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I think they could do much more for players to help them. - Weight limits in the NFL. I know linemen need to get big but the average weight of linemen is way

I think they could do much more for players to help them. - Weight limits in the NFL. I know linemen need to get big but the average weight of linemen is way too high. - The padding is almost too good, concussions will go up as they have with better equipment. Players feel too safe to unleash a hit. There needs to be more alerting/warning systems on collisions. i.e. if a player is about to get blindsided, alert them inside the helmet. Give them eyes all around. - All linemen should use knee braces all the time or improved support. Players remove padding because others do to stay competitive. There needs to be more support for knees/ankles that is required. (smaller linemen will help this) - Testing for HGH is finally in, this will help some. - Allow players to use marijuana, for pain and for calming rather than DUIs. They treat players like children so they end up lashing out. - Provide drivers free of charge for all NFL players for all activities. Require that they use the drivers (they can personally hire them) if they are having fun but DUIs should not be allowed.

cafard 12y ago
I suspect that the weight limit could be brought down by changing the rules on substitution. Could you play both sides of the ball and still weigh 300 lb.? I don't know about the padding. The players from an earlier and less protected era of pro football still ended up in pretty bad shape. Some may have escaped dementia simply by dying younger.
paddy_m 12y ago
The drivers already have a number to call for a free ride home at any time. There is no excuse for them to get DUIs
euphemize 12y ago
No NFL player would ever want to have an "alert in their helmet" if they're about to get hit. That sounds horrible and panic-inducing more than anything else. The NFL needs to follow other leagues, like the NHL, and simply ban dangerous hits to the head and blindsided hits altogether. There's a lot of resistance, but it's slowly making a difference. Enforcing knee braces, putting weight limits for linemen and making an exception for marijuana will also never work IMO. Also, players have access to very strong pain killers via team doctors, they don't need marijuana for pain.
- drawkbox 12y ago
  By alert in the helmet, I wasn't talking about a jarring alarm. I meant some sort of visual system and/or possibly vibration. This would some how work in coordination with other helmets to be aware of distances and speeds of other helmets. Maybe even something like HUDs in games that have the indicator overlays in the corners or mini map type system for receivers. If we are alerting in our cars of collisions why not the same type of impact on the field? These can be life changing moments, split seconds matter. The NFL should do some of the other items for safety/health (weight/padding/indicators) if they truly care more about the player on the field than treating them like a child off the field. I think many of the problems with athletes would be solved if they relaxed their harshness off the field and used that on the field. If every lineman that plays gets knee and ankle troubles for life, maybe they should limit weight and require braces and better equipment.
  - euphemize 12y ago
    I figured you meant something more subtle than a big red flashing light, but here's the thing: A) The difference between a clean hit and a dirty one is a matter of milliseconds. Players who dish out the hits can do very small things at the very last moment to try to hurt an opponent and I don't think any sort of warning system will help you with that. The time needed to react is way too long and you would need to be able to detect 'malice' in someone's intent, which is not exactly easy. B) Pro sports players are known to hate additional equipment, gizmos, protection extras, etc. even if it means reducing their own safety. Hockey players get hit in the face with sticks and pucks going 100 mph all the time, but still prefer to not wear a visor because they find it "more comfortable". They don't care if they're completely toothless (they actually see this as an honor - many don't get work done until they retire), as long as they can play unobstructed. Same with braces and pads, players will never wear them (and players' associations will side with them) if it means gaining half an inch on the pitch. Unfortunately, I don't think any amount of technology will help here. We need to change the way people think about contact sports (someone in this thread mentioned its likeness to wresting) and change the rules to protect the players better.
    - 12y ago
thrush 12y ago
Weight limit football is a thing in college: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_football http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_football
- gonzo 12y ago
  Yeah, and Dallas has an annual "mud fish" Sevens rugby, where the average player weight has to be over 200 lbs.
TrevorJ 12y ago
I suspect that unfortunately, the sport is always going to carry with it a not insignificant risk of brain injury. Technology and policy can help a lot, no doubt, but the fundamentals of the game sort of preclude it ever becoming truly safe.
latkin 12y ago
I once heard an interesting idea to implement not a per-player weight-limit, but a per-team weight limit. The average weight of the Seahawks (my home team) active roster this year is 246 lbs. So, for the sake of example, maybe shave 7-8% off of that and say that the 11 guys on the field for any given play can't weight more than 2,500 lbs combined. That would give teams a bit of wiggle room to use huge linemen if they want to, though the tradeoff is smaller ball-handling players.

