Deep Thoughts: The State of Football
I know that MgoBlog prides itself at being a high(er)brow message board. We try to keep content north of the intellectual Mason-Dixon line. I'm not sure how this will go, so if I get positive feedback, I'll start similar posts in the future. If not, I'll change the OP to some gif of Kate Upton or something. I think there are a lot of issues we could get into about college football and Michigan that could prompt some good debate.
Today I want to ask what your take is on the perception, and in turn reality, of the sport of football. Junior Seau has been the latest in a growing line of incidents that have created buzz about the safety of playing football. Being such a tidal society, this issue is being hammered quite a bit in the media. What are the concerns that this could either fundamentally change or even destroy the sport of American football?
If you missed the recent news, Kurt Warner has stated that he does not want his children to play football. Warner's statements are echoed by many parents today, but how prevelant a number? Prior to the last year or so, I think that number has been pretty low. Chronically cautious parents have always held their kids out of contact sports, but when does the average parent take notice of the medical information coming out linking football to depression and suicide. What has to happen before the average parent decides they would rather have their son play soccer or basketball, and forego high school football. Could this type of a movement sweep the legs from beneath the powers that are the NCAA and the NFL? Are there any other factors, such as class action suits, that could directly cripple those same powers?
So... is there such a thing as the NFL or NCAAF in 10 years? How about 50? If so, does it even resemble the game that we grew up knowing?
I've wondered about the effect that steroid use has had on this as well. Don't see how it helps...
As far as leading with the head goes, I've heard it suggested that maybe we should bring back leather helmets. Without hard plastic shell helmets, the intimidation factor that comes from leading with the head goes down dramatically.
They make players bigger and faster, which must lead to an increase in head injuries (or at least the severity of them). Players of course had concussions before people were using performance enhancing drugs, but they certainly don't help the matter.
Injuries in certain regions of the brain certainly can cause depression. These regions are most commonly affected by certain types of strokes. However, if Seau showed other signs of post-concussive sydrome, such as irritabilitly and cognitive impairment, then the depression could be the direct result of repeated concussions.
Given my incomplete knowledge of Seau's history, however, I would question steroids as a more likely cause of the depression. Steroids affect the brain, both directly and indirectly (ie through hormal changes); and when users stop them, depression often replaces the intiial steroid-induced euphoria.
In additon, as noted below, depressions are quite common even without concussions or steroid use (although successful suicides are not a usual consequence). Thus, one would have to know a lot more about Seau's history, physical and mental state, as well as the stability of his social life, to judge whether his depression was due to life stresses or injury (ie concussions or steroid use). In fact, his depression could have multiple explanations; and if he had a prior history of repeated depressions, the latest episode may have had no apparent explanation at all,
In any case, those who readily conclude his depression is due to football injuries, without other evidence, are really jumping to conclusions.
It's pretty hard to say what caused anyone's depression. There may always be multiple factors, both environmental and internal, so to speak, as you say. Anecdotally*, though, it seems like repeated blows to the head suffered during long football careers contribute to depression...I don't say this to make a point about Seau in particular, btw.
*By that I mean that the reports of players of what they've gone through.
eg only certain types of strokes seem to reliably produce depression. In such cases, the depression seems to result directly from damage to particular brain regions. Whether these regions were involved may be detectable at autopsy.
In other cases, of course, depressions may still occur, although less consistently and more indirectly. eg if brain damage is making it tough to think, speak, or move normally, that is bound to be stressful. Such stress, as well as profound alterations in lifestyle and relationships, may then lead to depression. So, if repeated blows to the head cause such impairments, then these impairments may contribute to depression. But Seau's doctor should be able to tell whether or not he had any major impairments ( in some cases, more subtle deficits may be detected only through more sensitive psychological tests).
I am not sure if it has been mentioned yet but there are two camps of fans or hypocrisy when it comes to certain hits. Many fans complain when there is a new rule that protects the QB or a defenseless receiver, arguing that the sport is supposed to be physical and somewhat violent. But when a player/ex-player shoots themselves in the chest suddenly there are cries for better safety of players or rules with stiff penalties to prevent concussions.
Guys like Gregg Williams and Jonathan Vilma don't get lifetime bans for trying to injure other players while some of the other players suspended get penalties similar to what a guy caught with weed will receive.
All of these articles get written about concussions, suicides, related problems like dimentia, etc. while Sportscenter runs highlights of big hits or a guy like Jay Cutler gets chastised for sitting out the end of the NFC Championship Game.
