Owners To Eliminate Kickoffs?

[Legatron4]

This would be the final straw for me. The NFL/world needs to clam the fuck up and stop ruining everything. It’s football. Injuries happen. You will never EVER eliminate concussions.

 

[fearsomefour]

Would be typically stupid of the owners.

 

[fearsomefour]

Rigid helmets are safe against fracture, useless against concussion. Concussions are caused by violent acceleration and or rotation of the skull, rigid helmets are not helping

Stanford guy explaining this very well in 15 min :
View: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_camarillo_why_helmets_don_t_prevent_concussions_and_what_might

Right.
Which makes it very difficult to think of a way this would be greatly reduced.
There is one way to help reduce it but owners and fans would never go for it.

 

[Loyal]

in the early days of professional football they had no helmets, and the game was almost banned because of the huge number of deaths
train

But that was also the days of the Great Depression, little healthcare, and a couple of World Wars. There was a toughness that we don't have now, but that toughness had a price. OBJ won't even get the football field because he's afraid of getting hurt with the millions of dollars involved...Players would slow their roll in today's game if they were wearing only a leather helmet. At least that's what I think....

 

[Merlin]

Worst thing about getting rid of the kickoffs is the roster impact for all the core special teams types. What is that going to mean in your roster makeup, in terms of only having to sweat punt units?

I'd presume it means teams start to stack the bottom of their roster a bit more based on upside vice teams excellence.

 

[Loyal]

But that was also the days of the Great Depression, little healthcare, and a couple of World Wars. There was a toughness that we don't have now, but that toughness had a price. OBJ won't even get the football field because he's afraid of getting hurt with the millions of dollars involved...Players would slow their roll in today's game if they were wearing only a leather helmet. At least that's what I think....

sorry nightrain,no different opinions allowed!

 

[yrba1]

NFL owners could easily avoid or mitigate this PR nightmare on brain damage had they been willing to invest in medical research on addressing CTE instead of hiding the topic under the rug.

 

[Selassie I]

I have grown to hate kickoffs. Especially when we are on the receiving end.

When we are receiving a kickoff... I'm screaming at the TV "Don't run it out... just down the GD ball!" the entire time the ball is in the air.

Then, if they don't follow my demand, one of the following is usually the result.

The runner doesn't even make it out to the 25.

There is an illegal block or holding penalty that pins us inside the 10 to start the drive.

A fucking fumble giving the opponent the ball and an easy score.


Rarely do we gain a huge advantage by running it out. It does happen once in awhile... but I don't like the risk. I'd rather we just take the ball at the 25 every single fucking time.


The onside kick could still be allowed. It's rarely a surprise when it's done anyway, so I couldn’t care less that the surprise onside kick would be removed from the game.

 

[LesBaker]

One thing that would go a long, long way is to make the fines/suspensions really, really harsh.

On obvious leading with the helmet hits, the headhunting shots, I would like to see an ejection and suspensions along the lines of PED usage.

If guys start losing entire game checks they will change. Fining a guy 20K even if he is playing at the league minimum isn't that painful, and to a guy making even just 2MIL it isn't even noticeable. Now if that guy missed a game due to suspension and it cost him $125K the first time and double that the next time he's going to pay attention to the rule.

 

[LesBaker]

I have grown to hate kickoffs. Especially when we are on the receiving end.

When we are receiving a kickoff... I'm screaming at the TV "Don't run it out... just down the GD ball!" the entire time the ball is in the air.

Then, if they don't follow my demand, one of the following is usually the result.

The runner doesn't even make it out to the 25.

There is an illegal block or holding penalty that pins us inside the 10 to start the drive.

A freaking fumble giving the opponent the ball and an easy score.


Rarely do we gain a huge advantage by running it out. It does happen once in awhile... but I don't like the risk. I'd rather we just take the ball at the 25 every single freaking time.


The onside kick could still be allowed. It's rarely a surprise when it's done anyway, so I couldn’t care less that the surprise onside kick would be removed from the game.

Put down the bong @Selassie I Cooper just made All-Pro and the Pro Bowl for returning kicks last year.

Run the fucking ball OUT. Every. Single. Time.

 

[Selassie I]

Put down the bong @Selassie I Cooper just made All-Pro and the Pro Bowl for returning kicks last year.

Run the freaking ball OUT. Every. Single. Time.

