Doc Who Discovered CTE says "Don't Let Kids Play Football"

[metzelaars_lives]

I would think hockey is about as bad

 

 

 

CBF

You could literally play an entire NHL season and not hit your head once. Every player in the trenches yesterday smashed their helmet against other giant guys' helmets over 50 times.

[yungmack]

 

I love false equivalencies.

So tell me, where's the false equivalency? Every single person I know has cracked their skull doing everything from the most high risk to the silliest most mundane. We also know that football is not even the activity with the highest percentage nor the highest number of concussions. So if this doctor, who, no doubt, is doing everything he can think of to leverage his 15 minutes of fame into more money and prominence, is soooo concerned about concussions that he's recommending a No-Football world, maybe he could have the honesty to extend his "concern" to all the other activities that regularly lead to head injuries. My post was meant to give him a start on it and to offer him the only way to reach his implied nirvana of "if it saves even one kid" nonsense because the only proven method to prevent injury is complete and total inactivity. And even then, the kids might wind up so fat and muscle-less they risk toppling over and hitting their heads on the floor...As someone once said, or at least should have, Life is a terminal illness.

[Franchiseneedsme]

Millions of American citizens have played the game and lived nice long lives. Most players don't make it to college, heck not even high school... the game is being made safer with head trauma in mind. Football build character and teaches team, accountability, preparation, goal setting, pride, and to me most importantly learning to live with winning and losing.

So does Baseball...just saying. My kid won't be playing football or boxing. But it's a choice people should make on their own.

[machine gun kelly]

Football is being taught better now given how many of my friends are teaching the game and they are hammered on the heads up thing. Refs are super sensitive to it. My boys played for quite some time, but moved to Lax. They love it, and yes there are concussions there as well. I also have friends kids in soccer with lots of concussions.

 

The real issue was minimizing the effects years ago. Now, you go in with your eyes open. The whole tough guy thing of shale it off is stupid.

 

I was a top wrestler and a powerlifter so I'm used to pain, and injuries. The sport really managed head injuries though as the refs would not allow us to make head contact. Believe me i tried as a teenager to get any advantage.

[RyanC883]

Teach kids how to play it right. The beautiful combination of strength and finesse won't suffer without the emphasis of big hits.

 

this is the real issue. So many NFL players don't even know how to tackle correctly. Another problem is that in the past, players were sent back in after "having their bell" rung. Not the case anymore. It's good to see players of Shady and Big Ben's caliber taking themselves out of games to go through the concussion protocol. Hopefully football coaches and players at the HS and MS level won't hesitate to do this either.

[Southern Bills Fan]

Just watching the previews it looks like much of the film cites Mike Webster as the poster boy for CTE. The problem with that is the Steeler teams from the 70's are believed to be the first heavy steroid users and were supposedly using things like horse steroids. Who knows how much that contributed to the problems?

[RyanC883]

It's not just the head injuries, you have people who played only in high school needing knee and hip replacements in their early 50s. Once you get to college ball the severity of the hits increases tremendously. All sports to some extent put people at risk of injuries and problems down the road, but football in particular requires many things out of your body that can lead to significant problems in later life. Heads and knees simply are not meant to be rammed by very hard plastic items with great force.

 

this is a good point. I do think that tackle football before middle or high school when bones are more formed is dangerous for the reasons you noted. Plus, playing flag at a younger age allows players to focus on the non-contact fundamentals first (how to catch, how to defend a WR, etc.).

[metzelaars_lives]

So tell me, where's the false equivalency? Every single person I know has cracked their skull doing everything from the most high risk to the silliest most mundane. We also know that football is not even the activity with the highest percentage nor the highest number of concussions. So if this doctor, who, no doubt, is doing everything he can think of to leverage his 15 minutes of fame into more money and prominence, is soooo concerned about concussions that he's recommending a No-Football world, maybe he could have the honesty to extend his "concern" to all the other activities that regularly lead to head injuries. My post was meant to give him a start on it and to offer him the only way to reach his implied nirvana of "if it saves even one kid" nonsense because the only proven method to prevent injury is complete and total inactivity. And even then, the kids might wind up so fat and muscle-less they risk toppling over and hitting their heads on the floor...As someone once said, or at least should have, Life is a terminal illness.

There is absolutely no way that any other sport, per capita, has more concussions than football. There was probably more than one concussion in the Bills game yesterday. Because you can also crack your skull ice skating, doesn't make bashing your helmet against other guys' helmets over a thousand times a year more or less dangerous. Sounds to me like you would be the type to make the "a guy killed someone else with a golf club one time, does that mean we should make golf clubs illegal?" argument.

 

Playing football is bad for your head. Would I let my kid play high school football? Yes. Is a guy who plays football their whole life until they can't play anymore- like a Jason Witten or a Marshawn Lynch- gonna be a vegetable by the time they're 60? Probably, yes.

Teach kids how to play it right. The beautiful combination of strength and finesse won't suffer without the emphasis of big hits.

This is why a quarterback who comes out now isn't at any more risk than someone playing any other sport to suffer a concussion. It is indeed safe for them. But there is absolutely no way to make the game safer for the guys who play in the trenches. Period.

Edited December 7, 2015 by metzelaars_lives

[John in Jax]

...and don't let them climb trees, crawl around a jungle gym, ride a bicycle, play any sport with any degree of contact, don't let them bat in baseball, no golfing because of errant balls cracking their skulls, no rough housing with your brothers or sisters, no bouncing on the bed, no bouncing in a bounce house, no riding ponies...just roll them in bubble wrap. Jeez!

Thank you. This is 100% spot on.