I honestly don't think we as fans can expect the same level of violence or physicality and not see more sad stories like what happened with Seau. New equipment may be fine in the short-term, but what about when offensive lines all average 6'8" 350 lbs and RBs are all 250+ lbs and running sub 4.4 40s?
You can't take the issue seriously at the same time people are calling a guy a giant pussy for treating it seriously. To JeepinBen's point above as well, this is one issue where the league can/should play a strong role. They need to be the ones who step in and say "We wouldn't let someone in Cutler's situation back in the game even if he wanted to, and the fans can go fuck themselves if they have a problem with that. Every player's long-term health/sanity is more important than any game"
That kind of hardline stance may be what is necessary to make real progress on the issue when so many players are willing to act against their best interests and the folks around them have a stake in letting them take that risk.
Doctors kept Cutler out of the game, along with the fact that, missing a knee ligament, he couldn't throw the damn ball. Yet he was injured and therefore "a pussy" as you say.
This is a huge problem to overcome however. I'm blanking on his name, but a player had a finger cut off so he could keep playing. Are you kidding? Everybody LOVED it! He's still talked about heroically. The sacrifice he made. That's the problem mentality. The real problem though is he was given options:
1. Amputate finger, play football
2. Have repair sugery, don't play.
His decision was very cut and dry. With concussions I'd argue that we really don't know all the options out there. It should be:
1 Stop playing, your brain is hurt.
While actually its:
1. Come out of the game (once coaches, trainers, doctors and other players get their act together this will be more frequent) and get evaluated.
2. keep quiet, keep playing,keep playing, knowing that your risk is ????????????????? Death? Memory loss in 4 years? 10 years? Nothing? Somewhere on that spectrum is what you can expect. Do you make that decision without knowing all the negative consequences?
That was Ronnie Lott who had the tip of his pinky amputated, but it was after the season, not at halftime or something as the the urban legend holds.
And you've described the differences between injury and what we might think of as brain trauma very well, only it goes even farther if the research about sub-concussive trauma holds. It might not even be "your brain is hurt" but "your brain is being continually damaged, even though you're not aware of it."
Radical/random thought: Remember how little leagues put a pitch count in on kids' arms after there was all the hubbub about kids tearing rotator cuffs and stuff? I think it's a good idea, gets lots of kids the chance to pitch and gets kids to play all over the field instead of always playing one position when they're young.
Could pee-wee football institute "snap counts" or something similar for linemen? Lessen the overall number of collisions on the line that these kids see so early in life and let them play some other positions for a change. I don't know when pitch counts disappear (by high school for sure) but by the time they're older football players can be more position specific.
Yeah, I think the place the research needs to go is in beginning to figure out how much contact the brain can sustain over a specific time frame and remain healthy over the long run, as well as when CTE begins to manifest itself. The chief difficulty, of course, lies in the means of diagnosing CTE (only post-mortum at this point).
I can honestly say that I see a change in him. He is going to be a freshman in H.S this comming Sept. He has played since 6th grade. I can see what he is learning...he first played because his friends were playing...He now plays because he wants to play. I dont try coaching him because that is his coaches job. He works out everyday without any proding along with running track.
What he has told me: "football is like a clock, every moving part is important and all moving parts must opperate as intended in order for a play to work"
When I asked him why he is working out so much he responded " I want to be the strongest link on my team"
I cant argue with that.
My son plays football. He will be in 6th grade in the Fall. If he wants to play, he will play. However, you can bet I will be watching closely. There have been no concussions on his team, or on the teams he has played, since he began. (He played 4th & 5th grade football as well.) I think I am currently at the place where one concussion is one too many, and that would probably be the end of football for him. The risk we take is that the first nasty hit injures him badly. So far, I'm willing to take that risk (given the paucity of injury on both his team and in his league.)
As mentioned in another thread, for me, it is partly physics. Mass x speed (acceleration) = force. Given the weight of all the kids on the team being under 100 pounds, and their speed still being limited, and the passing game being limited, this affects and limits the force of hits. As I see the kids getting bigger and getting faster, it will get harder to allow him to continue.
The real tipping point for me will be High School. At that point, he would be playing with much heavier, stronger, and faster kids. That's when I can't see continuing. I'm hoping that over the next 3 years, we will see significant changes to the game. If not, he'll hang up his football cleats, and probably focus on baseball.
The thing I love is the discipline, the camraderie, the principles of teamwork, the memorization of plays and schemes, the time management. He is learning skills and principles that go far beyond football as a sport. These skills set football completely apart from MMA & boxing. While baseball is great (he just finished winning a little league game tonight) I don't think the teamwork and discipline is the same as football.