Minutes," an inventor discussed uniform improvements. . .

To combat head injuries, he had developed a restraint system, similar to auto safety belts, where belts mounted in the shoulder pads were connected to the helmet. When the player impacted with another player, the belts would tighten and keep his head from bouncing around too much. The idea met with favorable response (though evidently not enough, as this particular feature has not been adopted yet that I'm aware of), but the inventor had little belief his invention would ultimately protect the players.

"The problem," he said, "and this is true throughout the history of the game, every time there are improvements to the equipment the players just hit each other harder."


I do agree with you, HappyMe, that new rules (and rigid enforcement of them) will help improve the safety of the game.

[CK_John]

14. In the Cyber-era only half the education system is currently needed, will

schools with big football programs be a help in saving them closeing? I not sure.

[mick063]

19. So then basketball fills the void.

Revenue from college sports are here to stay.

The services of the players are relatively cheap when profit margin is considered.

[shanti]

40. basketball is certainly not a sport free from concussions

case in point, my son, who never played football. i wouldn't let him, but he never showed much interest in the sport, probably because neither his father nor myself are football fans. my son did play varsity basketball, and injured himself several times. the worst was after he graduated. he was playing a pick up game at the gym, against a very physical player. they knocked heads when they dove for a ball. my son passed out for a couple of minutes.

when he came to, his memory wasn't there. i drove him to the hospital for an mri, but they didn't find anything. he was a totally different kid for about 3 weeks, when his memory started returning. it's been several years, he's ok now, but i always wonder about the long term affects of his concussion. he still plays pick up basketball, and i've tried to discourage him, but he's an adult and makes his own decisions

[mick063]

74. Neither is bicycling

n/t

[furious]

15. Probably not.

Far too much money involved in college and pro football, college football because of the ticket and concessions revenue, pro football because of the all around revenue.

[iandhr]

31. Yes but...

... even people who are big football fans are starting to not want their own kids to play. If this continues it will pose big problems.

Why do you think there have rule chance for larger penalties for head hits? Also the league is spending a **** load of money to try to make helmets protect the skull better.


They wouldn't be doing it if they weren't worried about this.


I am a big football fan but I do not want my hobby costing anyone their livelihood

[iandhr]

17. Harry Carson a former hall of fame linebacker...

said he does not want his grandson to play football.


http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/06/entertainment/la-et-st-harry-carson-watch-my-nfl-expose-before-your-kid-plays-football-20130806

[furious]

21. He's right, I wouldn't want any grandson, especially mine, to play such a violent "sport".

[iandhr]

22. It speaks volumes though when it comes...

... from a NFL Hall of Famer.

[Downwinder]

23. If schools were liable for the injuries football would be gone.

[iandhr]

25. I have been wondering for a while

Has anyone ever done a study comparing the prevalence of head injuries in Football to Hockey?

[Revanchist]

33. Found a chart that compares HS concussion rates

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#story/ct-met-0510-girls-lacrosse-helmets-web-eps-20130509/

[TlalocW]

26. I pray for the demise of professional sports every day

Sooner it comes the better. Bunch of cry-baby millionaires, at least half of whom are juicing. Why admire these assholes and pay them so much to play games.

TlalocW

[frylock]

45. i feel the same about movies..

buncha crybaby millionaire assholes actors.

[cherokeeprogressive]

60. All professional sports? Really? Fencing? Skiing? Marathoning?

Is there no professional sport you'd allow to remain?

[TlalocW]

73. It's not so much what I allow

I just have never thought of professional athletes as heroes, and especially now what with all the various juicing going on in all sports, I don't understand anyone who looks up to them.

TlalocW

[maindawg]

28. long about the time

That some player gets capped and dies on TV , the issue will become relevant.
It was two years ago that James Harrison was on the verge when the league had to step in and issue a new rule and stuff and James dialed it down to 'maim' again.

[awoke_in_2003]

82. Don't worry, football died in Cleveland years ago...

just kidding

[ErikJ]

29. Soccer is getting more popular than football with teens.

Mesi, Rooney, Hernandez, Suarez, Van Persie. These are the new sports heros of the teens. Madrid, Manchester, Liverpool, are the new teams they love. Buh bye fotball. Old mans game now.

[shanti]

46. old man's game

yup, you can also make the same comparison between boxing and mixed martial arts.

[frylock]

47. there are concussions in soccer as well

[Divernan]

65. My kids played H.S.soccer & 2 played intercollegiate soccer.

We're talking 2 daughters and 1 son. Also had 2 nephews who played h.s. soccer and one of them played intercollegiate. Never a concussion or more serious head injury to any player on any of their teams - worst injuries were to knees, and very few of them.

[bluestate10]

66. Not as many concussions as in football, but people fall and hit their heads against the ground

during soccer games. In addition, to have the game become more popular in countries like the USA, soccer referees are allowing somewhat rougher play.

