Interesting article about the possible death of the NFL
by CardsFan08 on Feb 13, 2012 12:44 AM MST
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PrintHey ROTB,
I thought this article was an interesting take on the possible affects of the concussion lawsuits that are currently taking place and how the eventual awards could be the unraveling of the NFL in our lifetime.
Do you think it could happen? What would be the replacement for the NFL?
I think soccer could begin to take the main stage in the USA if the NFL product began to degrade due to loss of amazing athletes, sponsors, and competition. With the popularity of soccer throughout the world, if the NFL and college football were to fade away I think soccer would be the type of active sport that wouldn't risk being shut down due to brain injuries and your favorite players seem to be able to play forever.
It sort of becomes a toppling domino if you remove the NFL and college football, all of the big impact sports will start to fall after that; rugby, hockey, maybe even MMA.
What are your thoughts on all this?
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.
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Basketball
Is ready to explode. I think the NBA would definitely take off even further if football were to disappear. I really, really do not like the sound of one of the best sports ever created going away, though.
There are so many flaws and assumptions in that article
I don’t even know where to begin. It’s complete and utter garbage. These two economists are looking to get their names out there and the best way to do it is by creating a controversy within the fan base of the biggest sport in America.
Don’t even waste your time reading this.
by cgcardzfan on Feb 13, 2012 2:03 AM MST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Totally agree with this and your other posts below
This article just proves the old addage – “Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one.”
It may be thoughts instead of opinions, but you get the drift.
Any sport can fall out of popularity, but I will never beleive football will disappear due to injuries or lawsuits related to injuries- these are part of the game and frankly the rewards justify the risks today – if the league is not around making $$$ the injured people would not get compensated anyway.
by Drullin'OverDaCards on Feb 14, 2012 10:57 AM MST up reply actions
Wow I don’t even know where to start at this…
High school players can’t sue the school they sign a waiver. Unless the school does something that violates this like not going through the proper checks when a student shows signs it is not going to happen. Then if it does the school district is sued not the school itself. No referee is going to be individually sued for concussion issues. They are not medically trained nor do they perform a diagnostic evaluation of a player. A coach might if they engage in reckless practice procedure but the more likely target would be team “trainers” who might miss diagnose.
College player have the same argument. The NCAA need to teach the player about concussions and their potential harm but unless they knowingly par take in action that are questionable they are not going to be paying out much. The NCAA has been sued a lot and hasn’t paid out anything yet.
As far as professional player go they are going to sue. So the NFL implements stricter presets and more independent medically trained professional on the sideline. Then the players are under the same waiver if not stronger waiver that high school player have. Again referees will not be individually sued neither will coaches in the NFL it will be the individual teams for the incompetence of their medical staff and the NFL shield itself.
So of the who article the only thing I think is plausible is that yes moms are going to hold their kids from football more. However football to many more kids are there way out of a bad situation. Many more kids will be playing football in hopes of a scholarship to college and eventually the millions in the pros. And yes the NFL will start implementing stricter concussion rules very soon. That’s it the rest is just poor speculation.
Huge fan of the Steelers. (that includes "Steelers West")
"If I could start my life over again, I would be a professional football player and you better damn well believe a Pittsburgh Steeler!"- Jack Lambert
by Steel34D on Feb 13, 2012 7:50 AM MST reply actions 1 recs
It's definitely speculation, but there were a few points in there that got me thinking.
Such as the reference to horse racing and boxing, two of America’s past loves that were too big to fail. Both are still around, but the violence to animals in one, and the impacts of the sport in the other began to cost the sport it’s popularity.
I’m just playing devil’s advocate, I don’t expect the NFL to fail, but I don’t want to just turn a blind eye to the changes in the game that are coming due to brain injuries. We’re already seeing rules changes to protect players, but will there be additional rule changes that continue to change the game to a point where it is not the exciting sport that we watch right now? If football becomes a literal shoot out where scores are as high as they are in the Arena Leagues? How will that affect the fan base? It really would become a field version of two hand touch / basketball.
