College Football to be canceled? Forever?

[SoonerPride]

The subject of college football will be featured on the next Intelligence Squared debate on 5/8/2012. The debate is titled "BAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL"

http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/debates/ban-college-football/

Journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell will argue that college football's days are numbered due to the increasing research about concussions and more importantly repetitive subconcussive impact and the risk of traumatic brain injury. In the near future high schools will cancel football for fear of lawsuits and so will colleges. He predicts that the days of the sport are numbered.

As a preview of the debate an interview on his position is here: http://tinyurl.com/752a8nf

Head Games

Why Malcolm Gladwell will argue that college football should be banned at the Slate/Intelligence Squared live debate on May 8 in New York City.

By Katy Waldman|Posted Monday, April 30, 2012, at 6:29 PM ET

Journalist Malcolm Gladwell will participate in the next Intelligence Squared debate, about college football


(Update, May 2, 2012: Since we published this interview Monday, Gladwell responded to some follow-up questions. The article has been updates with those questions and answers.)


New Yorker columnist and best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell was already a household name in 2009 when he penned an article audaciously comparing football to dogfighting. Both sports, he said, exploit the loyalty and “gameness” of the participants, exposing them to danger for the entertainment of spectators. The dog-fighting analogy works best in the context of college football, for which the athletes themselves receive no compensation. “It's a bit much both to maim AND exploit college football players,” Gladwell wrote me in an email last week.

Gladwell’s piece explored the link between the rain of subconcussive blows players experience on the field and CTE, a progressive neurological disorder. In this interview, he evaluates the response to the research and illumines corners of student-athlete culture that often go overlooked. Gladwell is the author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw, as well as a sweep of articles on everything from puzzles to moral hazard in health care. Read on for his thoughts on the NFL and how playing football is different from running track.

Slate: What do you think is the single most compelling reason to abolish college football? Corruption? Head injury? Lost focus on academics?

Malcolm Gladwell: The factor that I think will be decisive is the head-injury issue. Colleges are going to get sued, and they will have to decide whether they can afford their legal exposure. That said, the issue ought to be how big-time college sports subverts the academic mission of university education.

Slate: Your debate opponents argue that college sports enrich university education by teaching teamwork, discipline, and other personal qualities that lead to success off the field. Do you disagree?

Gladwell: They are absolutely right. Sports teach all kinds of virtues. I wonder if there is a way, though, to teach teamwork and discipline without maiming people. I mean if we could prove that coal mining taught discipline and teamwork and built school spirit, would we build coal mines on every major college campus?

Slate: How would you define the culture of college football? Does this culture add to or detract from the sport’s dangers?

Gladwell: College football has become indistinguishable from professional football—which is the problem. The only justification for college sports is that they are structured in a way that enhances the social and academic experience of getting an education. A sports program using semiprofessional athletes, and running on a budget of $50-plus million a year does not fit that description.

Slate: What might a college football league that “is structured in a way that enhances the social and academic experience of getting an education” look like?

Gladwell: Well, a college sport that enhances the academic experience is one that encourages maximum participation and physical fitness. In other words, it doesn't involve spending tens of millions of dollars on 40 people, some of whom are permanently injured as a result. It involves spending thousands of dollars on 4,000 or 40,000 people, in an attempt to make their lives more fulfilling.

Slate: In an article for Grantland, economists Tyler Cowen and Kevin Grier imagine a fairly plausible chain of events leading to the demise of the NFL. Liability suits at the collegiate and post-collegiate level prompt insurance companies to stop covering schools when it comes to football. Coaches and parents shy away from the sport, sapping the NFL feeder system. As links between CTE and concussions grow clearer, a stigma attaches to the league and advertisers withdraw support. Ultimately, football goes the way of rugby, boxing, and horseracing. Cowen and Grier write, “If recent history has shown anything, it is that observers cannot easily imagine the big changes in advance. Very few people were predicting the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, or the rise of China as an economic power. Once you start thinking through how the status quo might unravel, a sports universe without the NFL at its center no longer seems absurd.” Do you think it’s realistic to talk about the end of football? What about the end of college football?

Gladwell: Well, boxing and horseracing didn't end. They have persisted, just in vastly less popular forms than before. They have gone into slow and irreversible decline. I suspect that the same will happen with football. It's going to wither as the supply of talent slowly dries up. I heard on ESPN Michael Wilbon—who is one of the most influential sports journalists in the country—say that he will not let his kids play pro football. If Wilbon won't, who will?