[KDIGGZ]

I played from age 18 to age 9 and my is OK brain

[26CornerBlitz]

So tell me, where's the false equivalency? Every single person I know has cracked their skull doing everything from the most high risk to the silliest most mundane. We also know that football is not even the activity with the highest percentage nor the highest number of concussions. So if this doctor, who, no doubt, is doing everything he can think of to leverage his 15 minutes of fame into more money and prominence, is soooo concerned about concussions that he's recommending a No-Football world, maybe he could have the honesty to extend his "concern" to all the other activities that regularly lead to head injuries. My post was meant to give him a start on it and to offer him the only way to reach his implied nirvana of "if it saves even one kid" nonsense because the only proven method to prevent injury is complete and total inactivity. And even then, the kids might wind up so fat and muscle-less they risk toppling over and hitting their heads on the floor...As someone once said, or at least should have, Life is a terminal illness.

 

Yeah, I concede that a concussion can happen at any time during mundane life events. We know that, but football is inherently a contact sport with plenty of head trauma and that's where the false equivalency comes in.

[metzelaars_lives]

 

Yeah, I concede that a concussion can happen at any time during mundane life events. We know that, but football is inherently a contact sport with plenty of head trauma and that's where the false equivalency comes in.

Hey man, you should just let your kids do cocaine. Plenty of people have done cocaine and turned out just fine. Meanwhile, plenty of people get hit by a car walking across the street. Damn "wussification of America..."

[Sandy McFiddish]

Is there any doubt repetitive head trauma whether minor or not is bad for your brain. Just look at former boxers. I'll also go out on a limb and say playing basketball is bad for your joints.

And playing hockey is bad for your dentition

Hockey helmets are not even close to football helmets for concusion prevention. I have been playing for a very long time but I also have a good neurologist. The NHL should consider a similiar protocol as football for concusions.

@NICK_WKBW

From the Dr. who discovered CTE, an engaging thought provoking piece in the NYT: "Don’t Let Kids Play Football" http://nyti.ms/21IClUy

 

Aside from building character it also teaches them how to work with others in a team setting and is very beneficial for future employment

[metzelaars_lives]

Hockey helmets are not even close to football helmets for concusion prevention. I have been playing for a very long time but I also have a good neurologist. The NHL should consider a similiar protocol as football for concusions.

Aside from building character it also teaches them how to work with others in a team setting and is very beneficial for future employment

So does volleyball. So does the debate team.

[hondo in seattle]

Hyping up that new movie coming out.

 

Maybe so...

 

"There is even a Hollywood movie, “Concussion,” due out this Christmas Day, that dramatizes the story of my discoveries in this area of research."

 

But his points are valid nonetheless and I think the safety of children playing high-impact sports deserves a national debate.

[UBBullsfan]

Mike Schoop thinks football is in danger of dying out because of the concussion crisis, but loves hockey and talks about it all day when it reality it is just as dangerous to play hockey.

[Thrivefourfive]

The head injuries' argument in football is pretty baffling. On one of the HBO/ESPN type documentaries, they covered girls tackle football in Utah. They interviewed a doctor against the idea. I'm paraphrasing that he said, helmet contact only hurts you're brain. You're not going to get healthier playing football.

 

Argument over, guys. Any kind of head contact is not good for you...whether it's soccer or whatever. Football is a seriously bad sport to play and the damn thing should be illegal for very obvious health reasons.

 

Maybe so...

 

"There is even a Hollywood movie, “Concussion,” due out this Christmas Day, that dramatizes the story of my discoveries in this area of research."

 

But his points are valid nonetheless and I think the safety of children playing high-impact sports deserves a national debate.

 

What's the debate??

[UBBullsfan]

The head injuries' argument in football is pretty baffling. On one of the HBO/ESPN type documentaries, they covered girls tackle football in Utah. They interviewed a doctor against the idea. I'm paraphrasing that he said, helmet contact only hurts you're brain. You're not going to get healthier playing football.

 

Argument over, guys. Any kind of head contact is not good for you...whether it's soccer or whatever. Football is a seriously bad sport to play and the damn thing should be illegal for very obvious health reasons.

There are a multitude of solutions to the health effects. The technology hasn't caught up yet. Also, there is a lag because many of the players that are afflicted with CTE disease played when the equipment and the rules did not even know the disease existed

[metzelaars_lives]

Mike Schoop thinks football is in danger of dying out because of the concussion crisis, but loves hockey and talks about it all day when it reality it is just as dangerous to play hockey.

No it's not, stop saying that. You clearly have not read anything about this issue. It's not about the one big hit that the safety lays on the receiver going across the middle- which can occur in hockey, even though it doesn't nearly as often and is rarely as violent. What it is about is the constant, repetitive, dull hits that the players in the trenches and the running backs sustain on every play. That doesn't exist in hockey or any other sport outside of boxing.

 

I mean seven American kids have DIED playing football this year alone. How many high school hockey players have died playing hockey so far this year?

Edited December 7, 2015 by metzelaars_lives

[keepthefaith]

Hockey helmets are not even close to football helmets for concusion prevention. I have been playing for a very long time but I also have a good neurologist. The NHL should consider a similiar protocol as football for concusions.

Aside from building character it also teaches them how to work with others in a team setting and is very beneficial for future employment

Some good points. Hockey helmets have a long way to go IMO.

 

One of my sons played HS football through junior year and skipped senior year to focus on track training. He'll run in college. He was a RB and fortunately to the best our knowledge never had a concussion in 10 years of football. We bought him an SG brand helmet (Simpson auto racing helmet company) which is lighter by half than most football helmets and performed very well in studies. It was not cheap. The school provided helmets but we learned that they purchased 10% new helmets each year meaning the oldest helmets being used are 9 years old. The older helmets don't perform nearly as well as the more recent stuff. We feel pretty lucky that his worst ever football injury was a strained neck but he took a lot of hits.