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[Wuthering_Heights]

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/09/concussion-epidemic-should-helmets-be-banned-from-football/

American football: One of the country’s favorite pastimes is also one of the most dangerous.

Characterized by hard tackles and intense speeds, the sport is conducive to a number of serious injuries, but there is one that has received a substantial amount of attention: mild traumatic brain injury and concussions. In 2012, the National Football League (NFL) experienced a total of 189 concussions during their regular season, translating to more than 11 concussions each week.

And those are just the statistics for professional players. College players experience an average of 2.5 concussions for every 1,000 “game-related exposures,” and 25,000 players between the ages of 8 and 19 are taken to emergency rooms for concussions each year. With the rates of these head injuries either increasing or stabilizing over the past 50 years, many health experts have started referring to this football trend as the “concussion epidemic.”

So what is the solution? As more people turn their attention to this problem, an increasing amount of focus has been placed on the football helmet. Many experts claim that it’s failing at its job; not only does the helmet’s design fall short of proper concussion protection, but some say the presence of the head gear may actually encourages players to hit with their heads.

This argument has led some player advocates to offer up a drastic solution: Banning football helmets altogether.

It’s a radical idea, but they claim that discussion on the topic is needed – in order to spark a paradigm shift in the way the game of football is played.

Uh huh...

 

[RockTurtle]

Oh fox. You so crazy XD

 

[JHall]

NFL will become the National Flag Football League in 20 years.

 

[Malvolio]

Why stop at the helmet? I've been saying for years that the padding is no longer used to protect, but as a weapon. I think the game with some adjustments can be played with minimal protection and Aussie Football proves it.

 

[PBY]

I agree.

Would need to see more studies on the matter though.

 

[entremet]

Oh fox. You so crazy XD

It's not a crazy premise. The equipment is what makes players so reckless in delivering hits. It's false security.

 

[C-Drive]

NFL will become the National Flag Football League in 20 years.

I'll still watch.

 

[shadyspace]

Weren't prep school kids dropping on the field like flies in the leather helmet days

 

[Enduin]

There's a possible argument for it, but we are at a point where I don't know how you could actually implement it. Everyone involved in football right now from kids to pros have been taught to play one way and that's full force. Take away the helmets and pads and even if they know they can't hit the same it will be hard to fight instinct of all those years and the result with be a lot of people seriously hurt.

 

[Mesousa]

There's a possible argument for it, but we are at a point where I don't know how you could actually implement it. Everyone involved in football right now from kids to pros have been taught to play one way and that's full force. Take away the helmets and pads and even if they know they can't hit the same it will be hard to fight instinct of all those years and the result with be a lot of people seriously hurt.

Not wanting to break your neck would stop those instincts after about 2 or so games.

 

[tensuke]

If they do a study that find helmets do more harm than good, then sure. Or if they make a better helmet, then use those. But I think they don't, and they haven't. Which is why they still use helmets.

 

[Neuromancer]

[Lee Hanson, the founder and creator of Guardian Caps] also noted that many other engineers and manufacturers have created similar helmets [to the Guardian Cap] utilizing the soft-hard-soft design, but it’s been difficult to get these new helmet concepts to catch on.

Yeah the NFL will never go for this. It doesn't look cool.

 

[RayStorm]

How about a Helmet that easily and visibly breaks while still protecting the head for one hit? If the helmet breaks by making contact with another player you have to miss a play or more.

 

[mackattk]

Only solution is a comically sized helmet, with the normal football helmet worn atop of the head. There is soft foam around the helmet, and on the outer edges there is hard Styrofoam or other dense material. The end result will look something like this.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

The equipment isn't the problem. It's your brain repeatedly banging around your skull.

 

[CyclopsRock]

If they do a study that find helmets do more harm than good, then sure. Or if they make a better helmet, then use those. But I think they don't, and they haven't. Which is why they still use helmets.

Well, I dunno if that's accurate - it's a bit like buying a big, meaty car. The point here is that the helmets don't have a net benefit because they are used as weapons. No one is claiming that if a player takes off his helmet he'll be safer - he'll only be safer if everyone else takes off their helmet too. Which is why they still use helmets.

 

[samus i am]

I agree that the presence of the head gear encourages players to hit with their heads. However, I think removing them all together would be a bad idea.

 

[Maninthemirror]

Are you saying we should start playing Rugby ?

 

[Phoenix]

This argument has led some player advocates to offer up a drastic solution: Banning football helmets altogether.

Dafuq?

 

[Basileus777]

Trading concussions and CTE for broken skulls isn't much of a solution.

 

[samus i am]

Are you saying we should start playing Rugby ?

Good point. How do retired Rugby players fair compared to retired NFL players?

 

[patapuf]

Trading concussions and CTE for broken skulls isn't much of a solution.

Does regular rugby have big issues with head injuries?

 

[Sdoots]

The equipment isn't the problem. It's your brain repeatedly banging around your skull.

Yeah, this.