[Divernan]

63. English Premier League gets a big American stage on NBC

Manchester City or Manchester United? My family are Spurs fans.

English Premier League is gaining fans in US
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-16/sports/41416559_1_nbc-sports-network-english-premier-league-fox-soccer-channel

Once relegated to specialty channels or presented on tape delay at odd hours, English soccer is now more accessible than ever in the United States. After obtaining the rights to Premier League matches in a three-year, $250 million deal, NBC will utilize a variety of platforms to carry all 380 Premier League matches each season.

The network typically will show three matches live on Saturdays (two on NBC Sports Network, the network’s cable channel, and one on NBC), two on Sundays and one on Mondays (all on NBCSN) through the nine-month campaign. Coverage will also appear on three other properties: CNBC, Spanish-language Telemundo and mun2, a bilingual channel geared toward young viewers.

Games not available on standard outlets will appear on overflow channels at no charge to cable and satellite subscribers who receive NBCSN. (Many, but not all, systems are participating.) NBC Sports Live Extra, the network’s online streaming service, will provide coverage of every match for desktops, tablets and mobile devices.

“People in the United States have been begging and dying for this kind of coverage,” NBC coordinating producer Pierre Moossa said.

[Divernan]

64. NBC outbid ESPN & Fox to broadcast English Premier League matches.

Last fall, in a surprising outcome, NBC outbid ESPN and Fox, which had held the property for three years at a cost of $80 million, for the rights to televise Premier League games. Fox showed most games on two boutique channels as well as an online pay service and licensed others to ESPN. NBCSN is available in twice as many households as Fox Soccer Channel, which, with the debut of Fox Sports 1 this month, is in the process of being dissolved.

Fox Sports 1 will carry the other powerhouse soccer property, the UEFA Champions League, while ESPN and NBC will continue to share Major League Soccer coverage. ESPN also has the 2014 World Cup rights.

In all, more than 150 Premier League matches will appear on NBCSN this season and another 20 on NBC — mainstream visibility for a sport restless to shed its niche reputation in the United States.

“I don’t think [soccer has] ever been this popular,” said White, who handled play-by-play for the Seattle Sounders of MLS for two years before moving to NBC’s MLS coverage in 2012. “Is it a tipping point? We’ll have to wait and see. I just know there is a huge amount of following of the game in the United States.”

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Expect more of this:

Bears legend Gale Sayers sued the NFL on Friday, claiming the league negligently handled his repeated head injuries during his seven-year career.
Sayers, a Hall of Fame running back who played with the Bears from 1965 to 1971, said in the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago that he suffered headaches and short-term memory loss after retirement.

Sayers says he sometimes was sent back into games after suffering concussions and that the NFL overall didn’t do enough to protect him from the “devastating concussive head traumas,” according to the lawsuit.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-gale-sayers-sues-nfl-claims-memory-loss-from-head-injuries-20130920,0,7204066.story

[Arugula Latte]

32. We are parents who did not let our son play football.

He plays other sports, but not that one. Last week a friend of his on the high school football team came close to being paralyzed from a blow.

Personally I would be delighted to see that sport die, but I get that a lot of people are really into it.

[Taverner]

34. No, this will just gentrify the sport

Smarter parents will have their kids playing baseball

Dumb inbred rednecks will still have "thar kids playin FOOBALL!"

[Teach29]

48. Youth baseball and football injury rates are similar, but baseball fatalities are much higher.

Baseball has the highest fatality rate among youth sports. I have been begging our little league to require Heart-Gard's be be worn by players but they will not until the national organization requires it. I just don't understand why they do not.

http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/orthopaedics/stats.html

http://youthsportssafetynow.blogspot.com/p/little-league-deaths_9867.html

http://www.homeofsafeheart.com/whysafeheart.html

[Taverner]

51. REally? Why is that?

Is it the heat exhaustion?

[Teach29]

54. Hit or pitched balls to the head and chest.

A blow to a young child's chest can stop the heart instantly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commotio_cordis

The list I linked from Youth Sports Safety Now does not list any from heat exhaustion. Almost all are blows to the head and chest.

[Taverner]

55. yikes!

[Throd]

56. Turn on your TV and see who is playing.

Do it right now. It is Saturday, so there is a game on at this very moment.

[Taverner]

57. I was thinking just that

Not too many Trumps playing Third Base

[LuvNewcastle]

35. If I had kids, I wouldn't let them play football. I would probably

let them do a lot of things, but head injuries are nothing to play around with. I've had a couple myself, and they had an effect on my life. People should be very protective of their heads, especially kids whose brains are still developing. We don't even know enough about the brain yet to say how much even small head injuries affect it.

