OT: Ivy League to Limit Practice Time

This will surely affect their status as the NFL's go-to conference for talent!

Interesting how they exist almost completely separate from, but still within, the FCS. They don't allow scholarships, don't participate in postseason and generally play only amongst themselves and Patriot League schools...now they will be practicing less as well, setting them even further apart.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has also not been terrible, with a positive TD:INT ratio and decent passing stats despite not winning much and being on bad teams.

But from what I have read it seems that full-contact practices may be just as dangerous as games, even if concussions aren't a problem.

Obviously the less you get hit the better so this kind of falls in the no shit department. Practice during the week in season really isn't a lot of hitting anyway. Usually film, 2 days of full practice in pads, and then gearing down into shorts and helmets for the walk through on Friday.In the two full pad practices, no one gets tackled usually and the front 7 and O-line are the only thing going live.

Strictly penalize players for leading with the helmet and you eliminate many concussions. I love football and want it to stay hard hitting, but there are too many unnecessary hits at the college and pro levels. Taking out the receiver after the ball has already gone past them is done to intimidate for the next play. I feel this type of play is unsporting and should be penalized heavily. Instead it is encouraged by the coaches and ignored by the referees. I believe that players often make plays that are disrespectful to their competitors and it is hurting the game. The helmet should never be used as a weapon and all unnecessary hits should be avoided.

Bo's regular season practice week only had 2 full contact days:  Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Why don't they change the outer layer of helmets and shoulder pads to a more impact absorbent material - something like gel?  They would have to be replaced more frequently than hard plastic but it would reduce the number of injuries from using helmets and shoulder pads as weapons and force players to use better techniques in their play.

We should do what we can to protect athletes. Football is still fun and they aren't these guys:

Uri, vinciri, verberari, ferroque necari!

My understanding from the (limited) reports I've read on the topic say that most of the damage done to players as it relates to permanent brain damage arises from all of the "micro-hits" you receive throughout the game, not necessarily the one or two "Jacked-up" hits you see in the highlights.  So every time the ball is snapped and linemen hit each other, those collisions can lead to damage down the line (not surprisingly, linemen tend to show the worst effects after playing).  Same go for RBs and LBs if they tend to take a large number of hits.  So if a reduction in the number of contact practices both before and during the seasons actually takes place, I wouldn't be surprised if guys lasted longer in the NFL and had fewer debilitating injuries and brain trauma down the line, or at least the effects took longer to manifest.

And while it might be popular to knock the Ivies for barely being "college" football, I am inclined to give credence to whole schools full of pretty smart people coming to this conclusion, based on studies and concrete data and with fewer financial pressures, over the tried-and-true "walk it off" mentality you see displayed by big-conference teams where football is king.

we can assume RR and Barwis won't be coaching at Harvard, Penn or Yale anytime in the near future?

Too soon?