Football will either go extinct or go international.

[TheFrenzy]

Ok, a bit of hyperbole there in the title. But if CTE is even 10% as bad as the most recent sampling suggests, the game will need to change. If putting on a helmet means swiss-cheesing your brain the game will have two options:

1. Shut down and watch the other sports get a boost from an influx of athletic talent.

2. Go international and export the game to countries with less scientific understanding and athletic individuals desperate for a paycheck.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Football-Players /July 25, 2017

"The current report, from the lab of Dr. Ann McKee – one of the pre-eminent researchers in this area – documents the autopsy results of 202 former football players. Not all of them were professional – a few only had high school exposure, for example. Of the 202 individuals, 44 had mild CTE, and 133 had severe CTE"

Original journal article: Clinicopathological Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Players of American Football

[pgisback]

Yea, I thought it was just some isolated incidents and would blow over but the data coming out now is terrible. I mean, this is going to be a tough one for the future of football.

[Ray27Ray52]

For every one player who decides to quit the game there are 15 other players ready and willing to replace him. The game will change, it already has due to the misguided and woeful way Goodell has handled it, but it will never die.

[RogerGodahell]

I don't doubt that football players have CTE. But, i would like to see the same testing done on other athletes from different sports or just common people in general. Does jogging cause CTE when your brain is bouncing constantly inside your skull? Im not trying to make light of the situation but i am a little skeptic that it's just football players. This could be widespread for anyone who's athletic at all. I would like to see further testing done outside of football that's all.

[bojesphob]

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

I don't doubt that football players have CTE. But, i would like to see the same testing done on other athletes from different sports or just common people in general. Does jogging cause CTE when your brain is bouncing constantly inside your skull? Im not trying to make light of the situation but i am a little skeptic that it's just football players. This could be widespread for anyone who's athletic at all. I would like to see further testing done outside of football that's all.

I agree with this. When I played football in high school, I was one of the very few who had had a concussion (well, I had 2, but one wasn't football related). My nephew who played soccer SUPER competitively had around 4 by the time he was out of high school, and he said that several other players which had multiple as well. If it's the continuous hits that are causing the issue, and not just concussions, I would think that football would have a higher instance of it. But, if it's concussions that are a root cause, then soccer is going to be hitting this point in another 30-40 years when all of the youngsters who thought that soccer was more safe start getting to the same age as the NFL stars that have it bad.

[Cavaliercards]

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

I don't doubt that football players have CTE. But, i would like to see the same testing done on other athletes from different sports or just common people in general. Does jogging cause CTE when your brain is bouncing constantly inside your skull? Im not trying to make light of the situation but i am a little skeptic that it's just football players. This could be widespread for anyone who's athletic at all. I would like to see further testing done outside of football that's all.

The information is out there, yes it does exist elsewhere such as Hockey, but no it does not in jogging and in nowhere close to any sport as prevalent as football. It is not widespread for athletic people.

[Cavaliercards]

Originally Posted by bojesphob

I agree with this. When I played football in high school, I was one of the very few who had had a concussion (well, I had 2, but one wasn't football related). My nephew who played soccer SUPER competitively had around 4 by the time he was out of high school, and he said that several other players which had multiple as well. If it's the continuous hits that are causing the issue, and not just concussions, I would think that football would have a higher instance of it. But, if it's concussions that are a root cause, then soccer is going to be hitting this point in another 30-40 years when all of the youngsters who thought that soccer was more safe start getting to the same age as the NFL stars that have it bad.

Concussions are the problem, but it is also the repeated blows play after play which soccer avoids a lot of for the most part.

One report I read in WSJ by one of the doctors who had doubted the impact and then changed their minds, said football is like riding around and IED's going off around you for 60 minutes every Sunday.

[majestik101]

I mean by this rationale, pro wrestling (even if "fake", those wrestlers do suffer a fair amount of head injuries/trauma), boxing, and any hand to hand combat sport will go away. Heck, race car drivers suffer a great deal of concussions as well. All these sports with head trauma or head injuries will have participants who will eventually show signs of CTE.

Frankly I don't see any of these sports going away. Well, maybe boxing. Boxing is now a joke and doesn't resemble anything close to what it was in its hey day.

The sport of American Football is too big at this point. The equipment will change, the rules will change but the sport is here to stay.