Regarding the article, of course the ref’s are not going to be sued. The NCAA has excellent lawyers and waivers, and will pay private sums when they are forced, but as you stated the NFL is a professional employer. It made me think that as a professional employer their employees are being disfigured for life under their employment. Unless there are major changes to the protective equipment in the very near future I believe the only way the NFL can protect it’s employees are through rule changes and medical training. Which we have only begun to see the beginning.
If the NFL loses too many cases to the retired NFL players there could be an outcry and major change to the game that we know and love.
Section 103, Row 19
You can have the best equipment in the world it won
Huge fan of the Steelers. (that includes "Steelers West")
"If I could start my life over again, I would be a professional football player and you better damn well believe a Pittsburgh Steeler!"- Jack Lambert
You can have the best equipment in the world it won't stop concussion...
The brain is floating inside your head in cerebrospinal fluid. Their is nothing holding the brain in place and preventing it from hitting the side of the skull. The hitting action is going to cause the brain to hit against the skull and cause concussions. It is inevitable when you have guys who are big as they are and run as fast as they do. At most it may decrease the amount of grade III concussions and increase the amount of grade I concussions.
Huge fan of the Steelers. (that includes "Steelers West")
"If I could start my life over again, I would be a professional football player and you better damn well believe a Pittsburgh Steeler!"- Jack Lambert
That’s a great point, equipment won’t be enough. So how many changes will they make to the rules to reduce concussions, and how will those new rules impact the game?
We could be looking at the end of the hard hitting era, and the beginning of the pro-bowl type regular season game era. Maybe the change will affect the NFL’s popularity, or maybe fans just learn to adjust.
Good discussion Steel34D.
Section 103, Row 19
Players
play at their own risk and the NFL has been trying to take some steps to help in concussion rates. The guys that intentionally try to hurt others make the sport seem a bit more dangerous at this point. Those guys will probably not make it in the NFL in the future but the NFL as a whole is not going to die.
Hey KJ, I agree that players play at their own risk, but that’s like saying that a construction worker works at his own risk. If he has an accident on the job and loses a hand he’s going to be paid out from his employer due to his injuries. The equivalent in the NFL is that everybody is going to play and get injured and get a retirement, but not everyone is going to get brain injuries and those who do how much will their retirement be in comparison? However there is a high likelihood, so like OSHA in construction, the NFL is trying everything they can to protect their employees through training, rule changes, and adding new safety equipment.
But no matter the changes, brain damage will be done and there will still be law suits from the previous generation of players saying “why didn’t we have that” and even with the new safety focus there will still be players asking “why can’t they do more for us since my sacrificing my health makes the NFL all of it’s money”.
It’s an interesting topic. I think Goodell has done a good job and is doing a better job of getting in front of it to control it from a PR perspective. The ad during the super bowl was a great preemptive strike to gain public opinion on the topic.
Section 103, Row 19
“Hey KJ, I agree that players play at their own risk, but that’s like saying that a construction worker works at his own risk. If he has an accident on the job and loses a hand he’s going to be paid out from his employer due to his injuries.”
Contsruction workers havent signed contracts and waiver forms in case of injury on the job. NFL players do sign those and are willfully entering a sport in which contact is extreme knowing full well the consequences.
There really is no relation
Interesting article
But I don’t think football will go anywhere. Whatever you say about Goodell, he’s definitely done a lot to make the sport huge.
And can you imagine what people will turn to if there’s no football on Sunday? Hunger Games, anyone? (Dark joke, I know)
Joe Saunders: "They Giants played a really good game, so hats off to us"
That was a good dark joke Skii
I really think the NFL will just become more of a high scoring game, the running game and defense will see the most changes and defenders will either need to go for the legs of the runnier or risk getting a penalty. Because of this I would think there’d be more missed tackles and ultimately higher scoring games.
Section 103, Row 19
Okay here we go
“The original version of Napster no longer exists, largely because of lawsuits. "
Maybe because it was a company based on illegally providing music to people for free. The NFL or any form of Football isn’t breaking any laws. So throw that point out.
