Offseason rule changes: Will Damar's injury result in changes?

[Matt_In_NH]

what would the rule change be and how would it have prevented what happened?

[BigAl2526]

I don't think it is possible to make completely remove the possibility of a catastrophic injury event from the game of football.  There is a reason why this has never happened before.  Apparently, it takes a perfect storm of circumstances, including a very small window in the timing of a hit (milliseconds), for that particular heart stoppage to occur.  Frankly, I think the decision comes down whether football is abandoned as America's favorite spectator sport, or we accept that there is at least a minimal risk of catastrophic injury and death even after we have made it as safe as possible without destroying its entertainment value.  It's kind of like flying a plane or driving a car.  We can reduce risk, but we can't eliminate it all together unless we stop driving and flying.  Well, I'm still going to drive, though not every day like I used to, and I'm going to fly if need be to take that dream vacation or visit family. 

[UConn James]

3 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

That wasn't the same issue, and wasn't after a hit - at least not shortly after. On his final play he was a decoy and wasn't contacted. The cause of his incident was a blocked artery. Completely different set of circumstances. With modern testing they likely would have known about that.

Yes, just looked up a bigger article with much more detail.

Chuck Hughes.

 

https://www.sportscasting.com/the-tragic-on-field-death-of-chuck-hughes-may-have-sadly-stemmed-from-a-misdiagnosis/

[transient]

54 minutes ago, Kiva said:

Will this even be considered a contact injury? 

If he has a structurally normal heart without evidence of contusion or other damage from the hit, technically, is it even considered an injury?

[Bob Jones]

Don't think the NFL will institute any type of rule change, but as others have said, just ensure that response teams are trained and ready to go immediately.

 

Seems like a lot of people in this thread are sure that this was commotio cordis, when that really is just speculation at this point. Sure, it could be that, but it also could be some other cause too. Regarding CC, saw this online today:

 

Commotio Cordis is exceptionally rare. A 2012 paper reported that it occurred fewer than 20 times a year in the United States. Even that figure overstates the likelihood that Hamlin suffered the injury, because it is generally occurs in preteen and teen boys, not adult men, and not in football but in sports that use a puck or a ball like hockey or baseball. In 2013, researchers reported that 243 high school and college football players had died between 1990 and 2010. Seven of those deaths resulted from commotio cordis, for an average rate of 1 death per 3 million players.

 

I dunno, maybe we wait and see before we come to "concrete" conclusions?

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, Offside Number 76 said:

 

Well, the odds of being struck by lightning increase significantly when there, you know, IS LIGHTNING.

 

What's your point?    Going under cover of a dugout or pavilion or car during a lightning storm isn't nearly as effective as, you know,  getting out of the water to prevent a shark attack.    About 1/3 of people who get struck by lightning get struck indoors.    Point being........it's not a fail safe to just take players off of a field........but we take the precaution anyway.   Specific padding to distribute the impact to the chest might not make it impossible that there will be a recurrence of such an injury but it would likely reduce the chances. 

[Simon]

2 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

Going under cover of a dugout or pavilion or car during a lightning storm isn't nearly as effective as, you know,  getting out of the water to prevent a shark attack

 

Actually being in a car is great protection from lightning because the metal around you redirects the lightning into the ground

[downunderbill]

12 hours ago, Big Turk said:

There is no rule change that can prevent what happened...it was just a freak occurrence...a hit that occurred in the exact location needed at the right time with enough force to cause that issue...I don't see anything they can do short of potentially requiring some protection for that area in the jersey/padding, etc...

 

It's a rare occurrence but it's happened several times in various sports. It wouldn't take much for the right minds to make a lightweight hard Kevlar shell, you'd only need to cover enough area to spread the load from a sharp impact to the heart, could even mold it to each players chest.

[JerseyBills]

I hope not. Obviously nobody in their right mind wants to see what happened Monday night but the game is already gotten too soft. 

 

It was a freak accident and I'm sure Damar will even agree when he wakes up

[BobbyC81]

17 hours ago, Big Turk said:

There is no rule change that can prevent what happened...it was just a freak occurrence...a hit that occurred in the exact location needed at the right time with enough force to cause that issue...I don't see anything they can do short of potentially requiring some protection for that area in the jersey/padding, etc...

To prevent this type of injury, it’s either don’t have a league or switch to flag football.  
 

[BobbyC81]

18 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

There might be required additional chest plate padding, but that’s likely the extent, but even that is unlikely. 
 

🙏 for DH

Everyone required to wear Kevlar vests?

[BRH]

8 minutes ago, BobbyC81 said:

Everyone required to wear Kevlar vests?

They started requiring those in bull riding after what happened to Lane Frost.  Not providing the video but you can look it up.  Obviously a bull is not a professional football player, but the question really is, what impact is necessary to cause something like that and can something help prevent it?

[BigPappy]

12 hours ago, Simon said:

 

Actually being in a car is great protection from lightning because the metal around you redirects the lightning into the ground

Plus the rubber tires are great insulators. That said, being inside the car will reduce your risk but it can't totally prevent getting struck. It can still go through the window. While it sounds like i am nit picking, my point is; getting struck by lightning, and football are not unsimilar in that you can take all the precautions necessary, but it's still only going to reduce the risk. Never completely prevent the risk.  

[Don Otreply]

2 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

Everyone required to wear Kevlar vests?

Imo, unlikely, if additional protection was to be a requirement, it would need to not restrict movement in any substantial way, so maybe something in the size of an 8x8 chest plate a 1/4” thick, with an appropriate shock absorbing pad attached to the side that would be placed against the area covering one’s heart, in conjunction with existing protective pads. This is just a WAG on my behalf, at present no one knows for certain if this would even be a thing.

