Posted on 05/13/2012 2:37:42 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
With each bone-breaking, head-injuring hit, NFL players are killing themselves slowly. It’s not a possibility. It’s a fact, no less certain than the league’s immense profitability.
Football injuries can kill in a variety of ways. One particularly tragic way might be by making life unbearable for the afflicted. And autopsies have revealed that several former players who committed suicide suffered from brain trauma caused by repeated blows to the head.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
We must annihilate every shred of traditional American life.
Obviously, the only safe sport is curling. ;-)
I would be curious as to the ratio of suicides of NFL players versus the general population.
I bet the NFL will be around a lot longer than the Washington Compost.
Why is the onus on the fans??? Maybe players should ask themselves the uncomfortable questions of, “when is it time to hang them up”???? The more i see these types of commentaries the more respect i have for the likes of Al Toon, Jacob Bell and even Hines Ward- players who knew when it was time to say goodbye and walk away from pro-football rather then lengthen a career and increase the possibility of permanent damage....
NASA
The Boy Scouts
The Armed Forces
Professional Football
Slowly castrating them all!
Sounds like a series of “I don’t know”s.
The money, the fame, the camaraderie.
Lots of professions cause long term damage to health. The NFL has changed the rules to minimize injury. Heck, look at Joe Namath vs Troy Aikman.
I bet this pansy never played football. I did. Wide receiver. I’ve been hit so hard that I was unconscious before I hit the ground. But didn’t drop the ball.
After 5 minutes, I wanted to be put back in. And was. I knew there would be pain and long term damage. It’s called a choice. Aka Freedom.
And that was for free.
Choices have consequences. As free people, we measure the bad and the good and choose. Idiots such as the author want to deprive us of that.
To him I say GTH.
Have them wear leather - the way the game is supposed to be played.
It may turn out that it isn’t necessarily the hard hits that are the problem, but just a lot of small hits over many plays that do the damage.
Not very popular occupations/hobbies/games for gay men are they?
If they (they being the Homosexual Community) don’t like it, or can’t win awards for it, or control it, they try and destroy it...
or so it seems to me.
The ‘War on Men’ continues...(real men that is) also known as the ‘War on Breeders’...
One thing I will say is that today, tackling technique is horrendous. The game now emphasizes brute strength and force over technique.
I’ve heard that the old leather helmets provided good protection. Today’s hard shell helmets can be used as battering rams.
Another factor is that the players have bulked up so much in recent years. Years ago, 300 pound players were rare. Now there are huge numbers of such players.
There’s a big difference between being hit by a 220 pound player and a 320 player. The laws of physics are involved. Force = mass x acceleration.
I believe I read just that critique from an older player that opined that tackling technique had gone down the tubes. Too much emphasis on hits and tackling high.
How does anyone know that playing football led to his suicide?
Just as in boxing you would never allow a 200+ lb fighter fight against a 140 pound fighter...perhaps the NFL does need to look at weight restrictions.
I worked as a Firefighter for 25years until retirement. I saw guys get their backs broken by falling debris, I saw head injuries, hand injuries, smoke inhalation,Burns , hell I suffered some of them. I don’t see anyone saying we should do away with Firefighters.
You buys your ticket you takes your chance’s.
Life is that way, No job is without it’s dangers.
Soccer has had a couple of deaths on the field this year and one remarkable resuscitation. Rugby cripples a couple of players every year. The NBA has a thug culture with real problems on and off the court. I guess we are stuck with tennis and golf. Wait weren’t some golfers struck by lightening? Scratch golf. Cycling has drug problems as does baseball. Baseball is far too dangerous, who wants to see someone hit by a fast ball or run into by a base runner.
Yep, tennis it is . . . . Wait that’s a rich person’s sport.
Questions like, should Alex Spanos be committed to the booby hatch for giving Norv Turner another season as head coach of the San Diego Chargers?
I know he killed himself; I know there are a lot of head injuries in the NFL.
What I don’t know is what seems to be the presupposition in this article: “Head injuries make you suicidal.”
Has this ever been proven?
Never been knocked unconscious, but did have my bell rung pretty good on kick-off coverage. Knocked the ball carrier out of bounds (well, he sort of ran over me on the way out). It was one of those Walter Payton sort of hits, where the defender (me) knows he is going to knock the ball carrier out no matter what and slows down a bit, but the ball carrier decides to make the tackler pay the price.
Similar to ~0:51 secs in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSvCmzIJEfQ
How many concussion occur in boxing,basketball,baseball,skateboarding,WWF,karate classes,the ever popular UFC where the objective is concussion......
“Have them wear leather - the way the game is supposed to be played.”
I said the same thing about hockey. Get rid of the cages and there would be less high sticking.
Ah yes, they have captured the essence of the sport!
Since the ‘RATS’ “Superbowl Sunday Is the Worst Day for Spousal Abuse” thing didn’t pan out, I guess this will have to do.
I was down at my parents yesterday. They live in Oceanside. My mom told me their neighbors, who, I’ve known for years, were cousins of Seau.