Slate: Is unacceptable risk intrinsic to football, or could rule changes and equipment modifications salvage the game?

Gladwell: You can certainly mitigate the risk. But remember the issue isn't concussions. It is "repetitive subconcussive impact." It's not the one big hit. It is the cumulative effect of thousands of little hits that lineman and defensive backs (the most affected positions) endure, play after play. Can you take the "head" out of line play? You can. But then what you are left with would no longer be called tackle football. It would be called touch football.

Slate: Say banning college football isn’t an option. What reforms would you propose to the system?

Gladwell: If you want college athletes to assume an as yet unknown risk of permanent physical and neurological damage, you should pay them. Properly. It's a bit much both to maim AND exploit college football players.

Slate: Were you a student athlete?

Gladwell: I was. I ran track. A very different kettle of fish.

Slate: How was it different?

Gladwell: In the course of training, no one bashed me repeated on the head, and called the resulting damage "sport."

Slate: Do you feel that football is too exalted on college campuses, or is it a worthwhile priority that breeds school spirit (and lots of funding)? How would you defend your contention against the other side?

Gladwell: Football breeds school spirit and fundraising. But, I suspect, it breeds school spirit and fundraising largely for the football program. In any case, I find the notion that you can justify exploiting and maiming athletes because that raises money for the school they are attending to be a slightly appalling notion.

Slate: Should the NFL be banned too?

Gladwell: As long as the risks are explicit, the players warned, and those injured properly compensated, then I'm not sure we can stop people from playing. A better question is whether it is ethical to WATCH football. That's a harder question.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Any thoughts?

[Dio]

This country is turning into ****ing France.

[SoonerPride]

This country is turning into ****ing France.

If there is increased evidence that the sport causes irreparable brain injury (see Junior Seau suicide), then insurance companies won't cover it, people will sue, and the sport may collapse.

Equipment improvements may be able to make it safe, but they have a compelling argument about how and why it might end, even if one disagrees with it. I can see insurance companies, high schools, and colleges saying it's not worth the financial exposure. Which would be the beginning of the end.

[DarrellZero]

If they haven't banned boxing yet, they aren't banning football.

[MeMyself&Me]

If they haven't banned boxing yet, they aren't banning football.

It's not a matter of 'banning' it. It's a matter of organizations determining it's not worth the risk for their organization, be insurance companies or high schools or colleges. If there's no one that is willing to take the chances, there's nobody to ban. That said, I have my doubts it would go that far. More likely is that rules will change that change the game dramatically. Wouldn't be the first time.

[Seamus]

Bring back gladiatorial warfare!

http://newnation.sg/wp-content/uploads/leonidas.jpg

[SoonerPride]

It's not a matter of 'banning' it. It's a matter of organizations determining it's not worth the risk for their organization, be insurance companies or high schools or colleges. If there's no one that is willing to take the chances, there's nobody to ban. That said, I have my doubts it would go that far. More likely is that rules will change that change the game dramatically. Wouldn't be the first time.

That's what I think as well.

With Junior Seau's apparent suicide done in such a way as to allow for autopsy on his brain, it appears this issue will get significantly more play.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/report-nfl-legend-junior-seau-dead-182120394.html

"If Seau committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest, it is similar to the way former Chicago Bears great Dave Duerson ended his life. Duerson shot himself in the chest on February 17, 2011 -- the method used so that his brain could be examined for symptoms of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a trauma-induced disease common to NFL players and others who have received repeated blows to the head."

They may change it to touch or flag football and take all the hitting out of it entirely.

If that happens, how long until no one watches?

[Seamus]

If that happens, how long until no one watches?

Instantly.

[cccasooner2]

Bring on more battles of the bands!!!!! :(

[MamaMia]

If there is increased evidence that the sport causes irreparable brain injury (see Junior Seau suicide), then insurance companies won't cover it, people will sue, and the sport may collapse.

Equipment improvements may be able to make it safe, but they have a compelling argument about how and why it might end, even if one disagrees with it. I can see insurance companies, high schools, and colleges saying it's not worth the financial exposure. Which would be the beginning of the end. Collegiate sports as a whole is a big profit making business for insurance companies and colleges. They're making big profits off of football. The revenue gained from football programs help carry the financial costs of a large variety of college sports. No way will insurance companies or universities decide to end college football as we know it.

These guys sound like a couple of Obamacare liberal whackos to me.