 

🙏 for DH

[Big Turk]

2 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

To prevent this type of injury, it’s either don’t have a league or switch to flag football.  
 

 

I've played flag football in leagues for many years. It definitely could happen there also. There is a lot of contact in them.

[T master]

I don't know how they could change it to be any more safe as far as a hit goes unless they go straight to flag football some injuries are just going to happen & depending on the person each one will happen differently I'm all for making the game safer but other than going to flag football how do you get rid of such injury's ? 

[BringBackFergy]

4 minutes ago, T master said:

I don't know how they could change it to be any more safe as far as a hit goes unless they go straight to flag football some injuries are just going to happen & depending on the person each one will happen differently I'm all for making the game safer but other than going to flag football how do you get rid of such injury's ? 

It’s nearly impossible to prevent this type of incident. Like I said earlier, falling on a ball at the right angle with enough force could conceivably cause this type of injury. I’m not advocating for a rule change…just wondering if others think the owners might address it in some fashion in the off-season. As others said, mandatory enhanced chest protection might be the answer. 

[PrimeTime101]

For starters, what likely caused this is incredibly rare but that being said, Gel padding connected to the gear they already wear would not hurt.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

Each year this will be happening more and more. I guess they will need some type of rule.

[Bob Jones]

59 minutes ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

Each year this will be happening more and more. I guess they will need some type of rule.

What leads you to that conclusion? To my knowledge this is the first time it's ever happened....at the pro or college level. And I'm quite certain that players have been taking hard shots to the chest since they first started playing football 100+ years ago.

 

The bottom line is that at this moment, no one really knows what contributed to Hamlins heart going haywire. It's all just speculation.

[BillsFanSD]

This was a freak injury that couldn't have realistically been avoided.  

 

The league has done a lot to try to protect players from head injuries.  Allowing the QB to throw the ball away, for example, protects him from taking a big hit outside the pocket.  That's good.  And it makes sense, because football is obviously a sport that introduces players to a high risk of concussions.  

 

But there's nothing you can really do to prevent an incredibly rare cardiac event caused by a tackle.  That's unavoidable and I don't see how you mitigate it.    

[peterpan]

I think you’ll see the shoulder pad manufacturers change their designs.  
 

shoulder pads have all the protection on the top of the shoulder.  But with the new tackling form and keeping your head up, the impact of the hit is through the chest and front of the shoulder and bicep.  There isn’t much padding there.  I bet there will be more now 

[SoCal Deek]

I haven't read through four pages of responses (nor will I), but nobody evens knows what happened to this guy yet, and people are calling for changes to the equipment? Ya gotta love the internet! 

[BringBackFergy]

23 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

I haven't read through four pages of responses (nor will I), but nobody evens knows what happened to this guy yet, and people are calling for changes to the equipment? Ya gotta love the internet! 

Who's asking for/demanding changes to equipment? Every post in this thread has considered the injury/event and asked if there will be any changes. I'm not advocating any rule changes or equipment modifications, but wouldn't be surprised if they discuss it in their off-season meetings.  

[Kmart128]

I doubt they change the rule but it kinda makes you wonder. They dont want you going high to the head due to concussions. They dont want you going to low due to torn acls and leg breaks. So NFL teaches you to hit chest... and middle body.... and it almost killed someone. Really makes you wonder... NFL rules painted themselves into a corner.

[BigDingus]

I think your title question has merit, but the contents of your post completely miss the mark.

 

There was nothing wrong with the Hamlin hit (a hit HE delivered). No rule change can prevent that.

 

However, there will likely be rules added to assist in the scenario we find ourselves in now - what to do in the case of a suspended/cancelled game. There are guidelines in place now, but they're very vague & basically just amount to "commish will figure it out!"

 

I believe far more wording will be put into place to outline an orderly solution to the issue. Instead of fans & the media throwing out options & guessing what will happen, the NFL & NFLPA will set a strict outline to follow, with perhaps even an additional BYE be agreed to, in the case that games need to be rescheduled.

Edited January 4, 2023 by BigDingus

[Punching Bag]

On 1/3/2023 at 12:00 PM, BringBackFergy said:

Tragic event. Of the 100's of thousands of plays that occur each season for 50 years, it was bound to happen.  Continuing to keep Damar and his family in my prayers and thoughts as many have done throughout the WORLD.

 

Stay strong #3!! 

 

No as doctors have stated this type of injury is unusual since players were pads and other protective equipment despite NFLPA (remember objections to thigh pads since they may impact statistics hence bonuses; you would think NFLPA gets paid by commission like agents) so no rule change needed although there may be a seminar for doctors and medical personal on prepareness and rules about what can cause games to be suspended.

[Locomark]

They won’t change anything because basically the same thing could have happened to McKenzie if Josh Allen hits him with a hard pass in the Sternum at the exact right angle at the 30 millisecond wrong time. It’s just a one in a million thing. It doesn’t matter what padding he has. 

[Figster]

30 minutes ago, Locomark said:

They won’t change anything because basically the same thing could have happened to McKenzie if Josh Allen hits him with a hard pass in the Sternum at the exact right angle at the 30 millisecond wrong time. It’s just a one in a million thing. It doesn’t matter what padding he has. 

Not in the rules, but I think we should always be exploring new and better ways to protect a football players body IMO. The games changed over the years. The way players tackle has changed.  Happens once, it can happen again.