I never knew that. My mom, now tells me me, oh yea, Junior was there all the time. OK, mom, I’m not a huge Charger fan, but...well their neighbors really good people.
They are Samoan, big people, with hearts as big as their hands.
I saw them and offered my condolences. They thanked me, and offered me a beer (as they always do).
Guy had issues. NFL, leave it at that.
Who are the liberal media going to blame for the suicides in the movie and music industries?
There have been far more suicides in these businesses than in the NFL.
If you want to look at another similar sport, say Rugby, they don't use padds. I don't know if Rugby has a suicide problem, but, they also don't play on astro turff or against 350 lineman.
Poor John was just trying to make us laugh, give us a litle sunshine in our pathethic lives. He had to take coke and heroin so he could stay "on". If we hadn't asked so much of John, etc.
BULL$HIT.
And who killed the Kennedies?....
When after all it was you and me...
This is ridiculous. I feel absolutely zero pity for men who chose to get paid millions of dollars to play a dangerous sport they love. The health problems they’re having now? I think they were paid for in total years ago.
For every guy who’s all depressed because they aren’t in the limelight anymore at age 44, or upset because they got their bell rung a few times, there are thousands... maybe even millions of guys who would gladly trade places with them. I think it’s shameful for them to attack and blame the sport that gave them such a great opportunity.
If you were to tell me a job would put me in the grave by 50-55, but would retire me by 35 and secure the financial independence of my family for generations... I might seriously consider the deal, if I didn’t have any better plans.
No. It has not been proven. Think of all the ex players who have endured brain injuries and are living normal lives. They far outnumber the suicidal ex players, but no one thinks about them because they don't make the papers.
This is mostly just another media-driven hysteria.
I love football. I played it in high school and almost made a college team. I watch the NFL, CFL and NCAA.
Having said that, I really think there should be more done to prevent negative long term effects. It’s pretty clear that the major danger is not from the occasional high speed collision between receivers and defensive backs, but rather from the many repetitive collisions between linemen, running backs, and linebackers.
This could easily be alleviated by simply allowing teams to carry more players on their active roster which would see more of a rotation being implemented (if only for stamina reasons) and fewer hits per individual player. I also think the season should be shortened and/or more down time should be allowed between games.
It’s easy to say players are responsible for their own injuries if they choose to play the game. But the league is also responsible since it makes lots of money while the players suffer the consequences. Reducing long term negative effects should be a priority for the NFL, especially when the solution could be as simple as expanding rosters or shortening the season, without any fundamental changes to the game itself.
He went to the trouble to achieve his profession so where in the world .... He’s in pain and kills himself ? The man has found his peace but he left dozens of his problem’s to the people who loved him .
Selfish .
He went to the trouble to achieve his profession so where in the world .... He’s in pain and kills himself ? The man has found his peace but he left dozens of his problem’s to the people who loved him .
Selfish act he did .
And of course the anti American culture types will use this as an example of why the sport needs to be “ reviewed “ . The continued de - balling of the American male will continue .
You are right and Jr. Played much longer than he should have.
You are right and Jr. Played much longer than he should have.
I think it’s shameful for them to attack and blame the sport that gave them such a great opportunity.
Yeah well that is dress right dress with the America hater’s after they get what they want . Good post SP.
Two or three years in the $ million NFL should floorplan a guy for the rest of his life.
Staying longer must be ego.
It’s not that the old leather helmets provided good protection.
It’s that when you’re wearing one, you’d better hit with another part of your body!
It’s the counter-intuitive, law of unintended consequences - when you efficiently sheathe the head, it IS used as a battering ram. Correct! They would NEVER do that with a leather helmet.
Any attempt to conflate suicide with football, even the way it is played today, is an effort to castrate.
Not to t/j too much, but I’m convinced the directors - the ones who say; “Camera two!....go to camera 4, etc” (who show the game) did NOT play football.
How many times did you WANT to see a snot-bubbler get up, want the camera to linger on the scene... and instead, you get the qb’s face, or *something else*...?
Think about it. There’s a high percentage of faggotry in showbiz.
Ego ? That’s the 1st thing to kick in . Instead of building a bigger dream or mentoring other’s to be better than even they knew they could be ....... Something constructive .
No . He kills himself . Your on it Eric . Pure selfish ego .
Add to that, a career that would have them being pursued by hot cheerleaders and groupies from high school, be admired by millions, live the high life until they died -- I think a very high percentage of men would make the trade, to give up your old age, but be living large right up to the end.
I played football from the time I was 5 right through college. I was a running back and a strong safety type. I knocked people out and I got knocked out. I’m 60 now and suffering no ill effects from concussions including the one I got playing combat football in the Army sans equipment. I understand that the guys are bigger and faster but the equipment and technology are better as well and the money paid to pro football players is large.
But medical technology is such that a grown man can make a very informed decision. I would play all over again if I find the fountain of youth.
I think steroids are the real problem. Players retire, get off the steroids and then have mental problems. Not hard to figure out. Concussions are just a socially acceptable excuse for this pathetic behavior. Eliminate steroids and you would cut down on the size of these players colliding with each other as well.
Sports Ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.