[8timechamps]

Every year, the risks associated with football are "increased" by some study or report. Yet, the popularity of the sport is at an all time high. Football is a dangerous sport, however, it can be played in such a way to avoid head trauma (or at least limit the amount). It starts with youth coaching. If the spotlight needs to be put anywhere, it's at that level. Every youth football coach should have to be educated on how to tackle, etc. I've seen way too many high school freshman come in with horrible technique, that would eventually have led to a head/neck injury.

As for the NFL, there is never going to be a decrease in the violence of the game. That's part of what we are drawn to, and what the players work hard to perfect.

Every time I see a group debating this, I want to say "you could walk out of your house tomorrow and get hit by a bus, you better stay inside and cover yourself with bubble-wrap".

Insurance companies still cover boxing, sport aviation and auto-racing....football isn't in danger of being banned.

[Eielson]

Malcolm Gladwell is an author. He's interesting to read, but there are obvious flaws in some of his work as an economist. Gladwell and Leavitt (author of Freakonomics) have disagreed on a handful of issues. After reading both's work, I couldn't help but side with Leavitt on every single one of them.

Edit: Leavitt and Dubner were both authors of Freakonomics. Dubner is an actual writer, and Leavitt is an economist. I just wanted to point that out so you'd know I wasn't contradicting myself with the "author not an economist" comment.

[Eielson]

Malcolm Gladwell is an author. He's interesting to read, but there are obvious flaws in some of his work as an economist. Gladwell and Leavitt (author of Freakonomics) have disagreed on a handful of issues. After reading both's work, I couldn't help but side with Leavitt on every single one of them.

Edit: Leavitt and Dubner were both authors of Freakonomics. Dubner is an actual writer, and Leavitt is an economist. I just wanted to point that out so you'd know I wasn't contradicting myself with the "author not an economist" comment.

Also, I wanted to say that the Wilbon comment is silly. If Wilbon won't let his kids play pro football, who will? How about all the kids who don't have famous and wealthy fathers (in other words, a large percent of the NFL). Not everybody is in the financial position to turn down that kind of money. If the kid is NFL bound, I highly doubt Wilbon will be able to make the kid quit playing football, and even if he could, I doubt he would. It's a lot easier to say what you would do when you don't actually have to make the decision.

[MeMyself&Me]

I wonder if there were people that threatened to quit watching football when they instituted the forward pass?

[King Crimson]

malcom gladwell is a bit of a tool. kind of a 2nd rate "public intellectual" with floppy hair.

i think the NFL is a joke, the 365/24/7 coverage and hype a total masterpiece of mind-control and consumer behavior experiment....and unwatchable as sport...but, whiskey and motorcycles are more dangerous to more people than football.

[swardboy]

I had oatmeal for breakfast.

[8timechamps]

Yay...football lives to fight another day! thread/

[OULenexaman]

These guys sound like a couple of Obamacare liberal whackos to me. I might have just found me a sig line.:welcoming:

[MI Sooner]

If there is increased evidence that the sport causes irreparable brain injury (see Junior Seau suicide), then insurance companies won't cover it, people will sue, and the sport may collapse.

Equipment improvements may be able to make it safe, but they have a compelling argument about how and why it might end, even if one disagrees with it. I can see insurance companies, high schools, and colleges saying it's not worth the financial exposure. Which would be the beginning of the end.

I suspect that the equipment improvement that would make football safe(r) would be the abolishing helmets. You might get an increase in the occasional horrific knee to the head fractured skull, but I think that you'd get a lot less contact to the head generally. Reminds me of a comment I once heard about safety features in cars, and how much of the potential safety improvement is offset by an increase in unsafe behavior.

[GDC]

Interesting read, thanks for posting.

[budbarrybob]

You mean the UFC will go away :sulkiness:

[Eielson]

You mean the UFC will go away :sulkiness:

Yeah, it's odd. I've heard other people go in the complete opposite direction and say that eventually we will be doing gladiator-type stuff. Apparently this is on the basis that we naturally want violence, and sports will eventually involve killing people. I don't believe that one bit, but it's been said.

[12]

I'll just bet OU WILL DOMINATE FLAG FOOTBALL!

[Jason White's Third Knee]

This country is turning into ****ing France.



That's it. Gimme a big plate of snails. I'm hungry.


I just pitched my deodorant in the trash.

