2016 NFL Season

[Bammer]

ST - seriously, though, yes I will let my kids play football if they want to.

Realistically the most dangerous thing they can do is drive a car.

[Electromatic]

ST - seriously, though, yes I will let my kids play football if they want to.

Realistically the most dangerous thing they can do is drive a car.

That will get better with safety improvements for both.

Coaches are still teaching stupid form and technique.

If we took the pads off, and or removed or modified face masks more people would tackle with their arms. You can get hurt doing anything, it's still a fun kids game, getting hurt is part of life. The game needs to be safer of course but if my kid wants to play I'll do what I can to convince his mom for him.

[Kaius]

I think the mediocre records are an indication of elevated play across the league, not the other way around. The rules favor the offense and passing records have been obliterated recently because of that. There was more separation in the 90s and before not because the top teams were so much better than what we have now but because they were playing a lot more really bad teams.

[Green Habit]

Can't believe I'm saying this but 96583UP pretty much nailed it. There are tradeoffs with everything in life, and some people enjoy high risks with high rewards, that's their decision to make. I'd also add that there are plenty of dangerous professions in the world, and it's tough to absolve your hands of every single one.

That's a much more measured response, and I get it. The only wrinkle I'd throw in would be: it's not like the current crop of NFL players have been told since high school that playing football could lead to dementia in their 40s; when they thought about the risk involved, I'm sure they were thinking sprains, broken bones, torn ligaments, etc.--the kind of stuff that can heal, and even if it does become chronic, it doesn't rob you of your mind, memories, personality, and so on. If in ten years it's become standard practice for peewee football permission slips to say, "The nature of the game leads to traumatic, long-term health problems even without a severe injury event," we can start saying, "Well, the players knew about the danger all along." It's more like the asbestos industry than something like, say, the coal-mining industry at this point: the league has juuuuust come around to admitting that this is a serious problem after years of denial, so at least the culture can start to change and more information can get into the hands of potential players.

But as my post above said, let me be clear: I'm going to watch 3 hours of football tonight, 2+ hours of pregame Sunday, ~9 hours of games Sunday, and then probably a bit on Monday night. Try to tear me away and you'll get bite marks.

I think that's fair to some extent. I would much, much rather lose my physical capabilities than my mental ones, but I also don't have a problem with people who would choose the opposite. And as you mentioned, many general chronic dangers of football have been known for a while. I doubt that many are going to delude themselves further, no matter what the NFL, NCAA, or whatever other agency tries to do.

Can't believe I'm saying this but 96583UP pretty much nailed it.

And yeah, let's not this slip by unmentioned: you should probably get checked out for a head injury as soon as possible.

I know--what the RM concussion protocol be?

We talked in the NFL thread last year about how the product seems to have suffered in the past few years. I think it comes down to QB play for the most part (games end up lacking pace, long drives, etc.). You're also getting more teams winning divisions with something that isn't considered a "good" record--over the past 6 seasons, there have been 7 teams (so about one per year) that won their division with 9 wins or fewer, and 4 of them were 8-8 or worse (2 division winners with losing records, the '14 Panthers and the '10 Seahawks). The 6 seasons before that, just 5 teams at 9-7 or worse won their divisions (and only 1 of them was 8-8; no team won their division with a losing record over that stretch). There are also fewer super-power teams, record-wise: the '15 Panthers ended a drought of 3 seasons where no team had 14 or more wins (there was only season during the 2004-2009 stretch when no team won 14 or more). There were six teams from '04-'09 with 14 or more wins; there have been just 3 from '10-'15.

Conclusion: the NFL is getting more mediocre.

I think this is overstated to some extent--people are still tuning into the NFL in record numbers, so the market doesn't seem concerned with whatever poor play is out there. And I think the super power teams are still there--the Patriots have played in the past five AFC Championship games, after all.

My answer to fix these problems would be to allow college players to come out early and start a D-league, but there are eleventy million reasons why that won't happen any time soon, all of them beginning with a dollar sign.

[Green Habit]

ST - seriously, though, yes I will let my kids play football if they want to.

I would neither encourage nor discourage. If they show an interest, fine, but I wouldn't push it on them.

If we took the pads off, and or removed or modified face masks more people would tackle with their arms. You can get hurt doing anything, it's still a fun kids game, getting hurt is part of life. The game needs to be safer of course but if my kid wants to play I'll do what I can to convince his mom for him.

The amount of painful, disfiguring face and mouth injuries would skyrocket without face masks. I do generally agree that better tackling is the key though. Head up, wrap up, squeeze and drive--don't try to blow guys up, you'll completely whiff on many occasions anyway.

[Electromatic]

You're right, the face shield is tough, but there's got to be a safer way to tackle without using the head

[epilogue]

FOOTBALL IS BACK

[E.H. Ruddock]

I can't fucking stand Cris Collinsworth

[Simple Torture]

Others have said it, but I wonder: was Peyton Manning the weak link on the Super Bowl champions last year?

[verb_to_trust]

Dicks out for Cam Newton.

[96583UP]

Can't believe I'm saying this but 96583UP pretty much nailed it.

And yeah, let's not this slip by unmentioned: you should probably get checked out for a head injury as soon as possible.

i always nail things. just ask michelle tafoya

[epilogue]

Others have said it, but I wonder: was Peyton Manning the weak link on the Super Bowl champions last year?

Yes.

[epilogue]

I can't fucking stand Cris Collinsworth

Al's terrible, too. All he does is mispronounce things and act like people are hurt on every play.

[epilogue]

Peyton fucking Manning just misused the word "biased."

I thought he was supposed to be smart or something.

[Electromatic]

Peyton fucking Manning just misused the word "biased."

I thought he was supposed to be smart or something.

University of Tennessee

I'm sure he was asking a question about tires though

[epilogue]

Peyton fucking Manning just misused the word "biased."

I thought he was supposed to be smart or something.

University of Tennessee

I'm sure he was asking a question about tires though

AL

[Electromatic]

Siemian looks good.

[Mecca]

Peyton fucking Manning just misused the word "biased."

I thought he was supposed to be smart or something.

that's just a forehead, not brain mass

[verb_to_trust]

Same predictable garbage. Hope everyone's fantasy teams started well tonight.

[verb_to_trust]

Collins worth thinks the Panthers need to run the clock all the way down. Uh. Theres 14 seconds left....