The NFL may no longer be a viable game

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by Daves not here, Aug 22, 2010.

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  1. Daves not here

    Daves not here Camp Fodder

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    Thanks to Code @ TC

    It's interesting to read Fisher and Finnegan's remarks after one week of training camp. Fisher says 'we need to recover'. Finnegan says 'it's been a long training camp'.

    It's been a week. The Titans are one of the few teams that don't do two-a-day's.

    I think this is telling.

    The bodies are larger. The speed is intense. Injuries seem to be commonplace.

    Compare an contrast. I'm now 50. But 40 years ago me and 14 - 18 kids would find a backyard or field and play tackle football seven days a week. Sure, we had an occassional bloodied nose or elbow, maybe even a lost tooth, but normal sized kids playing the game as hard as we could simply didn't produce hamstrings, hip flexors, pec tears, and the seemingly never endling list of NFL injuries.

    In a high school we lost a few guys each year to injury. Never made it on to college ball, but the injury toll begins rising significantly as the impact of the weightroom, supplements, and in some case steroid use increases.

    The guys in today's NFL are too big, too strong, too fast, to play with any form of contact without causing injury to their teammates. In truth, just the wear and tear of practice ... running, falling, etc ... seems to be as much of a cause for injury as the actual hitting.

    At some point in time, the game is going to have to be dumbed down (like college baseball dumbing down both balls and bats) to avoid injury. Truth be told, all of the off season workouts, the intensive body shaping, the 6% body fat levels, and the 'healthy' supplements that these guys are taking are really just increasing the level of risk.

    So while the millionaires are fighting the billionaires over revenue numbers, they all may be silently killing the golden goose by not addressing the epidemic of injuries that today's players face.
     
    #1 Daves not here, Aug 22, 2010
  4. CJtheBeast

    CJtheBeast Starter

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    Interesting take on things.

    When you've been playing football for that long though you start to get injuries. Your body has been taking a pounding for a long time. I don't know if injuries have increased or decreased over the past 10 years but if you've got some stats or facts it would help.
     
    #2 CJtheBeast, Aug 22, 2010
  7. CRUDS

    CRUDS Moderator Staff

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    Ironically, I recall tons of injuries due to Astroturf and other poor field conditions.. Those type of injuries aren't nearly the issue today they were 20 years back.. If there was an available stat I'd bet major injuries haven't increased significantly.
     
    #3 CRUDS, Aug 22, 2010
  10. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    Yes, players are all bigger, stronger, faster but also have more and better equipment to help them prevent major injury and medical technology available to heal faster.

    My scope of watching NFL football goes back to the days of Jack Tatum and the league has added many rules since that time which protects the QB and WR from some of the fierce contact I remember from my youth. Even the OL/DL have more rules in place designed to prevent injury.

    I don't believe there are more injuries today as back then due to contact itself. Where I see the increase in injury these days are hamstrings and knees when there isn't another player close. I also think it has to do with the added games at all levels of organized football now which adds to the risk.
     
    #4 TitanJeff, Aug 22, 2010
  13. Deuce Wayne

    Deuce Wayne NOW Y'ALL GET THE MESSICH?!

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    Some players are just simply more prone to injury, also. Seems like most the NFL injuries are re-occurring or nagging injuries with the same players.
     
    #5 Deuce Wayne, Aug 22, 2010
  16. TorontoTitanFan

    TorontoTitanFan Pro Bowler

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    I'm not sure this is an entirely accurate statement. In theory, it should be. However, I have read an awful lot lately about how today's players are shunning pads because they feel like padding slows them down. Players want small, light shoulder pads. Many (most?) no longer wear hip or thigh pads because they feel like they are weighed down by these pads. It would be smart for most players to wear knee braces as a preemptive measure if they have never had knee issues (this is something Tom Brady has been pushing lately), but not many do.
     
    #6 TorontoTitanFan, Aug 22, 2010
  19. Bulluckfan

    Bulluckfan Camp Fodder

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    TC has been going on for about 3 weeks, actually, not one week. Or maybe that part was from Code's post too? I don't recall Finny saying it had been a long camp back in week one. By now, it HAS been a long camp. In fact, camp is just about over. The need to recover is because of the daily practices. Two-a-days aren't the only factor. When you practice for a week straight, you need time to recover. Once TC is over, they'll be able to take a day or two off during the week, or at least off from the hardcore practicing.

    Athletes today are in much better shape as a group than 20 years ago. The size and speed probably are factors for the non-contact injuries. But the contact injuries probably aren't that different, overall.
     
    #7 Bulluckfan, Aug 22, 2010
  22. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Which, I suppose, could be related to the kind of foods we are given to eat as well (chemicals, proceeded etc).
     
    #8 Gunny, Aug 22, 2010
  25. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    The technology is there. To not wear it is a choice.

    If too many NFL "stars" end up on the sidelines, you can bet that the league may begin setting some guidelines as to what a player must wear to help prevent injury.

    Helmets have improved dramatically over the last decade.
     
    #9 TitanJeff, Aug 22, 2010
  28. globelieves

    globelieves Starter

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    Football, like everything else, changes over time, hopefully for the better, but not always. I'm sure players today wouldn't want to be playing in leather helmets or taking some of those nasty hits that have been outlawed over the years. (Doesn't mean they're whimps or that the sport has been dumbed down.) And in another 50 years players will probably think it's crazy that anyone ever practiced outside in 98 degree weather or used certain muscle building substances that, in the long run, did the body more harm than good. Injuries will always be a part of contact sports, but the type and severity will change with the rules, the advances in technology, and the accepted norm of the times. (Body types will change to meet the demand of the position.) Basically, it'll all work itself out...with a few casualties along the way.
     
    #10 globelieves, Aug 22, 2010
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