[Ruf/Nek7]

Yeah, it's odd. I've heard other people go in the complete opposite direction and say that eventually we will be doing gladiator-type stuff. Apparently this is on the basis that we naturally want violence, and sports will eventually involve killing people. I don't believe that one bit, but it's been said.

So the director of The Running Man nailed it back in the late 80's!

[Ruf/Nek7]

If this were to happen, I would totally invest in ESPN Classic. Just saying.

[Curly Bill]

I didn't watch it but CNN had a dealio on tonight talking about this subject.

[picasso]

People like to talk about how tough old school football was. I played from '81-'87 and yeah we did stuff in practice that would get a lawsuit filed on a school these days BUT, we also didn't start playing tackle football until we were in the 7th grade!!!
What say you ease up on your kid knocking heads at an early age.

You dorks.

[OU_Sooners75]

We can put a man on the moon, we can make it where people can survive head on vehicle to vehicle collisions....but we cannot find the technology to make a helmet that can protect the brain better?

[okiegirl]

Does anyone know how many rock stars/tv/movie celebs commit suicide vs. football players? Just wondering.

[Curly Bill]

I think it's about more than just brains, it's the busted knees, old guys, and in some cases not-so-old guys that can barely walk...

Erik Williams, All-Pro tackle for the Cowboys in their last stretch of glory is on record as saying if he had it to do all over again that he wouldn't do it. I know there are others, but I heard them talking about him on sports radio yesterday.

[OU_Sooners75]

People like to talk about how tough old school football was. I played from '81-'87 and yeah we did stuff in practice that would get a lawsuit filed on a school these days BUT, we also didn't start playing tackle football until we were in the 7th grade!!!
What say you ease up on your kid knocking heads at an early age.

You dorks.

I was playing tackle football at the age of 10. I graduated HS in 1994.

The problem isn't how long they have played tackle football, its technique.

I played football for close to 12 years of my life and never once did I have a concussion. And I played as an offensive lineman for all but 3 of those years.

That said, players in todays game have grown up trying to mimic the big hits. A big hit is fun to witness, but it also leads to tacklers throwing their bodies around recklessly. When you are going for the big hit, you tend to have your head down more than naught. You tend to leave your feet on the tackle, more than naught. You also tend to hit the ball carrier higher up on their body. All of these are bad technique.

What needs to be done isn't banning the sport...it is the coaches need to stress technique over all else when it comes to tackling. And they need to get really strict and have some type of discipline for using poor technique.

[OU_Sooners75]

I think it's about more than just brains, it's the busted knees, old guys, and in some cases not-so-old guys that can barely walk...

Erik Williams, All-Pro tackle for the Cowboys in their last stretch of glory is on record as saying if he had it to do all over again that he wouldn't do it. I know there are others, but I heard them talking about him on sports radio yesterday.

The knee problems are starting to be a thing of the past when it comes to linemen. Most teams and organizations require knee braces for their linemen (both offense and defense). And trust me, those braces are a great thing to wear inside the trenches.

That said, you cannot blame this sport on worn out knees. What if their sure size was also part of the problem? I mean, it is very stressful on the joints to be consistently over 300 pounds.

[Curly Bill]

I was playing tackle football at the age of 10. I graduated HS in 1994.

The problem isn't how long they have played tackle football, its technique.

I played football for close to 12 years of my life and never once did I have a concussion. And I played as an offensive lineman for all but 3 of those years.

That said, players in todays game have grown up trying to mimic the big hits. A big hit is fun to witness, but it also leads to tacklers throwing their bodies around recklessly. When you are going for the big hit, you tend to have your head down more than naught. You tend to leave your feet on the tackle, more than naught. You also tend to hit the ball carrier higher up on their body. All of these are bad technique.

What needs to be done isn't banning the sport...it is the coaches need to stress technique over all else when it comes to tackling. And they need to get really strict and have some type of discipline for using poor technique.

So, all these old NFL guys that can't walk, or can barely walk, and hurt all over and constantly, it's because they had poor technique?

I'm not saying that doesn't contribute to it, but that's a very simplistic way of looking at it.

[Curly Bill]

The knee problems are starting to be a thing of the past when it comes to linemen. Most teams and organizations require knee braces for their linemen (both offense and defense). And trust me, those braces are a great thing to wear inside the trenches.

That said, you cannot blame this sport on worn out knees. What if their sure size was also part of the problem? I mean, it is very stressful on the joints to be consistently over 300 pounds.

Surely you jest!!!!! The braces help, but knee injuries a thing of the past? Really? Have you looked at injury reports lately?

