The NFL would rather do anything than actually enforce the steroid policy
NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
81–90 of 154 posts
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is it crazy to replace the helmets on each major impact? This is a multi billion dollar industry
The problem is that replacing the helmets after each play or major impact would take time, and the clock doesn't always stop after a play during football. If we stopped the clock to replace a helmet, we open up the possibility of a team using this to slow down an advancing offense, or by an offense to gain a short timeout in a sense. Basically it just doesn't mesh well with the flow of the game.
Just replace them after every series[1], that way while the offense is coming off the field they are getting their helmets swapped out and the defense is going in with fresh helmets, rinse/repeat.
[1] A series being after the offenses/defenses swap out, this could be as little as one play, but rarely more than 15-18 and I would guess on average about 8 or 9.
Edit: grammar
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Simply play two hand touch or flag. Football is a fun game to watch and play without tackling.
I agree with you that this addresses the game of football, but certainly not the business of football. Which one do you think the NFL cares more about?
In the modern era, people bemoan that officials are extra protective of quarterbacks relative to previous generations due to and specifically for Tom Brady. Common refrain, right?
But the thing is: they still watch. Yeah, there'd be calls of it being "soft" or "these guys couldn't play with the greats from yesteryear" or the like as there are now, but they'd still watch. The second biggest sport in the US that I can think of (could very well be wrong) is the NBA and it isn't really known for violence being beneficial to the players/game (after the 90s, a lot of what would fly before stopped). Yeah, there are flops or drawing flags by intentionally getting into a play, but it seems the preferred method to force fouls at the end of the game isn't to blindside your opponent but to draw the ref's attention and hold/grab the opposing player.
I was a bit bummed with the "boycott" over the knee taking as I had actually stopped watching around the same time due to all of the CTE research that came out around the same time. Hated the feeling that somehow me not watching due to that was going to get tallied in with people who are anti-protest. I do think if they could solve this problem (CTE), I'd be game to watch again, but I honestly think it isn't solvable.
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#84Summarizing: "Because this activity is so dangerous, and results in many head injuries, we've spent $60 million developing a framework for manufacturers to make helmets that will mitigate the injuries from the this entirely voluntary activity." Umm, has anyone considered just not doing this activity? I don't mean to be trite, but that's what it looks like from the perspective of one who has little interest in footbal…
> Umm, has anyone considered just not doing this activity?
Since I've become aware of the long term repercussions of repeated head strikes, I've pretty much stopped watching football. I used to watch every game (NFL and college) I could and now I'm down to basically tuning in for the Super Bowl and that's it.
On the plus side, I've started watching baseball more and I think I enjoy watching that game more than I ever did football.
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#85Only thing safer helmets will do is encourage players to hit harder and harder, until someone really gets killed. I hope one day I will get to see the end of football. Why would any parent enroll their child in this sport?
Risk compensation. For those interested, here is the relevant Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation
Universal Principles Of Design [1] mentions this, as well. Rather counterintuitively, the solution for reducing brain injuries in football may be to remove helmets altogether.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592535879/amsi-20
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rugby does not have a helmet (except for the padded ones) and yet they still have concussion issues. I think there’s no clear answer although I agree about removing face mask. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC155428/
I played organized American Football from the time I was a kid. Went to at the time the biggest high school in the state. I don't recall ever having any kind of head injuries despite getting hit a lot. Went out in college to try Rugby as a club sport. First practice, horrific concussion. I am a sample size of one, but I'd much rather my son play American Football than Rugby. If he gets to the college or pro level, th…
I am not sure that you need a frank concussion to rack up long term damage though. Soccer players can acquire CTE from repeated headers of the ball, which rarely cause the kind of concussions you're takling about. I think the take away from all the present research is that it's generally a bad idea to bonk your head into things repeatedly, whatever the sport.
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, but the hits my nine year old is making playing pee wee league are significantly different than those happening in college, the CFL, and NFL. In the same way that a pro skier in the backcountry uses very different safety equipment than the person on in-bounds groomed snow. This isn't to say that we shouldn't seek to keep kids as safe as possible, just that I don't see an issue in scaling the equipment (and it…
Anecdotal, but from what I've heard it tends to be that at the high school and earlier levels hitting is done in a more chaotic manner. Yes, they're not 300-plus pound athletes hitting people, but seems that even in the earlier stages it is detrimental.
It's also cumulative so someone doing 4 years in HS then stopping is inherently safer than someone that goes to collage and even that's safer than a 5+ year NFL run.
Granted far more people play at lower levels but it's reasonable to consider cost benefits for each group. With the option to increase protection for people expected to continue to the next level.
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing's gonna stop that snap-back that causes the brain to slosh around like jelly. I've yet to be shown evidence that rugby players are suffering the same kinds of injuries NFL players are. Seems to be the same case with bare-knuckle or UFC fighting vs boxing.
A sufficiently large and soft helmet would mitigate the impact to the brain. The trouble is size. In order to spread out the impulse in time, the helmet must spread out the impact in space. There's really no way to do that by an order of magnitude without making the helmet much larger.
The point that the comment above you is trying to make is that a lot of head injuries aren't just impact related but can in fact come from adverse directional acceleration. Anecdotally, I've talked to people who have gotten brain injuries in car accidents without hitting their heads whatsoever.
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue with the crash safety comparison is that helmets need to withstand many impacts before being replaced since it would be crazy to replace a helmet every play or two. One possible answer is that, in order to truly solve this problem, the sport must do away with facemasks or helmets altogether. Mike Ditka has long proposed removing the facemask, claiming that it has encouraged players to weaponize their heads…
Rugby does not have a helmet (except for the padded ones) and yet they still have concussion issues. I think there’s no clear answer although I agree about removing face mask. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC155428/
As I understand it, Rugby has a lower incident rate of concussion, and it's more the outcome of accidents than as a direct aspect of the tackling. That said, it's a very different style of play in Rugby to American Football.
Rugby players just don't deliberately go in with their head for the tackle, which is something you often see with NFL players (some NFL teams have experimented with helmet free tackling practice and seen it improve the game-time tackling effectiveness)
The lack of a stop of play after every tackle in Rugby also tends to ensure players are opting for tackles that they can recover from.
In American Football the expectation is for contact / hit with every play. Contact is just a staple part of every single play for every player. In Rugby, contact is largely down to those with the ball, and those specifically attempting to tackle them. It's a very different contact profile, even before you consider things like helmets and padding and what that does to the mindset of the players.
Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models
#90I thought they ripped off Xenith for a second before realizing this is a Xenith product.