[MeteoriteGuy]

It would seem cyclist are likely in a sport that would be prone to CTEs as well. At least it seems a couple professionals die every year by hitting a curb and flying into things like trees. I am guessing there is a 100 that get CTEs or major injuries for every death, and that the number would go up by another 100 times if you figured in the non-professionals. It might be the worst of all sports.

[jason122883]

EJ nailed it. Football isn't going anywhere. There are way too many players out there willing to step in for someone who doesn't want to risk the brain injury.

Heck, with the amount of money these guys get paid to play a game, I grew up playing and loved. I'd go play right now, even knowing all the consequences

[chris_ac]

I've followed baseball, basketball, football, and hockey since I was a kid in the 90s and they all have problems. Baseball is too boring and time consuming to most audiences. Basketball suffers from not enough competitive teams partially because drafts are too shallow each year to supply teams with good talent. Hockey is still and always has been a niche. Football has the mass media and fans so far, but now future health problems are fracturing youth participation. Golf is also dying because millenials don't have the discipline or patience for it.

All these leagues will continue in some form despite obstacles, but more and more young people are not sports fans like previous generations unless of course you played a sport as kid for several years. It's a tough crowd. I never played sports due to health, but I was always a fan.

[majestik101]

Originally Posted by chris_ac

I've followed baseball, basketball, football, and hockey since I was a kid in the 90s and they all have problems. Baseball is too boring and time consuming to most audiences. Basketball suffers from not enough competitive teams partially because drafts are too shallow each year to supply teams with good talent. Hockey is still and always has been a niche. Football has the mass media and fans so far, but now future health problems are fracturing youth participation. Golf is also dying because millenials don't have the discipline or patience for it.

All these leagues will continue in some form despite obstacles, but more and more young people are not sports fans like previous generations unless of course you played a sport as kid for several years. It's a tough crowd. I never played sports due to health, but I was always a fan.

An additional point, as long as we're talking about whether or not the game will go away, you have to factor in fantasy sport betting into this discussion. It's sort of connected on a weird level, but I don't know a single person or, (more importantly, females) who plays Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Basketball, or Fantasy Hockey. I do however know of a lot of people and women who will absolutely put their lives on hold every Sunday to play Fantasy football.

The popularity of the NFL (with or without the threat of CTE) will continue as long as Fantasy Football is around.

[IronMonkey415]

Good let those yellow teeth people enjoy the game as well.


Remember as kid we would call United Kingdom and British people yellow teeth? That was so rude of us.

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by Ray27Ray52

The game will change, it already has due to the misguided and woeful way Goodell has handled it, but it will never die.

I mean, it did survive attempts by the president to kill it in its infancy. Funny to think that perhaps our manliest president grew tired of seeing young men killed and threatened to outlaw the game. But the game adapted then and perhaps it will do so again now.

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

I don't doubt that football players have CTE. But, i would like to see the same testing done on other athletes from different sports or just common people in general. Does jogging cause CTE when your brain is bouncing constantly inside your skull? Im not trying to make light of the situation but i am a little skeptic that it's just football players. This could be widespread for anyone who's athletic at all. I would like to see further testing done outside of football that's all.

That's one of the big things in CTE research at this point: Trying to establish a baseline.

We're all watching chapter 1 of this saga right now.

Originally Posted by chris_ac

All these leagues will continue in some form despite obstacles, but more and more young people are not sports fans like previous generations unless of course you played a sport as kid for several years. It's a tough crowd. I never played sports due to health, but I was always a fan.

Seems like every day is a new "Millennials are killing X." I mean, we all know what it really is, the world is just changing faster than it ever has. A lot of high schoolers today either don't have or don't want a drivers license. Most young people would rather get a selfie with an athlete than their autograph. There's even evidence which suggests the human brain is evolving to meet the new demands of modern society and that's why we're seeing a rise in autism (the ability to separate emotion and reason and complete repetitive tasks with higher efficiency).

The times they are a-changing.

[rman112]

Players still want to play. Just have them sign a waiver stating that they know stuff like this can happen.

