Big game? Who cares - The NFL, and football in general is worthless.

[Anonymous]

Steve Young on CTE after former teammate's diagnosis following suicide: 'We've got to be better'

Steve Young found himself reminiscing on Thursday after learning Greg Clark, a former tight end with the San Francisco 49ers, has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at an advanced stage.

Young, who starred at quarterback for the 49ers, and Clark played together for three seasons.

“Greg was a tremendous athlete, and he was also a big personality," Young told USA TODAY Sports. “Greg’s one of those guys that was always a little bit bigger than life, and I think that makes the loss that much more difficult."

In July, Clark killed himself with a gunshot wound. He was 49.

[...]

cont:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2022/04/22/greg-clark-and-cte-steve-young-says-weve-got-better-helping/7409083001/

[Anonymous]

You are screaming into the void.

If you are really interested in making this sport safer (or hell, even killing the sport), replying to your own threads/posts on DCUM might actually be the worst way to go about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

T

I don't have a solution to propose. Personally, I think that the NFL/Football as it currently exists is dying. It's decline or evolution may be decades in the making but it will need to change drastically or become extinct. I think this is something that people should be aware of but I find in discussing it, most people really haven't given this much thought.

What say you, DCUM?

It does not appear to be dying. In fact, it appears to be absolutely dominating the sport the landscape in America. 93 out of 100, and that's not even including the college game

That is temporary... the "here and now".

The pipeline is drying up. Youth participation in tackle football is down overall over the past decade. The only region where it isn't in drastic decline, unsurprisingly, is the south.

There are only 2 states that saw an increase: Alabama and Mississippi.

Even Texas, a "football" state saw a decline in youth participation in tackle football over the past decade.

So while there are clearly people who still watch it, old habits die hard, it is clearly in decline... perhaps not a rapid decline but a decline nonetheless. There is just too much awareness about the CTE and the detriment to long-term brain health and more educated and informed people are not subjecting their sons to this. There will be a lag in poorer and southern states/areas but eventually they will understand the risk and will make more informed decisions.

NFL is looking to recruit from Africa

[Anonymous]

The NFL existed in the same structure -- with lower player salaries -- before Black olayers became the majority. The "racist construct" stuff is BS.

Professional football (which now includes college football) is, nonetheless, dumb. Fandom to teams made up of roving bunch of professionals is meaningless. CTE is a travesty. etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the NFL is gross for all kinds of reasons including that it promotes a culture of hard hitting tackle football that trickles down to middle school boys and is damaging brains with every hit, not just concussions. It's a gross sport that normalizes male violence (Travis Kelce attacking his 65 year old coach?!?!?) and is full of criminals to boot - domestic abusers and the whole gamut of disgusting entitled male behavior.

But dying? I don't think so. It's an insanely lucrative industry and seems to be getting more and more popular despite all the revelations about CTE.

Nothing in our national culture disheartens me more than the popularity of NFL. I feel so alienated from it, and sickened by it. I wish it would go away but I don't have any expectation that it ever will.

[Anonymous]

Of course there is a direct relation between CTE and football:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-football-raises-risk-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy

[Anonymous]

Alabama teen dies after head injury during high school football game

An Alabama community is in mourning following the death of a high school quarterback who suffered a brain injury during the school’s season opener Friday night, according to statements from school officials and the teen’s family.

Caden Tellier was taken to a hospital in critical condition after a head injury in John T. Morgan Academy’s game against visiting Southern Academy in Selma, officials said Friday. His death was announced the next day.

Caden was 16, CNN affiliate WSFA reported. The school’s headmaster, Bryan Oliver, confirmed Tellier was an organ donor, AL.com reported.

“Our boy, Caden Tellier has met Jesus face to face,” Caden’s parents said Saturday in a statement. “Everyone who knows Caden has known kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he is giving of himself one more time.”

[...]


More:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/25/sport/alabama-high-school-football-player-dies-spt/index.html

[Anonymous]

Youth football safety debate is rekindled by the same-day deaths of 2 young players


HEWETT, W.Va. (AP) — Ryan Craddock had seen his share of tragedy during two decades as a coal miner and firefighter.

Then came the toughest heartbreak of all: his own.

Craddock and his family are mourning the loss of his 13-year-old son, Cohen, who died from brain trauma last month after making a tackle during football practice at his middle school.

Cohen’s death, and the death of a 16-year-old Alabama high school player from a brain injury on the same day, have sparked renewed debate about whether the safety risks of youths playing football outweigh the benefits that the sport brings to a community.

