Humans not meant to play football page

[dragonmamma]

Direct from God's mouth:

God: Human Body Not Designed To Play Football | The Onion Sports Network

[Finnabair]

Absolutely! :-D My younger son, age 32, played in the Alumni game last night at his high school. Sigh. BRUISED is an understatement. The good thing is that there were no broken bones. My older son had the sense not to play.

They both played in high school, and I went to ALL those games, and the younger one played at the University of Texas, and I went to those, too.

BUT, I'm through with football now. The long term damage is too great. Ask Earl Campbell.
Earl Campbell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P.S. Yes, I know the Onion is a spoof.

[gunnk]

I've read that part of the problem is actually *caused* by the massive amount of protective equipment. Back in footballs early days ("Leatherheads"), there was negligible protection, so the hits were much more gentle. Now everyone feels so protected that the hits are brutal and more injuries occur.

[dragonmamma]

I've heard the same thing about boxing gloves, that they were designed to protect the hands, not the opponent, and that bare-handed boxing caused fewer serious head/brain injuries.

I like how God backs up my opinion about running:
"And the knees? With those ACLs I gave you, you're not even supposed to run unless there's an emergency, let alone make sharp cuts on turf just as a linebacker comes in low from the side."

[Velocity]

I've read that part of the problem is actually *caused* by the massive amount of protective equipment. Back in footballs early days ("Leatherheads"), there was negligible protection, so the hits were much more gentle. Now everyone feels so protected that the hits are brutal and more injuries occur.

Yep, precisely. It's become more dangerous as the amount of protection has increased. The prevailing mindset: "I've got all this high-tech stuff protecting me, I can afford to launch myself head-first at full speed at another man moving at full speed!"

[JHen]

But it's so much fun! I miss my football days.

[rolfdevinci]

Good point about the gear. Here in Canada we see the same thing in hockey....if you feel invincible then you play far more aggressive and take more liberties upon yourself and your opponent.

I've been watching some of the TV coverage of the Rugby world cup and those dudes play hard but I am yet to see anyone seriously hurt. About the only protection they wear are jocks and mouth guards.

[tsd]

I played rugby for a few years after college and several things stick in my mind. One, my cousin commenting how he had so many more injuries in his short football career vs. his longer rugby career, and two, rugby friends who played overseas saying American players hit so much harder (since most Americans are former football players used to having the extra protection of pads and helmets). It seems clear to me that any advances in gear for American football intended to improve player safety are just making things more dangerous.

Makes me draw parallels with running shoes: all the extra padding around the heel only allows us to develop techniques that are mechanically detrimental to our health.

[akm3]

I've heard the same thing about boxing gloves, that they were designed to protect the hands, not the opponent, and that bare-handed boxing caused fewer serious head/brain injuries.

I like how God backs up my opinion about running:
"And the knees? With those ACLs I gave you, you're not even supposed to run unless there's an emergency, let alone make sharp cuts on turf just as a linebacker comes in low from the side."

Sigh, recovering an ACL tear 2/26/11 during a martial arts tournament...

[SoccerGrok]

+1 on the Rugby...and they have to wrap when they tackle, not just slam into someone.