Is football a dying sport?

[first11]

It's already resulting in more high school teams needing to use players both ways. Not such a bad thing as a player, I think. Coaches are re-teaching tackling and blocking techniques, protecting the head, as they should. I wonder what college level flag football would be like!

The good players are still going to play; I suspect a large proportion of the reductions are from kids that are not going to be real players anyhow. CA and WA - - - lots of liberal soccer moms.

I was raised by a liberal football mom

 

[PDXGrizzly]

I doubt we will see the widespread move to flag football... however, the game will evolve. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt made the game evolve over a century ago to reduce DEATHS. Enforcement of head contact rules and changes to techniques need to be much more commonplace than they have been. When I was a player (not for the Griz, not nearly good enough!) we were taught to headbutt as DL technique!!! That mentality needs to be edited out of coaching and players. That takes time. So rules need to be more stringent and consistently enforced.

Football is still deeply embedded in the American psyche. It would take quite a lot for it to disappear. So, it will do what it has always done: evolve

 

[EverettGriz]

Dunno anything about that.

But what is very clear is that my soul died more than a few times last season.

I'm certain you're attributing that to giving beer money to that bastard Ursa.

Nuh uh. Learned that lesson -- the hard way -- many years ago. The only thing I'd be willing to give that SOB is the flu virus.

 

[fanofzoo]

What a title, for if science and research is right....it is, 99% of studied brains had CTE.

that study was biased and flawed from the start....you had to die form cte before you could be accepted into the study....not saying head injuries from football do not contribute to cte, just saying this study was far from being scientific.

Also that was one of the studies. There was another where it was lower. Still too high but football isn't going anywhere. I find it funny that people bitching about it are the ones who have exhausted their opportunities to make money. To provide that kind of financial support for my family would be worth the trauma. For 20 million in guaranteed money I'll let you hit me in the head with a hammer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And what, wreck my hammer !

 

[CFallsGriz]

I doubt we will see the widespread move to flag football... however, the game will evolve. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt made the game evolve over a century ago to reduce DEATHS. Enforcement of head contact rules and changes to techniques need to be much more commonplace than they have been. When I was a player (not for the Griz, not nearly good enough!) we were taught to headbutt as DL technique!!! That mentality needs to be edited out of coaching and players. That takes time. So rules need to be more stringent and consistently enforced.

Football is still deeply embedded in the American psyche. It would take quite a lot for it to disappear. So, it will do what it has always done: evolve

Most logical, well reasoned post yet.
+1


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[Gaeilge1]

PDX is correct. The game is not dying, but it is evolving, just like any other human interaction. In point of fact if you do not evolve you will die.

The game we see today is not the same game we all played in Pop Warner and high school, and in 10-15 years it won't be the same as it is today.

For many years changes revolved around increasing the speed of the game, and the result has been an increase in the velocity of the hits the players take. Players are bigger and much more explosive out of a set position. Over the course of a player's career through the NFL I have seen some estimates where one will absorb somewhere around 300,000 brain jostling hits, (including practice time)!

Now the emphasis on change has switched to safety, and rightfully so. The public perception is that the game is not safe to participate in. In order to change that perception new technology, safer blocking and tackling techniques, and heightened emphasis on preventing injury even if it means slowing down the game will ultimately lead to improved participation. In the interim however there will be adjustments that all levels of the game will have to cope with.

 

[Gaeilge1]

PDX is correct. The game is not dying, but it is evolving, just like any other human interaction. In point of fact if you do not evolve you will die.

The game we see today is not the same game we all played in Pop Warner and high school, and in 10-15 years it won't be the same as it is today.

For many years changes revolved around increasing the speed of the game, and the result has been an increase in the velocity of the hits the players take. Players are bigger and much more explosive out of a set position. Over the course of a player's career through the NFL I have seen some estimates where one will absorb somewhere around 300,000 brain jostling hits, (including practice time)!

Now the emphasis on change has switched to safety, and rightfully so. The public perception is that the game is not safe to participate in. In order to change that perception new technology, safer blocking and tackling techniques, and heightened emphasis on preventing injury even if it means slowing down the game will ultimately lead to improved participation. In the interim however there will be adjustments that all levels of the game will have to cope with.

 

[ordigger]

I doubt we will see the widespread move to flag football... however, the game will evolve. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt made the game evolve over a century ago to reduce DEATHS. Enforcement of head contact rules and changes to techniques need to be much more commonplace than they have been. When I was a player (not for the Griz, not nearly good enough!) we were taught to headbutt as DL technique!!! That mentality needs to be edited out of coaching and players. That takes time. So rules need to be more stringent and consistently enforced.

Football is still deeply embedded in the American psyche. It would take quite a lot for it to disappear. So, it will do what it has always done: evolve

Great post, but the geologist in me says that dinosaurs evolved once too.

 

[PDXGrizzly]

I doubt we will see the widespread move to flag football... however, the game will evolve. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt made the game evolve over a century ago to reduce DEATHS. Enforcement of head contact rules and changes to techniques need to be much more commonplace than they have been. When I was a player (not for the Griz, not nearly good enough!) we were taught to headbutt as DL technique!!! That mentality needs to be edited out of coaching and players. That takes time. So rules need to be more stringent and consistently enforced.