I don't know if you can redesign a helmet that would prevent the brain from getting rattled from a hit without it being a horrific surgical implant that leaves the players some kind of football-man for the rest of their life.

That'd be kind of cool.

 

[flippedb]

Nobody wears helmets when playing footba...ah, that kind of "football".

Why would you ban it? Makes no sense.

 

[Eoin]

Does regular rugby have big issues with head injuries?

Nope, but tackling someone above shoulder height is against the rules and will probably get you sent off. You are also taught to tackle with your shoulder, not use your unprotected noggin as a battering ram. Injures are pretty common but tend to be cuts, bruises, dislocations and the occasional broken bone.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Does regular rugby have big issues with head injuries?

Rugby isn't really comparable to NFL football.

 

[derder]

This isn't a new idea. There is logic to it, but it ignores the fact that the real problem is the nature of the game itself.

Until it turns into flag football, there will be concussions.

 

[yogloo]

It's a good idea. Without the helmet and protective gear people actually need to learn how to tackle.

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

Good point. How do retired Rugby players fair compared to retired NFL players?

I'm curious about that as well.

And if they're gonna ban helmets, they would have to start in youth leagues. Football players constantly train to tackle a certain way from the time they begin football, and it's too late to just remove or drastically change helmets for players in hs and up. In my opinion.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Nobody wears helmets when playing footba...ah, that kind of "football".

What about Petr Cech?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Are you saying we should start playing Rugby ?

dem shorts

hubba hubba

 

[rokkerkory]

Only solution is a comically sized helmet, with the normal football helmet worn atop of the head. There is soft foam around the helmet, and on the outer edges there is hard Styrofoam or other dense material. The end result will look something like this.

haha immediately who I thought of with this thread lol

 

[patapuf]

Nope, but tackling someone above shoulder height is against the rules and will probably get you sent off.

Makes sense that you'd have to adjust the rules.

Thinking about it, this is a really simple solution to prevent big head injuries, simply ban takles against the head. I don't know anything about american football but i guess this would be a rather big change to how the game is played.

 

[Basileus777]

This isn't a new idea. There is logic to it, but it ignores the fact that the real problem is the nature of the game itself.

Until it turns into flag football, there will be concussions.

Yep. Many of the worst sufferers of CTE are linemen who get it from banging heads and not from tackling or hits. It's the nature of the game itself.

 

[CyclopsRock]

Does regular rugby have big issues with head injuries?

Not really - not concussions, anyway, but it''s not a particularly good comparison - even if you had a massive helmet on, doing flying headbutts into people wouldn't actually be a useful tactic in rugby. In American Football I know they do plays - if a player drops the ball, the play ends (assuming it's not intercepted etc) but it's not really like that in Rugby - there's a lot of technique in tackling people in a way that benefits your team rather than the other and a flying headbutt would be, uhh, something of a blunt instrument.

What DID used to happen to Rugby players is that their ears would get ripped off in scrums. But between some tape and these very thing little skull cap things, even that's not an issue anymore.

 

[Trey]

Nobody wears helmets when playing footba...ah, that kind of "football".

Why would you ban it? Makes no sense.

People think that feeling vulnerable and fearing major injury while playing a fast paced and violent sport will deter players from poor tackling.

 

[woodchuck]

I'm also worried about players who hit their head on the turf

 

[Basileus777]

People think that feeling vulnerable and fearing major injury while playing a fast paced and violent sport will somehow deter players from poor tackling.

Getting rid of helmets isn't going to stop all the sub-concussive blows that players take, and a lot of the research suggests that it's the accumulation of those that leads to CTE.

 

[flippedb]

People think that feeling vulnerable and fearing major injury while playing a fast paced and violent sport will deter players from poor tackling.

It could be beneficial for players, looking it from that perspective, but it will certainly change how the game is played, which could affect how the sport is perceived by fans.

What about Petr Cech?

He's a nobody. Where does he play at? Chelis, Chelsee, Chealse or something like that, right?

Spoiler

Does that thing he wears count as a helmet? It's a padded fabric protector.

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

Makes sense that you'd have to adjust the rules.

Thinking about it, this is a really simple solution to prevent big head injuries, simply ban takles against the head. I don't know anything about american football but i guess this would be a rather big change to how the game is played.

They're starting to implement big penalties and fines for shots to the head. However, like many people in here have said, lineman butt heads constantly throughout a football game and those collisions are not as high profile or as easy to see on tv as big hits on running backs or receivers

 

[Trey]

Getting rid of helmets isn't going to stop all the sub-concussive blows that players take, and a lot of the research suggests that its the accumulation of those that leads to CTE.

It won't, and it will just lead to more incidental injuries and a lesser product for people.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Lets do it!

 

[General_Zod]

The amount of O and D lineman that would have bloody noses would be insane.

Its scary how much the league has changed even in just the last five years, I just hope it doesn't turn into flag football.

 

[Previous]

but some say the presence of the head gear may actually encourages players to hit with their heads.

Sounds like abstinence based sex education.