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So school systems won't offer the program. Most communities will then offer football as a "community" sport. Parents and guardians will sign permission forms and things will move forward.
Colleges and universities get way too much money from alumni for football so those programs won't go anywhere.
The NFL will finally invest some money into the better helmets (that are already out there) to enhance protection of the sport.
I do have to wonder, though, why such an outcry about NFL/American football but not rugby?
If school systems won't be able to afford liability coverage or the lawyers to battle lawsuits due to brain injuries, how will 'communities' be able to do it? Permission forms aren't some magical shield against all law suits (and I know this from personal experience--my bro broke a kid's arm while playing ice hockey with a clean body check during practice. The kids mom was able to sue the league, the university, and the entire hockey organization that runs youth hockey even though numerous waiver forms were signed).
-better helmets won't do anything. You can put in egg in as much padding inside of a box all you want. But if you shake the box, the egg is going to experience some change in forces no matter what you do.
-Europeans are already concerned about CTE in rugby. In fact, a rugby player has already been found to have CTE.
-Sure colleges and universities might have the bankroll for programs and the liability insurance for it. But the problem is where do they get the players that have to get fed in from high schools? And what if high schools start dropping their programs because of massive liability problems? And where do the high schools start getting players if all of the pee wee leagues are either gone or parents won't let their kids play?
Last edited by fibonacci; 03-16-2016 at 02:54 PM..
Wrong. It *isn't* the highlight reel hits causing problems. Have you paid attention to any of the CTE science or story at all? The problem are the constant subconcussive forces many players are going to encounter on almost every play. Players who have never been diagnosed before with a concussion throughout their entire life have been found with CTE after death.
25,000 and growing....
The lawsuits will keep coming and then what? You don't need 1.084 million people to quit, you just have to make the costs prohibitive enough that school districts can no longer afford the liability insurance or lawyers. That only takes a few injured players to do.
Football is not going away. Period. It is ridiculous we are even having this discussion. The NFL is far too rich to ever just simply fold up. If it ever did come down to high schools banning the sport, the NFL would simply invest in pee wee leagues and minor leagues around every single community in the US to "grow" their football players of the future. And colleges get a lot of money for their football programs. Do you honestly think they would support schools getting rid of football? LOL!!!
Now, don't get me wrong, I am empathetic to those who have gotten seriously hurt playing the sport, especially those who have had life altering injuries. I know it's rough. I played football. But, guess what...it's a contact sport! What on earth do you expect? The NFL, colleges, and high schools around the country are already working with companies like Riddle to come up with advancements in technology that would better protect the players. The leagues have changed their rules to protect their players. Football is actually much safer now than it was 20 years ago. That is fact. It's unfortunate that ex-players have been found to have CTE. But ya know, it's a high risk, high reward career. Guys coming from poor, inner cities and rural areas becoming millionaires, practically overnight. They know what they're getting themselves into. They know the risks.
Sure, the NFL has deep pockets to pay players millions; players will take the risk to play in the NFL to get huge salaries.
The problem though is that you need feeder leagues and high school sports to feed the NFL its players. How long until school systems drop football because the liability costs of having to pay huge lawyers fees to defend against lawsuits or the costs to pay for insurance are way more than a school system can afford? Or how long until high schools ban tackling all together? Who will the NFL be able to get then to play in football if kids start growing up with never having played tackle football their entire life? The NFL will soon have to drop tackling as well. What kind of sport would you have if football no longer has tackling?
Football has no place in education, it is comical that Americans think otherwise.
Football is not going away. Period. It is ridiculous we are even having this discussion. The NFL is far too rich to ever just simply fold up. If it ever did come down to high schools banning the sport, the NFL would simply invest in pee wee leagues and minor leagues around every single community in the US to "grow" their football players of the future. And colleges get a lot of money for their football programs. Do you honestly think they would support schools getting rid of football? LOL!!!
Now, don't get me wrong, I am empathetic to those who have gotten seriously hurt playing the sport, especially those who have had life altering injuries. I know it's rough. I played football. But, guess what...it's a contact sport! What on earth do you expect? The NFL, colleges, and high schools around the country are already working with companies like Riddle to come up with advancements in technology that would better protect the players. The leagues have changed their rules to protect their players. Football is actually much safer now than it was 20 years ago. That is fact. It's unfortunate that ex-players have been found to have CTE. But ya know, it's a high risk, high reward career. Guys coming from poor, inner cities and rural areas becoming millionaires, practically overnight. They know what they're getting themselves into. They know the risks.
umm less than 0.001% of players ever get rich playing football, but vastly more get their IQ lowered.
Football has no place in education, it is comical that Americans think otherwise.
Exactly, schools should be focusing on academic programs rather than sports programs.
If it takes injuries and financial liabilities to shift societies' priorities back to the primary function of school (eduction) and away from the obsession over sports then so be it. I just think it's a little ridiculous that it's taken this long.
If communities want to support/sponsor sports programs then they are welcome to do it, but it should not be the responsibility of the school systems. Our country is falling behind academically, we need to fix that problem before we do anything else.
I do believe professional football will decline in popularity over the next few decades whether high schools/colleges continue with football programs or not. It's a fad just like everything else. And of course the discussion about the health risks will impact the industry, but not enough to completely wipe it out, not even close.
Exactly, schools should be focusing on academic programs rather than sports programs.
If it takes injuries and financial liabilities to shift societies' priorities back to the primary function of school (eduction) and away from the obsession over sports then so be it. I just think it's a little ridiculous that it's taken this long.
If communities want to support/sponsor sports programs then they are welcome to do it, but it should not be the responsibility of the school systems. Our country is falling behind academically, we need to fix that problem before we do anything else.
I do believe professional football will decline in popularity over the next few decades whether high schools/colleges continue with football programs or not. It's a fad just like everything else. And of course the discussion about the health risks will impact the industry, but not enough to completely wipe it out, not even close.
LOL, just a fad! Yeah, OK, keep thinking that. Football, in one form or another, has been around since ancient Greece when it was called harpaston. It has increased in popularity year after year. It is the most popular sport in the states, and the highest grossing in profits on the pro level. There is absolutely no way professional football will ever decline.
LOL, just a fad! Yeah, OK, keep thinking that. Football, in one form or another, has been around since ancient Greece when it was called harpaston. It has increased in popularity year after year. It is the most popular sport in the states, and the highest grossing in profits on the pro level. There is absolutely no way professional football will ever decline.
That's every bit as true as "God himself could not sink this ship."
I know it's hard to believe otherwise, but we do have a precedent. Ask any sports fan over 60 about how popular boxing once was (I'm a little bit shy of 50 and I can even remember it's "last heyday" a little bit). It still exists of course, but it's a shadow of what it was and a lot of why we still have boxers is they are often foreigners who did not have as much of a stigma on training young. Perhaps this is what's going to happen to football, though I think it will take a good quarter century or more.
Or maybe it will be just as popular, but all the players will be from less developed countries. To some extent, hockey is a good example of this, which also has somewhat of an issue with the amount of physical contact to the head (not as noted in the US but talked about a lot in Canada I hear). A lot more players now coming from Scandinavia and the former Soviet Bloc whereas once (as recently as 20-30 years ago) almost EVERYONE in the NHL was from Canada with a significant sprinkling from the northern US.
I'm 57, and I remember when boxing was very popular. I think the decline in popularity has more to do with boring fights (heavyweights just lean on each other), and people realizing the corruption involved. To me, it's like the Olympics- I rarely watch them anymore because so many particpents are cheating.
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