“I don’t think we need to do away with football,” Craddock said. “A lot of people enjoy football, including myself. I just think we need to maybe put more safety measures out there to protect our kids.”

Craddock is among those who believe that some concrete actions need to be taken to prevent more deaths.

Proposals in individual states to ban tackle football for younger children during a critical period of their brain development have gotten little traction. At the same time, youth participation in tackle football has been declining for years, and efforts to steer young boys into flag football are growing.

[...]


More:

https://apnews.com/article/football-deaths-safety-3664f801aaa2ca84ebd9338d0279f800

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the NFL is gross for all kinds of reasons including that it promotes a culture of hard hitting tackle football that trickles down to middle school boys and is damaging brains with every hit, not just concussions. It's a gross sport that normalizes male violence (Travis Kelce attacking his 65 year old coach?!?!?) and is full of criminals to boot - domestic abusers and the whole gamut of disgusting entitled male behavior.

But dying? I don't think so. It's an insanely lucrative industry and seems to be getting more and more popular despite all the revelations about CTE.

Nothing in our national culture disheartens me more than the popularity of NFL. I feel so alienated from it, and sickened by it. I wish it would go away but I don't have any expectation that it ever will.

I feel the same.

[Anonymous]

I’m committed to watching less nfl football this year. Maybe a little bit of the Sunday night game before bed.

I really do love college football but think I am going to do the same, maybe watch the Sat night prime time game of the week. Life is too short.

It’s a great sport sport, and teaches a lot to the players, especially at the high school age. The people here begrudging the participants or judging them or calling it racist are doing it from an easy lot in life. Come talk to us when your son regularly fouled out of basketball games and was too big/slow for other sports, shows up freshman year at 6’2” 190 with a penchant for driving his opponent the other way, and he seems to like it and is good at it. Now imagine your Hhi is $125k. Then come and judge everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Of course there is a direct relation between CTE and football:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-football-raises-risk-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy

You forgot the other sport that has a direction relation - soccer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37403989/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The whole enterprise leverages historical racist plantation construct and is, in and of itself, systemically racist, exploitative, and most of all, detrimental to the long term health and brain health to mostly minorities who play.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-ofGaslight.

ff the NFL

Whereas blacks comprise roughly 13% of the population in the USA overall, they make up 70% of the NFL.

If we look at the makeup of positions, Center and QB are really the only positions that are more "white" as a percentage.

https://theundefeated.com/features/the-nfls-racial-divide/

There are now about one third of the teams with starting QBs who are black(up from 5 in 2017) but this still then begs the question of the imbalance of ownership, leadership and management vis-a-vis the player makeup.

So, even given the health repercussions of the game, one could possibly make an argument in its favor if the ownership, leadership and management looked even just a hint of what the player makeup looks like, since there is real danger and detriment to long-term health and brain health/function for those who step on the field. But it doesn't . Not even close:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-racial-divide-one-chart-154059660.html

There is another aspect to this that I won't get into in detail but that is Government "promotion" of this morally corrupt enterprise through favorable tax code, tax incentives and other regulation and zoning.

Another related discussion/debate would be the big business of College Football and its exploitation of minorities vs. the risks of health and brain health as discussed above and how they(and indirectly state governments via tax dollars) subsidize the NFL.

I don't have a solution to propose. Personally, I think that the NFL/Football as it currently exists is dying. It's decline or evolution may be decades in the making but it will need to change drastically or become extinct. I think this is something that people should be aware of but I find in discussing it, most people really haven't given this much thought.

What say you, DCUM?




zyxt

Not many white families are willing to put their children through what's needed to go pro. Not just physically, but being passed on by the coaches and trainers along the way. White families see their children getting ahead through other means. They don't see them singing for their suppers anymore.

So repulsive. Not many White families have kids with athletic skill, don’t act like it’s your choice. The White kids need to settle for sports most Black and Latino kids aren’t interested in yet like swimming, golf, volleyball, in other words the easy sports that people don’t watch. Hockey is only for White kids from Canada or northern states. That will change when non-white kids start playing these sports.

See how that works?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Of course there is a direct relation between CTE and football:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-football-raises-risk-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy

You forgot the other sport that has a direction relation - soccer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37403989/

They are not even close to being the same risk/exposure to adverse long term brain health/CTE.

[Anonymous]

Gridiron football is rugby with the rules changed by stupid people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Of course there is a direct relation between CTE and football:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-football-raises-risk-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy

You forgot the other sport that has a direction relation - soccer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37403989/

They are not even close to being the same risk/exposure to adverse long term brain health/CTE.

How much risk is ok for you? Especially a no helmet sport.