20 replies to this topic

[dbflaBill]

As more players are added to the concussion lawsuit against the NFL, and more players come forth concerned about their post football health. I wonder why more people havent brought up the fact that the majority of NFL players spent more time playing football prior to playing in the NFL. Isnt it a proven fact that a males brain is still growing up until the age of 20? So wouldnt the impact of the hits they took prior to that be more of the reason they have health problems, rather than from the time they spent in the NFL? Just want peoples opinion as to why went havent heard this thought process from anyone in the media.

[DrDareustein]

Good point.

Just my guess but probably because the NFL has all the $$$ so that's who the lawyers will go after. If High School programs had Billions, theyd be getting sued too.

I personally feel the entire lawsuit thing is ridiculous.

[jester43]

i think it's an excellent point because we know with substance abuse (which is really just a type of self-inflicted brain injury) the risk for addiction and long term problems goes up the YOUNGER you start using.  it makes sense that the younger you were when you first started getting knocked in the head playing football, or the more it happened when you were little, the greater the chance for trouble down the road.

that's all hypothetical on my part, but it won't surprise me a bit if that turns out to be the case...it is congruent with what we know about growing brains.

where i grew up you couldn't play football until 8th grade...how many places is that true now?  i bet not many.

Edited by jester43, 01 February 2013 - 10:19 AM.

[cnico]

DrDareustein, on 01 February 2013 - 10:03 AM, said:

Good point.

Just my guess but probably because the NFL has all the $$$ so that's who the lawyers will go after. If High School programs had Billions, theyd be getting sued too.

I personally feel the entire lawsuit thing is ridiculous.

Bingo!!!  If they sued the high schools and Pop Warner leagues, they'd shut them down.

[qwksilver]

I still don't understand why the NFL doesn't make every player wear those helmuts with the extra padding AKA the "mark kelso" kazoo helmut? It seemed to work for him. I also remember a 49er lineman wearing one around the same time.

Plus if they ALL weren't on the untested PEDs they'd : weigh 20-25 lbs less, be slower, thus the hits wouldn't be as violent.

Edited by qwksilver, 01 February 2013 - 01:09 PM.

[jboyst62]

Because it makes a good feelgood story these will be stories.  Is it any freaking amazing wonder that Rodney Harrison is feeling not-so-well at this point in his life?  They guy was a vicious hitter who gave more then he ever took, and each hit he gave took something from him - the guy led with the helmet, hit as hard as could be, and played dirty.

qwksilver, on 01 February 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

I still don't understand why the NFL doesn't make every player wear those helmuts with the extra padding AKA the "mark kelso" kazoo helmut? It seemed to work for him. I also remember a 49er lineman wearing one around the same time.

Plus if they ALL weren't on the untested PEDs they'd : weigh 20-25 lbs less, be slower, thus the hits wouldn't be as violent.

Those helmets have been proven not to be as good, if any good.

[T master]

It's the American way to try & find a pay day as a silver lining. All of these guys went in with the thought of capitalizing on their talents in the NFL, some did & probably more than not didn't.

I could see if there was prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the NFL knew exactly what was going to happen to the players but i.m not sure that any one truly knew ?? And if they did then they need to pay these guys.

But if guys like T.O. or Travis Henry are involved it's b/c they blew their money or couldn't keep it in their pants long enough to pay attention to where their money was going or even how much they made so it's teir loss.

Then there is the fact of seeing the hit that pollard laid on that NE RB that got knocked out, the RB was the one that lowered his head & he didn't get fined for using his helmet as a weapon he got knocked out, his fault !! You always see the RB's lowering their head to run into whoever they are going to hit so that is another aspect of this that needs to be addressed .. I'm just sayin !!

[PaattMaann]

concussions are like unicorns, often talked about and blamed for the worlds problems, but completely made up

[jeremy2020]

It's money and it's a lot easier to have support if you sue a league like the NFL over high schools.