[OU_Sooners75]

So, all these old NFL guys that can't walk, or can barely walk, and hurt all over and constantly, it's because they had poor technique?

I'm not saying that doesn't contribute to it, but that's a very simplistic way of looking at it.

Okay, so we are talking about the old generation of players where very little protective rules were in place in this sport?

Hell, lets talk about the many of the initial players of this sport that died because of no rules and the brutality of the sport while we are at it? You know the sport that Teddy Roosevelt damn near banished from this planet?

The old times, like the Mike Ditkas and earlier had far inferior equipment. They could chop block (one hit high, one low). They could clothesline tackle. They could grab the facemask. They could crack back block. They could horse collar tackle. They could hit helmet to helmet. They could spear (lead with helmet at any part of the body).

The game rules and regulations have changed dramatically since those guys have played. Also the technology in the equipment used has changed drastically. It has done so since I last played in the late 1990s.

[OU_Sooners75]

Surely you jest!!!!! The braces help, but knee injuries a thing of the past? Really? Have you looked at injury reports lately?

You never talked about knee injuries. You said knee problems becuase of this sport.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if you tear your ACL, MCL, or any other knee ligament you are going to have problems with it later in life.

However, I took your post about those that didn't have those injuries. And yes, the knee braces do help with preventing torn knee ligaments....doesn't eliminate them totally.

[OU_Sooners75]

Surely you jest!!!!! The braces help, but knee injuries a thing of the past? Really? Have you looked at injury reports lately?

Compare the ACL and MCL tears between Linemen and other positions.

You will be amazed a how much more there are significant knee injuries from other positions than linemen...and considering there are more linemen on the field than any other position, that is actually pretty impressive.

When I was playing, linemen knee injuries happened at a much greater pace than they are now, and the reason for that was because of all the bodies hitting the ground, legs getting whipped around to take knees out, etc.

I am not saying that they do not occur, but the frequency is diminishing among linemen.

[Curly Bill]

I know the braces help a lot, but football is a violent sport and injuries are going to occur. Even if they outlawed blocking and tackling there would still be injuries. I'm not picking on football though because some of the worst knee injuries I've personally witnessed have been to female basketball players in fact, and usually non-contact injuries.

It sure seems football is being put under a microscope right now though.

[OU_Sooners75]

I know the braces help a lot, but football is a violent sport and injuries are going to occur. Even if they outlawed blocking and tackling there would still be injuries. I'm not picking on football though because some of the worst knee injuries I've personally witnessed have been to female basketball players in fact, and usually non-contact injuries.

It sure seems football is being put under a microscope right now though.

And it should be. There is an alarming number of concussions. Surely the medical field can help come up with a helmet that can absorb more of the energy from the hit.

[Curly Bill]

And it should be. There is an alarming number of concussions. Surely the medical field can help come up with a helmet that can absorb more of the energy from the hit.

Haven't they already proven that weird-looking double shell helmet will do that? It doesn't "look right" though so no one wants to wear it.

[OU_Sooners75]

I remember a Buffalo Bill wearing it back in the late 1980-1990s. Kelso was his name I do believe.

It may look ridiculous, but if it can do the trick, then they should make it mandatory.

And besides, why can't they fashion that type of helmet into something someone would wear withoure reservations?

[Curly Bill]

Because it looks funny I'm sure neither the NFL, nor big-time college football are fans of it. Wouldn't help their marketing.

[Curly Bill]

If they're not careful congress may try & make it mandatory!

...as if they need to get their thumb in another pie.

[BBQ Man]

I don't even like the suggestion of this, but I can see school's wanting to avoid massive lawsuits. This is depressing to even think about it.

[Ton Loc]

Getting hit in the head repeatedly is bad for you? You don't say. Almost like when people found out smoking was bad for them because they were too dumb to realize breathing in fire and smoke was a bad idea.

I remember all that false outrage and the anger at the tobacco companies. I wonder if this will ever reach the heights of ignorance smoking did.

[PrideMom]

Has anyone watched Australian football? Those guys are tough!! The teams do not wear any pads, and it is a rough sport played in the fall/winter season. Maybe the solution would be to to bring back leather helmets and pads.

The Junior Seau issue was he was looking at debts, a failed marriage, out of work for a year, etc. Depression is often not taken seriously enough, and over looked by others...Sad, sad, sad that anyone has to wonder when a loved one takes his own life.