[OregonBlue]

36. I live in a small rural community with a small jr. high/high school. For the first time anyone can

remember, they do not have enough players for a football team. Several parents withdrew their boys based upon concerns about head injuries. If it's happening in small town, blue blood, America, it is happening everywhere.

[cantbeserious]

37. Stopped Watching Football 15 Years Ago - Have Not Had A TV For 13 Years Now

eom

[X_Digger]

38. Football is more of a religion in Texas. Probably more support than guns.

I can't stand sports in general, but I don't see this one going away any time soon.

[JEFF9K]

39. The TV show WIPEOUT ...

... shows how much action and buffeting are possible without injury. Football should be okay with some rule and equipment changes.

[MineralMan]

41. They'll just improve the uniforms and safety equipment, like this:

[FarCenter]

77. It would be safer without helmets and pads

There should also be weight limits on the players.

[longship]

42. Fine with me. They should adopt Aussie Rules.

Unfortunately, US football stadiums aren't large enough for Aussie rules, which is played on much larger cricket grounds.

Too bad. Aussie rules football is awesome.

[Android3.14]

44. It's a silly choice, but we all know where this will go

They'll install airbags and seatbelts in football helmets before this sport declines.

[pipi_k]

49. I don't

see that happening.

The total demise of US football, I mean.

Oh sure, parents will be able to keep their minor children from playing it, but once a kid gets to college, all bets are off.

Maybe we should ban all sports where someone could get hurt.

Like...boxing. Hockey. Bobsledding (remember the bobsledder who died at the winter Olympics not long ago?).

My 12 year old granddaughter had to quit gymnastics a few years ago because her mom thought they were too dangerous. Well, my poor granddaughter got a severe concussion after doing a backflip into an inground swimming pool earlier this month.

Try to keep your kid safe, and look what happens.

Might as well just lock them all up...

[GeorgeGist]

85. Spoken like a narrow-minded Republican.

[mwooldri]

100. Darn... so my kids can't play tiddlywinks.

One of those tiddlywinks could fly into an eye...

Seriously, American Football does need to get its house in order.. but this could lead to a revival of Rugby here... The safety equipment in Rugby isn't as extensive as American football... but it's a good alternative.

[jberryhill]

101. This isn't about hazards

It's beginning to look like the game is inherently injurious. That's different from a sport which has hazards.

[PeteSelman]

50. They've already weakened it to the point of being nearly unwatchable.

The defense can't hit anyone anymore, you're not allowed to cover, you can't touch QBs. We're already seeing the demise being played out. Soon it will basically be flag football and who wants to see that?

[randome]

58. Who wants to see millionaries run around in their pajamas?

(I know, obviously a lot of people do but I don't understand that. Why watch when you can participate?)

We often hear from supporters of the sport how it's just as much about agility as violence. If I was inclined to watch any sport on TV, I would find much to appreciate from feats of agility and intelligence.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Treat your body like a machine. Your mind like a castle.[/center][/font][hr]

[hobbit709]

52. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

[valerief]

59. Rollerball. nt

[zeemike]

61. That brings back a memory of the only high school game I ever attended

In which one kid "hit" the other one with his head and went down motionless on the ground.

And there was an ambulance on the side of the field and the operators were sitting in lawn chairs watching the game and when they were called out it was like the Keystone cops with the ambulance ruining over the chairs they were sitting on.
I later learned the kid died of his injures.
Fuck that shit...

[dotymed]

69. When I coached softball/baseball for my kids

In small town, Midwest Indiana, the ambulance volunteers sat behind the field, watched and got drunk. We had some bad injuries. Fortunately, no fatalities.
H.S. sports are now reserved (varsity level) for kids whose parents can afford all of the camps, etc..

[panader0]

67. It seems that most at Du want to abolish sports altogether.

No baseball, football, basketball, race car driving, rodeo, and the list goes on and on. Oh, and those horrible players!11!
Some times I think this place takes political correctness to an absurd degree.

[liberal_at_heart]

98. It seems many on DU know what's best for everybody and therefore get to tell everybody what

they are allowed to do or not do.

[OmahaBlueDog]

68. You are talking about a country in which UFC is the fastest growing sport

If anything, I see it going the other way. State legislatures and the feds protecting schools and states from the trial bar by giving liability protection to football programs.

Sorry -- we're a nation of soccer-haters. At least at the spectator level.

[MFrohike]

71. Actually

I'd look more at declining cable subscriptions. The NFL and college ball rely on the billions they get in TV revenue. Given that it's likely peaked already, I expect the popularity to decline over the next 20 years or so.

[ileus]

72. My son had 5 tackles today.

They still lost but it was a good game for the team.