If I was the NFL, I'd trott all the PED tests and say, 'Well, they knew those were bad, but kept doing it to make more money so why is this different?'

[NoSaint]

Easier to get money from the nfl, and of course bigger hits every single play

[Dante]

Guys between 200 and 400 pounds colliding into each other at speed. Who knew it would be bad for you?

[jboyst62]

PaattMaann, on 01 February 2013 - 01:52 PM, said:

concussions are like unicorns, often talked about and blamed for the worlds problems, but completely made up

In many cases, sure.  But, I have had a few and they are not made up.  They are bruised brains and severe headaches, nausea, and lots of feeling bad.

[Joe Miner]

DrDareustein, on 01 February 2013 - 10:03 AM, said:

Good point.

Just my guess but probably because the NFL has all the $$$ so that's who the lawyers will go after. If High School programs had Billions, theyd be getting sued too.

I personally feel the entire lawsuit thing is ridiculous.

Yeah, most of the big high school programs are really only operating in the millions.

[thebug]

Eye hvae haad svevrel.

[TakeYouToTasker]

PaattMaann, on 01 February 2013 - 01:52 PM, said:

concussions are like unicorns, often talked about and blamed for the worlds problems, but completely made up

This might be the dumbest thing I've ever seen posted here, and that's really saying something.

Someone give this man a star.

[swnybillsfan]

just given the physical and extremely violent nature of the game, wouldn't this be like a stuntmen's union sueing for arthritis? or is this a very serious issue surrounding the possible psychotic disorders stemming from years of brain trauma? guess it depends on whether you are a "glass is half full" or "glass is half full of p!$$" kind of guy.

[Corp000085]

You all can call me soprano all you want, but I have a very reliable source to me that is involved with research on behalf do the nfl to link brain trauma throughout careers to the post retirement affects of concussions. Basically, they're trying to prove that trauma suffered before the nfl, plus trauma suffered under nfl contracts equals the long term suffering. If they can prove damage before the nfl, that will help mitigate the damages paid by the nfl. Most importantly, this implies that the nfl is going to pay up, but not 100% of the damages.

[T master]

If the concussion issue is getting that bad then why not do what Kelso did while playing for the Bills ?

Make all players wear a helmet with the added padding on the crown of the helmet or on the entire outside of the helmet ?

More than likely if Kelso wouldn't have had the extra foam protection on the exterior of his helmet his career would have been much shorter than it was.

Sure if they do in fact do that it would especially at first look like bobble heads football but if it cuts down on the amount of concussions thats a good thing !!

[DrDareustein]

T master, on 02 February 2013 - 09:20 AM, said:

If the concussion issue is getting that bad then why not do what Kelso did while playing for the Bills ?

Make all players wear a helmet with the added padding on the crown of the helmet or on the entire outside of the helmet ?

More than likely if Kelso wouldn't have had the extra foam protection on the exterior of his helmet his career would have been much shorter than it was.

Sure if they do in fact do that it would especially at first look like bobble heads football but if it cuts down on the amount of concussions thats a good thing !!

Already discussed. Those helmets have been proven to not add any protection, and have even shown to perform worse than regular modern helmets.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

DrDareustein, on 02 February 2013 - 09:34 AM, said:

Already discussed. Those helmets have been proven to not add any protection, and have even shown to perform worse than regular modern helmets.

As a matter of fact Miami RB Daniel Thomas, returning in October from two concussions wore exterior padding on his helmet.

So I think your belief in this point is in error:

http://profootballta...ersized-helmet/

Take any argument to its logical extremes and then think about them.

In this case guys running around with 6 foot foam orbs around their heads.

I betcha the right kind of exo-padding would be effective but it would have to be slippery too so blows would glance off instead of adhere and turn the head and neck.

I remember at the time of Tasker and Niners tackle Steve Wallace (who also wore one) that some players said they would never wear one because of how they looked. The linked article seems to back that claim.

In other articles too I've seen the assertion made that many players make their helmet choices on aesthetics and not safety.