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With all the concerns about concussions, what do you think is American Football's future? Will it even still exist in 20 years?
In 20 years, American football will be a mere shell of its former self. It will be overly regulated and overly penalized. There will be no more physical contact. It will be renamed Flag Football.
With all the concerns about concussions, what do you think is American Football's future? Will it even still exist in 20 years?
Twenty years? Probably.
But the simple reality is that players get both faster and bigger, the kinetic energy of those players colliding simply increases. We already see the legacies of the game from 20, 30, 40 years ago - when players were smaller and slower.
This is all a product of modern understanding of diets and training regimens, as well as the increased money in the game that allows (and compels) players to spend their offseasons training (rather than working a second job like so many players did back in the day).
What can be done? Not much. The NFL is mostly just going through the public relations motions. At some point in the next couple of decades, franchise values will peak in inflation-adjusted terms and then begin to decrease as potential owners realize that the well is running dry.
With all the concerns about concussions, what do you think is American Football's future? Will it even still exist in 20 years?
I have said that football may be on its way out. It is extremely popular, but yet highly dangerous. I never had a son but I remember thinking many years ago that if I had a son, I would steer him away from football. This was at a time before concussions and brain damage was an issue. My thoughts were on having something like a severely damaged knee and spending the rest of one's life limping around, possibly in continuous pain. My philosophy concerning sports has always been that when a competitor steps off the field or court after a game, he or she should become stronger both physically and mentally from the exercise. Tennis, basketball, soccer adhere to that. Football and boxing do not.
It'll be alive and well in 20 yrs. Why wouldn't it be. There's a reason a lot of guys are able to play for 15+ yrs, it's much less physically damaging than it used to be.
It's a billion dollar industry, it won't be allowed to disappear.
As soon as enough mom and dads say "NO, my kid ain't playing".... it will be doomed. I hear it now as a football coach.. but the ratio is not high enough to kill the sport but its getting higher every year...
But the simple reality is that players get both faster and bigger, the kinetic energy of those players colliding simply increases. We already see the legacies of the game from 20, 30, 40 years ago - when players were smaller and slower.
This is all a product of modern understanding of diets and training regimens, as well as the increased money in the game that allows (and compels) players to spend their offseasons training (rather than working a second job like so many players did back in the day).
What can be done? Not much. The NFL is mostly just going through the public relations motions. At some point in the next couple of decades, franchise values will peak in inflation-adjusted terms and then begin to decrease as potential owners realize that the well is running dry.
You painted that picture very well and spot on. I just wish the naysayers that like to use the term "the wussification of football" would understand it.
You painted that picture very well and spot on. I just wish the naysayers that like to use the term "the wussification of football" would understand it.
And that term is ridiculous.
I'm more of a hockey fan than anything, and it simply amazes me how much the game has changed since I started as a mite some 25 years ago. Guys are bigger, MUCH stronger, MUCH faster, their shots much harder... It's a good thing they started to implement more rules against certain types of hits, as crippling injuries and death would have been inevitable otherwise. The good thing is that hockey can be played just fine with limited hitting. Football on the other hand, cannot. It will be interesting to see what they do.
Yes, if my memory serves me right, former pro defensive lineman Milt Sunde only weighed 220 when he was a Minnesota Gopher defensive lineman and there was a Gopher linebacker who was 5ft 9 and weighed 187.
They both might be considered too light for high school football today.
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