Football isn't going anywhere, safety will improve. The already have superior motocross helments and I don't see why the technology couldn't be used in football.


http://motocrossactionmag.com/Main/News/360b599e-7916-46e3-abe5-aa583aea89b1.aspx


^I hope to get my son one of these before next season. (if he decides to actually race)

[liberal_at_heart]

75. live and let live damn it. Kids can get hurt doing anything. Kids can get hurt riding a bicycle for

god's sake. I agree that they should take the injuries more seriously and they are, but unless we put them in a bubble and never let them do anything kids are going to get hurt. My son likes PE and sports. Do I worry he could get hurt? Yes. My daughter is grown now. She is riding public transportation. Do I worry about her safety any less than I worry about my son's safety? No. My husband and daughter were riding the bus the other day and my husband had to step in when a drunk was harassing women. Anytime my daughter rides the bus I realize that could be her. But I let my children out into the world. You have to let them live, and you can't live your life in constant fear. Why are any of us here if we are going to do nothing but live in fear? Why is it worth being here if we have to live in constant fear? Every day I take just the smallest of moments to be thankful my family is home and together. I listen to the laughter. I watch my kids become these incredible human beings. And I am thankful that they are mine for a short period of time. I lost my mother to breast cancer. She was 32. I was 3. I realize how short it all can be.

[Warren Stupidity]

89. the issue is liability.

school systems are going to get sued and those suits are going to be successful because there is a clear liability issue. Same with the NFL - it is already being sued. The game is going to change, already is changing. It might continue but it won't be the same game.

[liberal_at_heart]

91. I actually think they should try to make it safer. I don't think it should be done away with all

together. Professional football players in particular are bigger than they use to be. They tend to cause more damage to each other than they use to.

[Tien1985]

76. This just doesn't

Sound realistic. I am the kind of person who would dance on professional football's grave if it died tomorrow. But the reality is that's likely not ever going to happen.

Your argument is that less parents are letting their kids play. Well, I don't know of too many parents who let their kids race cars, but we still have NASCAR. And that's assuming that all parents stop letting their kids play, which doesn't seem likely.

If you said less parents (and therefore kids) are WATCHING football, I'd think you might be right.

[BeyondGeography]

78. Lots of adults who love football won't let their kids play it

As many have noted. So we'll have a talent shortfall. The problem for American football is it's a cult sport that hasn't caught on with the rest of the world, so where to import from? They'll need a San Pedro de Macoris, but there isn't one.

[gopiscrap]

79. Good it's about time our society focuses too mch on sports

it's one of the factors that makes us so collectively aggressive.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

80. If they'd fix the helmets and change one rule

it'd help. It should be prohibited to leave your feet when making contact

[truebluegreen]

86. I grew up a football fan--waited 37 years for my team to win a Superbowl!--

and I won't watch it at all now. IMO the game has corrupted higher education at many universities and in the NFL the players seem like members of another species, or mutants, or something.

I'm just not interested.

Although if the media decided to analyze our political / social / scientific / etc. challenges with the same attention, depth and insight as is bestowed on the game of football, that would be a good thing.

[Dawson Leery]

97. My father strongly discouraged me from ever playing.

I was asked more than a dozen times to play in high school. I knew better not to play this horrid sport.

[davidpdx]

99. I'm only into pro football, not college or high school

I'm not sure whether the sport will disappear or not. Certainly better technology could be developed to improve player safety. I don't want to see players sustain injuries that are life threatening, but given some of the hits they take it happens.

In terms of watching a soccer game, I'd rather have a set of chopsticks jammed up my nose while having to watch Miley Cirus dance.

[Inkfreak]

102. LOL, agree.

Not much chance of a multibillion dollar business just up & going away anyways. I see a lot if sport hating in this thread. It's a shame, I admire a lot of these athletes because of their dedication and discipline to their sport. Whatever it may be.

And pointing out the few assholes in sports doesn't sway me. Football will live. And Philly will go to the Superbowl...eventually.

[TBF]

103. I'm a huge Packer fan

grew up in the area. I'm in Texas now and pay for Direct TV so I get every game ...

I also have a little boy who is true to his German/Polish roots - he looks like the typical big farm kid I grew up with. We debated letting him play pee wee football but in the end decided we just couldn't risk it. We have him in swimming and soccer. Not that they couldn't be dangerous but the information about concussions really worried us.

[Chisox08]

105. The main problem with football is no one is taught how to tackle properly

I see it all the time players leading with their heads trying to get that Sportscenter highlight hit. They have to learn proper technique when they first start playing so that they won't pick up the bad habit of leading with the helmet and launching themselves head first at the ball carrier. Keeping your head up and out of the way is the proper way to tackle and it seems like it is just now starting to be taught but for some players it is already too late.
Football is a dangerous sport and injuries happen, but there are ways to help minimize injuries but it will take a sport wide effort, from the NFL all the way down to the Pee-Wee leagues. They need to be taught to lower their target area and keep their heads out of the way. If I catch one of my players leading with their heads they are on the bench until they learn not to lead with their head. I don't care how much their parents bitch and moan about the benching.