Football is still deeply embedded in the American psyche. It would take quite a lot for it to disappear. So, it will do what it has always done: evolve

Great post, but the geologist in me says that dinosaurs evolved once too.

I don't think we will encounter a Cretaceous-Paleogene type extinction event, but the culture is shifting and the older school types of coach are dying out. Newer coaches with the wide open offenses designed to get players in space seem to lessen the bone jarring collisions we are used to seeing from the more traditional pro-style offenses.

 

[argh!]

I doubt we will see the widespread move to flag football... however, the game will evolve. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt made the game evolve over a century ago to reduce DEATHS. Enforcement of head contact rules and changes to techniques need to be much more commonplace than they have been. When I was a player (not for the Griz, not nearly good enough!) we were taught to headbutt as DL technique!!! That mentality needs to be edited out of coaching and players. That takes time. So rules need to be more stringent and consistently enforced.

Football is still deeply embedded in the American psyche. It would take quite a lot for it to disappear. So, it will do what it has always done: evolve

Great post, but the geologist in me says that dinosaurs evolved once too.

I don't think we will encounter a Cretaceous-Paleogene type extinction event, but the culture is shifting and the older school types of coach are dying out. Newer coaches with the wide open offenses designed to get players in space seem to lessen the bone jarring collisions we are used to seeing from the more traditional pro-style offenses.

i'm not sure - while the overall number of collisions may go down, that type of football also leads to even more jarring receiver-defense hits.

 

[kemajic]

I doubt we will see the widespread move to flag football... however, the game will evolve. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt made the game evolve over a century ago to reduce DEATHS. Enforcement of head contact rules and changes to techniques need to be much more commonplace than they have been. When I was a player (not for the Griz, not nearly good enough!) we were taught to headbutt as DL technique!!! That mentality needs to be edited out of coaching and players. That takes time. So rules need to be more stringent and consistently enforced.

Football is still deeply embedded in the American psyche. It would take quite a lot for it to disappear. So, it will do what it has always done: evolve

Great post, but the geologist in me says that dinosaurs evolved once too.

I don't think we will encounter a Cretaceous-Paleogene type extinction event, but the culture is shifting and the older school types of coach are dying out. Newer coaches with the wide open offenses designed to get players in space seem to lessen the bone jarring collisions we are used to seeing from the more traditional pro-style offenses.

i'm not sure - while the overall number of collisions may go down, that type of football also leads to even more jarring receiver-defense hits.

Most of ejections have resulted from full speed hits in open space - defenseless receiver, etc. I haven't seen many from ball control football.

 

[Buttegrizzle]

The evolution has changed high school ball with fewer practices with full contact. Teaching technique has lowered the collisions of helmets some and of course the penalties for leading with helmets has increased at all levels. What's killing highschool participation is fall soccer and now lacrosse. All those kids that don't want to hit the weights every morning...

 

[PDXGrizzly]

Great post, but the geologist in me says that dinosaurs evolved once too.

I don't think we will encounter a Cretaceous-Paleogene type extinction event, but the culture is shifting and the older school types of coach are dying out. Newer coaches with the wide open offenses designed to get players in space seem to lessen the bone jarring collisions we are used to seeing from the more traditional pro-style offenses.

i'm not sure - while the overall number of collisions may go down, that type of football also leads to even more jarring receiver-defense hits.

Most of ejections have resulted from full speed hits in open space - defenseless receiver, etc. I haven't seen many from ball control football.

I may have been off base, but I was thinking about the more numerous impacts that accumulate amongst linemen, linebackers, and RBs in ball control football. Yes, WRs and DBs have those big collisions, but they are fewer and more far between. You don't need big hits to have an impact, just enough accumulated small ones. Ball control offense seems to supply them far more readily then any other. Just my opinion and not backed up by anything.

 

[PDXGrizzly]

The evolution has changed high school ball with fewer practices with full contact. Teaching technique has lowered the collisions of helmets some and of course the penalties for leading with helmets has increased at all levels. What's killing highschool participation is fall soccer and now lacrosse. All those kids that don't want to hit the weights every morning...

Fall soccer has been around for a very long time and lacrosse is a spring sport... I blame weightlifting :thumb:

 

[mtgrizrule]

Safety concerns are certainly reducing the numbers. Many youth leagues have experienced 50% reduction over the last 2 to 3 years. It will have a huge impact on college and pro football over the next decade. More athletes will be turning back to baseball, basketball, and even golf (have you noticed how many young guns in golf are good athletes?).

Boxing, MMA, combat sports may see a gradual decline as well. Then again, MMA and Pro Wrestling are usually taken up in early adult years, and not youth years.

It certainly will be interesting to follow over the next decade. I wonder how the reduced numbers will impact the decisions that Div 1 athletic programs make? Could this be reason for schools like Montana to invest more money into building the basketball program? For larger schools, could it lead to investing in basketball and baseball.

This is not good for schools who truly consider football their cash cow. That certainly fits Montana.

Football and Pro Wrestling are my favorite sports!

Hate to admit it, but I follow pro wrestling too. New Japan, Ring of Honor, and Impact (under new ownership) are great alternatives to WWE. Those guys put their bodies through hell.