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NFL players: height and weight over time

noahveltman.com

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Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#111

Post by mahranch »

Theodores wrote: post #73

This article serves to illustrate how different America is from the rest of the world. Outside America nobody knows what NFL is beyond that it is some strange variant on the football theme, related to football in no more way than how a whale is related to a dog. Then there are 'customary units'. Outside America nobody knows what a pound of weight is, is that pound of 'customary units' the same as an 'Imperial' pound?…

> Outside America nobody knows what NFL is beyond that it is some strange variant on the football theme

I think this is extremely misinformed. Did you know that there is a world cup for gridiron football? It's the IFAF World Championship. And believe it or not, Japan is ranked 1st right now, with the U.S ranked second. American football was pretty well known in Japan and before I left, was becoming increasingly more popular among high school and college aged kids.

The also continually sell out games in London every year. The broadcasts there get extremely high ratings. I think the "myth" that the rest of the world doesn't know what American football is died sometime in the 90s. It's been on the rise globally: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/sports/football/13iht-nflc...

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#112

Post by rlanday »

Theodores wrote: post #73

This article serves to illustrate how different America is from the rest of the world. Outside America nobody knows what NFL is beyond that it is some strange variant on the football theme, related to football in no more way than how a whale is related to a dog. Then there are 'customary units'. Outside America nobody knows what a pound of weight is, is that pound of 'customary units' the same as an 'Imperial' pound?…

Why are you complaining on an American internet community about our choice of unit system and the terminology we use for naming different sports? The United States has distinct cultural features just like every other country. I waste a fair amount of time arguing on the internet, but I’ve never felt the need to find articles about European football and complain that people shouldn’t call soccer “football” because American football is better, that people who use the metric system feel compelled to tell other people they’re stupid for using different systems, and that Europeans are jerks for charging for restroom access and restaurants not giving free soda refills.

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#113

Post by learc83 »

jessriedel wrote: post #68
skierscott wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Malcolm Gladwell has looked at this issue[1]. He sees football as being analogous to dogfighting. Popular at the time and with fans, but the science behind it is scary. I've experienced a severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI), meaning I've seen many brain doctors. I have seen a neuro-omptomolgist (brain-eye doctor) who sees a football player who can't even add up his checkbook (meaning he can't add, not this his check…

Nice anecdotes. Your comments and links are good at triggering fear, but the data doesn't back you up that football is an usually dangerous sport. Women's soccer has a higher rate of concussions than men's football at the collegiate level, and it has 75% of the rate at the high school level [1]. Similarly, men's college soccer has a higher rate than high school football. In fact, football is higher than the average s…

The thing you're missing is Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The current theory is that CTE can be caused by the constant repeated non-concussive hits unique to football (at least among popular American sports), so analyzing concussion rate really isn't helpful.

>A brain injury study conducted at the Boston University School of Medicine showed that 33 of 34 players tested post-mortem showed clear signs of CTE.[1]

Even when you account for selection bias the number of NFL players with CTE is insane.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_players_with_chroni...

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#114

Post by tvon »

markdown wrote: post #84
torbit wrote: post #64

Anytime I see a post about football I wonder how it is different from rugby, so I'll just post this intresting article "In rugby, the only collision (i.e., running at speed for the purpose of forcing a player to the ground) is when one has the ball. The other 29 lads on the pitch are there for support. In American football, 21 of the 22 players had better be colliding with someone on every down - at full speed. In gr…

Another factor is the lack of a helmet and padding. Because of this, players are much more careful when tackling. Eg: * NEVER leading with the head, which is quite common in American Football * There must be an attempt to wrap your arms around the player. Not doing so is a shoulder charge, and illegal. * High tackles (above the shoulders) are illegal and can result in yellow or red card depending on severity. * Spear…

Being a big fan of football I have sometimes wondered what the sport would be like if they slowly phased out the protection. You are taught early on to put your head down and drive your shoulder through the target, but I imagine this would be different if your head and shoulders weren't the most padded parts of your body.

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#115

Post by tvon »

bane wrote: post #103
torbit wrote: post #64

Anytime I see a post about football I wonder how it is different from rugby, so I'll just post this intresting article "In rugby, the only collision (i.e., running at speed for the purpose of forcing a player to the ground) is when one has the ball. The other 29 lads on the pitch are there for support. In American football, 21 of the 22 players had better be colliding with someone on every down - at full speed. In gr…

One of the few impact comparisons I've seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7tGY-VDx3o

I like to say that there is no science in Sports Science, that said I was impressed with how much force Ray Lewis was able to generate with about a 4' head start in this episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1CwwsWkQLU&t=5m42s

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#116

Post by girvo »

markdown wrote: post #99
girvo wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an ex referee, used to ref first grade club and schoolboy rugby in SEQ. I've seen first hand why those rules are in place. I will disagree with having the ball being the only collision points however: rucks, mauls and scrums (the latter of which are neutered now) involved any number of players but still don't quite compare to the one on one that NFL involves. Fascinating sports IMO :)

> the latter of which are neutered now Only if you're talking about Rugby League.

*shrugs.

The current laws have definitely changed the feel and reduced the danger when it comes to scrums. I watch a kid taken off the field a paraplegic due to someones foot slipping on "engage", so I don't necessarily disagree with the laws, but you can't argue that they're not in place to slow it down and make it safer.

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#117

Post by evilduck »

bane wrote: post #102

I like how in the 80s, height stopped increasing, but weight kept increasing, and a little blog of the highest weights just shot out to the right. I live very close to one of the pro team's training camps, and see the players around town every once in a while. Professional athletes like this are truly in a league of their own. You can go to any random gym and look for the guys there in peak physical condition. The pr…

I used to live a couple miles from the Saints training facility and shopped pretty frequently at the grocery store across the street where encountering players was somewhat common.

I'm 6'4", 215lbs and don't often experience what being small feels like... except when I'm standing next to NFL linemen. They're just huge.

Re: NFL players: height and weight over time

#118

Post by jessriedel »

learc83 wrote: post #113
jessriedel wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice anecdotes. Your comments and links are good at triggering fear, but the data doesn't back you up that football is an usually dangerous sport. Women's soccer has a higher rate of concussions than men's football at the collegiate level, and it has 75% of the rate at the high school level [1]. Similarly, men's college soccer has a higher rate than high school football. In fact, football is higher than the average s…

The thing you're missing is Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The current theory is that CTE can be caused by the constant repeated non-concussive hits unique to football (at least among popular American sports), so analyzing concussion rate really isn't helpful. >A brain injury study conducted at the Boston University School of Medicine showed that 33 of 34 players tested post-mortem showed clear signs of CTE.[1] Ev…

Ahh, good, yes CTE is at least a more interesting critique. However, I believe the non-concussive theory is purely a conjecture at this point. This is one of the authors of that Boston study:

"While it remains unknown what level of exposure to brain trauma is required to trigger CTE, there is no available evidence that occasional, isolated or well-managed concussions give rise to CTE," one of the study's co-authors, Dr. Robert Cantu, said in a press release.

So basically, you're just stuck with your priors on this one. As far as I am aware, CTE data doesn't provide you with any additional evidence for non-concussive effects beyond what you could have conjectured pre-CTE.

Of course, the media has breathlessly reported on how NFL players are all commiting CTE-induced suicide despite the fact that the NFL suicide rate is less than half the rate of the general population...

http://loyolamedicine.org/newswire/news/little-evidence-reti...

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