Running the ball out of the end zone IS the reason I require a bong rip watching our games.

 

[Mackeyser]

It would be sad to lose kickoffs. I really hate that players destroy their brains though and I appreciate that they are trying to protect them a bit more.

The thing is changing the helmets would probably have a much bigger impact on reducing concussions, they need to absorb more of the shock and reduce the head acceleration on impact. these helmets aim at protecting from skull fracture, which is important, but have a negative impact when it comes to concussions.

I don't think changing the helmet will help unless they substantially weaken or remove the hard shell.

There's nothing they can do to decelerate the head more with the current tech. Even with nanocell technology allowing for differential densities, we still have the problem of the skull suddenly stopping.

Honestly, if they removed the shoulder pads and gave the guys a softer helmet (say a dense foam with a "skin" for logos) and insisted on rugby style tackling, that would go a long way.

The physics won't allow for ANY helmet to make substantial changes. As long as players have their skulls suddenly stop, concussions will be an issue.

Btw, this is an issue in soccer with heading the ball.

I don't have a good brain for avoiding concussion and I realized that at a very early age. If I headed a decently kicked ball, my head buzzed badly. I realized at 7 years old that I couldn't do it.

But you're right about the area where they need to improve (until they finally come to their senses and really and truly change the helmets to be softer on the outside)...

 

[MadGoat]

There's much more awareness of the dangers now than there was 20 years ago. Besides, make it mandatory equipment. The NFL has to take real steps to reduce the danger - the existence of the league playing in a recognizable way depends on it. Better to have goofy helmets and still have kickoffs.

The crazy thing is that we have all this awareness, but still nobody is wearing these goofy helmets. It says a lot about where priorities really are.

 

[Barrison]

They won't stop changing the game until its the NFFL (National Flag Football League) sigh..

 

[LesBaker]

Running the ball out of the end zone IS the reason I require a bong rip watching our games.

Use to be that way, but Cooper has changed that.

It was silly of me to say put down the bong....as if!

Hahahaha!!!!!!

Never in life my dear!

 

[Alaskan Ram]

I played high school football.
I was a guy that loved everything about the game, except kickoffs.
I'm all for lining up across from you and seeing who is the stronger/faster/quicker man.

But to line up 50 yards apart and sprint at each other as fast as you can? "And if you are not 'man enough' to take a head on collision, we'll put the next guy in who is."

That's not sport. That's stupidity.

I would be bummed to see kick-offs taken out of the game as a spectator.
It's very a very exciting play to watch 'when somebody takes it to the house'.
It's insanity for the players doing it, and will someday be taken out of the game.

It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

 

[UKram]

Eliminate kickoffs = no special teamers (or less of them) how’s that 5th round we gonna make the team

At the end of the day players make the choice to play the game .. if you’re good you’ll be rich and famous if you’re average you’ll earn far more than most people will in their lifetime

I’m all for making the game safer but not at the expense of the game itself

 

[Mackeyser]

They could probably keep the existing helmet or make it slightly larger and include a fairly flexible silicone matrix (think Purple mattress)

It compresses quickly, but still allows for the rigidity and support necessary so that it doesn't feel all floppy on one's head.

The shell would have to be more flexible than it is now. There's not much danger in the NFL of a piercing force that could lead to skull fracture. If anything, a skull fracture was be a blunt force trauma and the absorption of the silicone matrix would be substantially better at preventing that than a rigid foam.

 

[RamFan503]

or leather helmets...I really think this is the answer, but they'll never do it because its a counterintuitive solution.

Exactly. I think it was Ditka that suggested it. While they'll never do it, it might be the only true solution.

 

[RamFan503]

They could probably keep the existing helmet or make it slightly larger and include a fairly flexible silicone matrix (think Purple mattress)

It compresses quickly, but still allows for the rigidity and support necessary so that it doesn't feel all floppy on one's head.

The shell would have to be more flexible than it is now. There's not much danger in the NFL of a piercing force that could lead to skull fracture. If anything, a skull fracture was be a blunt force trauma and the absorption of the silicone matrix would be substantially better at preventing that than a rigid foam.

You will still have the compression on the spine. A safer helmet for the skull would probably just make it more dangerous for the spine and that would lead to more instantaneous life changing or ending injuries.

And BTW.... keep the damn kick-offs. It is a really exciting way to start a game.