Middle class abandoning football

Submitted by LLG on

Makes me wonder about how college football changes also.  Any thoughts?

Death of NFL inevitable as middle class abandons the game

"You really think the NFL is worried about young athletes? If so, they'd have changed the rules years ago, abandoning face masks, enlarging the ball to make it difficult to throw, switching to one platoon football."

I didn't know about one platoon football before (or the phrase).  Some research pulled up this article about Fritz Crisler:  The Man Who Changed Football

Sports Illustrated article starts:  "When the NCAA Rules Committee voted a return to two-platoon football last month, one of the least surprised men in the country—and one of the most pleased—was Fritz Crisler, athletic director of the University of Michigan. Crisler is a life member of the Rules Committee."

MGoBoard
Football
football
CTE

UMxWolverines

September 8th, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^

Am I the only one who thinks it's incredibly helicopter parent like to not allow your child to play a game? Shouldn't we be working to teach kids how to actually tackle and wrap up correctly? I might encourage my kids to play some other sports first and then play football in say junior high, but to completely flat out say you can't play, I don't know man. I think kids should be allowed to decide some things for themselves, mainly sports.

Joined: 03/01/2009

MGoPoints: 65354

Tedbossman

September 8th, 2017 at 5:37 PM ^

You're basing this on a tiny data point  from people who had a much greater number of collisions and at a much greater force than your son ever will unless he's in the .1% of the population in terms of ability. How come every American who played four years of high school football at a medicorce level aren't  walking around suffering from the effects of CTE or concussions?

Further, there are life lessons you learn from playing football.  I'm not alking about the obvious physical toughness gained from playing football. I'm talking about the emotional and mental toughness. The ability not to shut down when you get metaphorically hit in the mouth.

Joined: 01/07/2014

MGoPoints: 1909

Tyrone Biggums

September 8th, 2017 at 9:20 PM ^

That logic sounds good but the highest rates of cancer do not correlate with the highest rates of smokers. Football gets all the media attention but female soccer has more concussions by participation than any other high school sport.

Joined: 01/16/2013

MGoPoints: 4720

RamblerRobotics

September 8th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^

Concussions are a buzz word that the media picked up and ran with and it's led to this huge misunderstanding surrounding brain injuries. It's also the torch that CTE deniers use to support their arguments.

The root cause of CTE in football is not a concussion. It's the smaller hits to the head that accumulate and cause brain trauma. Those hits will never cause a player to have a concussion. Former players who struggle with memory loss and other signs of brain trauma have said they were never diagnosed with a concussion, ever. Trent Dilfer said he lost consciousness in every game he played in going back to high school.

Yes, there are concussions in other sports but girl's soccer doesn't put you in a position to hit your head on every play.

Joined: 08/06/2017

MGoPoints: 1173

TrueBlue2003

September 8th, 2017 at 5:51 PM ^

have to suffer the consequences for the risk to be considered too much?  Of course not everyone suffers the effects.  But some do, and we aren't really sure what percentage of HS football players do suffer the consequences. Depression, alcoholism, and illnesses of the brain are hard to measure.

Some people smoke and live to their 90s.  Is that an argument that you should let a 12-year-old smoke? Because he's not gauranteed to get lung cancer? EDIT: Sorry, beaten to punch by a minute with the tobacco comparison.

Is it not ok to just let parents decide for themselves whether they want to take those risks without being judgemental jerks?

Joined: 01/05/2010

MGoPoints: 38075

Woodstock Wolverine

September 8th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^

I get what you're saying. I have two young kids as well, but maybe you're being a little over protective? Are you not going to let them drive? Football will adjust, sure some kids won't be "allowed " to play but most with the talent to make it to college or beyond will be playing somewhere or another. Maybe there will be less places to play but football will continue for a long time.

Joined: 07/16/2015

MGoPoints: 15496

ThisMichiganofOurs

September 8th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^

I realize there is a lot of focus on the long term health implications of playing football, but have you actually done the research? Obviously it's up to each parent to protect their children how they see fit, but there is an intelligent debate behind this without defaulting to ridicule for the other side. Just throwing this out there, but here is an interesting perspective from the other side...the same % chance your child could get a concussion from driving a car. Are you also going to say parents who continue to let their kids drive cars "breathtakingly stupid"? 

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-resilient-brain/201402/would-y…

 

 

Joined: 09/07/2017

MGoPoints: 8

Brodie

September 8th, 2017 at 4:10 PM ^

the funniest thing about this to me is that I honestly believe that 

 

a) WD developed a political philosophy around Harbaugh's manliness rhetoric

 

and 

 

b) it's probably diametrically opposed what Harbaugh actually believes

Joined: 11/19/2008

MGoPoints: 10712

jmdblue

September 8th, 2017 at 4:27 PM ^

... all the writhing around in pain turns me off... But, if you haven't noticed, soccer's comin'.  As a middle-class father of a football playing 8th grader (not a light decision), I can promise you there is a palpable resistance to youth football right now.

The "media" has nothing to do with it.  

Joined: 12/01/2010

MGoPoints: 8655

bluebyyou

September 8th, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^

My kids' high school didn't have enough kids to field a team this fall.  Centennial High in Ellicott City MD. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/highschools/centennial-high-schoo…

So yeah, it is a problem and it is getting larger. I would venture a guess that other high schools in the county will follow suit, although it may take some time.

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: 18547

wolverine1987

September 8th, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^

to the CTE news, which once again, is being taken as "football causes CTE and it's way too risky." And factually, this position is incorrefor today-- based upon the evidence at hand.

Everyone has a right to decide for themselves and their kids about the risks, obviously. And if they beleive it's too risky that's their decision and choice. Period. But it's simply not true that we know enough currently to make the statement that the risks are, as that one announcer said" unacceptable. Article below.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2017/07/the_press_is_ov…

 

 

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 18065

Hardware Sushi

September 8th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^

What do you mean you didn't know about one-platoon football?

I've never really thought about not knowing that. Like, did you think half of the team was missing from those Yost-era Michigan team photos with like 12 guys in them?

Joined: 03/08/2010

MGoPoints: 6543

Crisler 71

September 8th, 2017 at 3:18 PM ^

When substitutions were limited by the 1946 rule

The 1946 rule permitted free and unlimited substitution whenever the clock was dead for any reason. It also put a limit on time-outs. The recently adopted new rule permits unlimited substitution with one restriction: a team must sacrifice a time-out when it sends in a platoon during the progress of a period when the clock is running. 

Punting teams used to take a deliberate delay of game to put their full kicking team in. .  Clock stopped for the penaly and the teams brought in their  kicker, long snappper and usualy a couple of smaller, faster linemen.

Joined: 05/23/2011

MGoPoints: 964