[texas bandman]

Every time I see a group debating this, I want to say "you could walk out of your house tomorrow and get hit by a bus, you better stay inside and cover yourself with bubble-wrap".

Bubble wrap and a padded room for me please. Thanks! :D

[SoonerPride]

The debate was last night.

You can watch the proceedings here.

It was an interesting thoughtful discussion.

http://fora.tv/2012/05/08/Ban_College_Football

[allanace16]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7908395/should-college-football-banned

ESPN article on it today.

While I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Bissinger and Gladwell would out-debate just about anyone they were put up against, I didn't necessarily think they were right, or even attacked on their points that well compared to what they did to Whitlock/Green. A lot of their arguments against college football really weren't football-specific arguments and really could be applied to any college sport, yet they were willing to admit that there was a place for intercollegiate sports in the university landscape. Furthermore as much as we get the "Almost all student athletes will be going pro in something other than athletics" commercials from the NCAA, I'm really surprised at how much of the long term evidence brought up was from people that had concluded their professional careers. Even when you look at the extremes of Duerson and Seau, Duerson took a full decade's worth of hits past college and Seau took 2 decades. Seems like the more reasonable approach would be some kind of regulation on the length of professional football careers as opposed to some outright ban on college football if the issue is long term safety.

Nonetheless it was a very interesting discussion.

[PrideMom]

Wrong team won....but it was at NYU......

[8timechamps]

The real issue that's being attacked is the money spent on college football. Safety is an ancillary argument (that has teeth).

The arguments for banning college football (there was a very recent write-up in the New York Post) cite the cost to the tax-payers. Those opposed to the sport feel that the U.S. taxpayer is subsidizing the minor leagues for the NFL. Which, in a sense, is true. However, given that football is the only money-making sport at most schools, that argument alone doesn't merit banning college football.

The concussion issue is a relatively new issue. Of course concussions aren't new, but the spot-light is. So, the 'ban college football' contingent uses that as a starting point.

As for the equipment issues (brought up in an earlier post), there is no technology in the world that can prevent a concussion. The brain is essentially a free-floating organ within the skull. Outside of some kind of surgical procedure of the future, there is no way to prevent the brain from moving inside the skull during an impact to the skull.

Just like anything in life, football has some inherent risk. But, it's "America's Game". It's the new national pastime. And it's not going anywhere. However, I do think within the next decade, kick-offs will be a thing of the past. We're inching closer and closer to that already.

[tanis143]

Sorry, but you can pad the head all you want, that won't stop a concussion. The concussion happens because the brain is not anchored, it floats around in your skull suspended by cranial fluid. When your head is moving one direction then stops suddenly, the brain impacts against the skull in the direction of the movement. This will happen no matter how much padding you put on the skull. Imagine you are in a car with no seatbelt on, the car hits a wall. End result is you smash into the windshield. Now, wrap the car in 100 layers of bubble wrap. You hit a wall, you still fly forward due to conservation of forward momentum.

[hornswaggled]

Make the referees liable. If a player gets hurt during the game then the ref has to go to court to determine how much compensation he has to pay to the player for not protecting him. That seems fair to me.

[OULenexaman]

Sorry, but you can pad the head all you want, that won't stop a concussion. The concussion happens because the brain is not anchored, it floats around in your skull suspended by cranial fluid. When your head is moving one direction then stops suddenly, the brain impacts against the skull in the direction of the movement. This will happen no matter how much padding you put on the skull. Imagine you are in a car with no seatbelt on, the car hits a wall. End result is you smash into the windshield. Now, wrap the car in 100 layers of bubble wrap. You hit a wall, you still fly forward due to conservation of forward momentum. Welcome to the board Einstein.

[Curly Bill]

Make the referees liable. If a player gets hurt during the game then the ref has to go to court to determine how much compensation he has to pay to the player for not protecting him. That seems fair to me.

Like they don't have enough to do already. ...and who's gonna train all those refs and make em medical experts? Dumb...really dumb idea.

[SouthCarolinaSooner]

Why not just do away with helmets, and tone down the pads a bit? It would surely put an end to head to head contact (mostly), and its how the game started off being played.

[8timechamps]

Why not just do away with helmets, and tone down the pads a bit? It would surely put an end to head to head contact (mostly), and its how the game started off being played.

I've heard many retired players say removing the facemask would take care of the problem. I'm not sure I agree with that...taking away the helmet would certainly reduce the amount of head impacts, but would just look weird.