cafard 12y ago

I suspect that the weight limit could be brought down by changing the rules on substitution. Could you play both sides of the ball and still weigh 300 lb.? I don't know about the padding. The players from an earlier and less protected era of pro football still ended up in pretty bad shape. Some may have escaped dementia simply by dying younger.

paddy_m 12y ago

The drivers already have a number to call for a free ride home at any time. There is no excuse for them to get DUIs

euphemize 12y ago

No NFL player would ever want to have an "alert in their helmet" if they're about to get hit. That sounds horrible and panic-inducing more than anything else. The NFL needs to follow other leagues, like the NHL, and simply ban dangerous hits to the head and blindsided hits altogether. There's a lot of resistance, but it's slowly making a difference. Enforcing knee braces, putting weight limits for linemen and making an exception for marijuana will also never work IMO. Also, players have access to very strong pain killers via team doctors, they don't need marijuana for pain.

drawkbox 12y ago
By alert in the helmet, I wasn't talking about a jarring alarm. I meant some sort of visual system and/or possibly vibration. This would some how work in coordination with other helmets to be aware of distances and speeds of other helmets. Maybe even something like HUDs in games that have the indicator overlays in the corners or mini map type system for receivers. If we are alerting in our cars of collisions why not the same type of impact on the field? These can be life changing moments, split seconds matter. The NFL should do some of the other items for safety/health (weight/padding/indicators) if they truly care more about the player on the field than treating them like a child off the field. I think many of the problems with athletes would be solved if they relaxed their harshness off the field and used that on the field. If every lineman that plays gets knee and ankle troubles for life, maybe they should limit weight and require braces and better equipment.
- euphemize 12y ago
  I figured you meant something more subtle than a big red flashing light, but here's the thing: A) The difference between a clean hit and a dirty one is a matter of milliseconds. Players who dish out the hits can do very small things at the very last moment to try to hurt an opponent and I don't think any sort of warning system will help you with that. The time needed to react is way too long and you would need to be able to detect 'malice' in someone's intent, which is not exactly easy. B) Pro sports players are known to hate additional equipment, gizmos, protection extras, etc. even if it means reducing their own safety. Hockey players get hit in the face with sticks and pucks going 100 mph all the time, but still prefer to not wear a visor because they find it "more comfortable". They don't care if they're completely toothless (they actually see this as an honor - many don't get work done until they retire), as long as they can play unobstructed. Same with braces and pads, players will never wear them (and players' associations will side with them) if it means gaining half an inch on the pitch. Unfortunately, I don't think any amount of technology will help here. We need to change the way people think about contact sports (someone in this thread mentioned its likeness to wresting) and change the rules to protect the players better.
  - 12y ago

thrush 12y ago

Weight limit football is a thing in college: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_football http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_football

gonzo 12y ago
Yeah, and Dallas has an annual "mud fish" Sevens rugby, where the average player weight has to be over 200 lbs.

TrevorJ 12y ago

I suspect that unfortunately, the sport is always going to carry with it a not insignificant risk of brain injury. Technology and policy can help a lot, no doubt, but the fundamentals of the game sort of preclude it ever becoming truly safe.

latkin 12y ago

I once heard an interesting idea to implement not a per-player weight-limit, but a per-team weight limit. The average weight of the Seahawks (my home team) active roster this year is 246 lbs. So, for the sake of example, maybe shave 7-8% off of that and say that the 11 guys on the field for any given play can't weight more than 2,500 lbs combined. That would give teams a bit of wiggle room to use huge linemen if they want to, though the tradeoff is smaller ball-handling players.