[Giancarlo27]

Originally Posted by bojesphob

I agree with this. When I played football in high school, I was one of the very few who had had a concussion (well, I had 2, but one wasn't football related). My nephew who played soccer SUPER competitively had around 4 by the time he was out of high school, and he said that several other players which had multiple as well. If it's the continuous hits that are causing the issue, and not just concussions, I would think that football would have a higher instance of it. But, if it's concussions that are a root cause, then soccer is going to be hitting this point in another 30-40 years when all of the youngsters who thought that soccer was more safe start getting to the same age as the NFL stars that have it bad.

The problem is not necessarily concussions according to most researchers. It's the hundreds of sub-concussive blows that football players suffer daily in practice in games that add up over decades of play. Soccer players might get three concussions over a 10 year career from bumping heads with other players on headers, while a football player might have had one concussive blow over the same time period along with 10,000 hits below the force threshold for a concussion. Many researchers believe that the issue lies in these blows and not necessarily the big hits that actually cause concussions. Only in football do players legitimately suffer 50-75 blows to the head daily.

[ND3]

Repeated blows to head during practice/drills/scrimmage/game day is said to be worse then the concussions people suffer.

NFL players see more blows to the head during a prolonged career then anyone else. They are the extreme cases.

What about those who play youth, high school and college? Rates of CTE are prob higher then people think. This group just isn't donating their brains to the study.

What we now know about the blows to the head and we let children under 8th grade play is really an eye opener. Those developing brains are most suseptible to awful side effects.

Yes I love football....yes I played HS football....yes I played college football...yes I was close to playing in the NFL. But not sure I am gonna let my sons do the same with all the info we have now.

[TheFrenzy]

Someday, mark my words, a football game will be broadcast. The fans at home will cheer. It will be a thrilling game. A classic nail-biter with the home team emerging victorious and everyone happy.

Then the following morning it will be announced that the game was 100% simulated using video technology that is already emerging today.

Perhaps someday athletes will build up their bodies and be measured every week at a Combine-type event. These measurements will be used to calibrate their digital likeness on the field of play for that weekend's game and players will be compensated more in the form of royalties than performance-based contracts. Who knows? Or maybe we'll stick players in virtual reality contraptions and let them battle it out from separate pods?

Or maybe bionic implants will make ACLs untearable and skulls unconcussable.

[RogerGodahell]

Giant bobble head helmets are the future.

[meandsharon11]

I think the whole point of the tests were to expose the real life side effects. Another fact we don't have is who the players were and what condition they were in when they left? Maybe these 202 players all had a similar fate in common on the field. Maybe they all ended their careers because something dramatic happened. Like Michael Irvin landing on his head and damaging his neck.

We all know it's full contact and a higher percentage of players will leave with those conditions than the average job or sport.

Now if this publication included testing all former football players then that would mean something completely different.

In reality about 20% of football players will leave the game with some form of head trauma. Common sense will tell you this. Just like common sense will tell you that 20% of accident survivors will develope some sort of head trauma.

This is a classic case of using partial information to try and paint a full picture. It's sad, but everyone knows if you play football you're probably gonna get hurt somehow.

[rman112]

Originally Posted by meandsharon11

I think the whole point of the tests were to expose the real life side effects. Another fact we don't have is who the players were and what condition they were in when they left? Maybe these 202 players all had a similar fate in common on the field. Maybe they all ended their careers because something dramatic happened. Like Michael Irvin landing on his head and damaging his neck.

We all know it's full contact and a higher percentage of players will leave with those conditions than the average job or sport.

Now if this publication included testing all former football players then that would mean something completely different.

In reality about 20% of football players will leave the game with some form of head trauma. Common sense will tell you this. Just like common sense will tell you that 20% of accident survivors will develope some sort of head trauma.

This is a classic case of using partial information to try and pain a full picture. It's sad, but everyone knows if you play football you're probably gonna get hurt somehow.

Correcto.

[pgisback]

The problem isn't getting players to play it's if there's a nationwide agreement that the sport is too dangerous for pop warner to college kids to play. That's what I see happening as we get softer as a country and have to protect everyone from themselves.

[ebrigance]

Football will die soon. Soon high schools will be shutting down their football programs. Mostly because of lawsuits from parents cause their kid got hurt. No high school football means no college football.

[RogerGodahell]

Nah, they'll just keep changing the rules until it becomes 2 hand touch.

[afrederick12]

Alright, to play devil's advocate. Can we same the same for hockey, boxing, UFC? The latter two are basically knock this person out.