“the three big sports were baseball, boxing, and horse racing, and today only one of those is still a marquee attraction.”
Boxing was very popular up until MMA became into existence. Who wants to watch boxing when you can watch Boxing, Wrestling, and everything else all wrapped up into one? Hoarse racing wasnt a “Big Sport.” It was big in certain places like the south, and once people got Vehicles and engine technology became more advanced, we started racing those instead. Again, we upgraded. And Baseball is still huge in America so I dont see that point at all. Throw this out.
" If ex-players start winning judgments"
IF I had a Corvette, IF I won the lottery, IF, IF, IF, IF, IF………IF these two dumb@$$ economists played sports at any point in their lives and didnt spend their teenage years posted up studying, they would know in EVERY LEVEL of football, players and parents of minors have to sign Waivors. So throw that arguement out.
“More and more modern parents will keep their kids out of playing football, and there tends to be a “contagion effect” with such decisions……. We have seen such domino effects with the risks of smoking or driving without seatbelts"
So now they resort to comparing Football to smoking Ciggerates or driving with out a seatbelt? Desperate to try n make a point that has no point are we? Just answer me this will you, how many people die per year from smoking Ciggerates? Worldwide, Ciggeratte smoking is attributed to the death of over 5,000,000 people ANNUALLY!!! And Tobacco consumption has SKYROCKETED over the past 50 years. So that arguement is more then misleading, Its completely false and a LIE!
“or worse, high schoolers — commit suicide with autopsies showing CTE. A jury makes a huge award of $20 million to a family.”
They would have to have solid proof and evidence to back up those claims, which they dont. So AGAIN…. GARBAGE ARGUEMENT THAT IS NOTHING MORE THEN ASSUMPTIONS.
“Outside of sports, American human capital and productivity probably rise. No football Saturdays on college campuses means less binge drinking, more studying, better grades, smarter future adults”
No Football means less binge drinking? Got any proof or support at all to back those claims? So college students only binge drink on saturdays and only during football games? Im a college student at a major university and I Binge drink on Tuesdays while im watching “The next top chef.” Point is that these claims cannot be backed with any evidence. And are they really implying that there is some connection between Football and unintelligent people? wow…..
“Losing thousands of college players and hundreds of pro players might produce a few more doctors or engineers.”
Could also produce more unemployment, gang members, truck drivers, grocery store managers, ETC…. Such an invalid statement to suggest that less athletes means more Doctors and Lawyers. Yes it is possible, but the odds are STACKED against that.
“Very few people were predicting the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, or the rise of China as an economic power.”
The whole world predicted those collapses, thats why there was a WORLD WAR!!!! Im sure the whole world was gonna bend over and let Adolf Hitler cage them up and put them in death camps! As far as I know Roger Goodell isnt mass murdering millions of people based on religion and ethnicity, If he were, It’d be a little easier to believe this crap pile of shit that I just wasted my time reading just to rip it apart!
So all in all…. take this article about as seriously as you took Chris Farley in that little coat! Worthless……
by cgcardzfan on Feb 14, 2012 1:08 AM MST reply actions 1 recs
Rec'd, That was an awesome response man
You had me through it all, but when you went nuts at the end it was really hilarious.
I know what you meant, but you were off on the Hitler thing, the reunification of Germany was the fall of the Berlin wall. No worries, great response and tear down of the article.
I actually found it on espn.go.com where I originally read it. But I’ll just leave the opinion pieces over there from now on.
Section 103, Row 19
lol post whatever you want man
Its just that I already saw this and heard people gettin all hyped about it so I wanted to make sure most people here realized how dumb it was.
Yea I guess I misread the part about Germany that’s my mistake.
Haha yea my choice of words “crap pile of $h*t” or whatever I said, was pretty original huh? Lmao
by cgcardzfan on Feb 14, 2012 11:46 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
I think that Hockey has WAY more of a concusion problem
the NFL managed to really cut down on the number of head injuries this year, while the NHL hasnt been able to do anything. Concusions have always been part of the game, its just were just now being able to understand them
MOAR SEVERINO!
@awalker138-I have joined the twitters
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