No Quarter wrote:I always heard that helmuts were adopted after Teddy Roosevelt pushed for rule changes to lessen the number of series injuries / fataliities that were the result of playing football. The link below is to an article that mentions that bit of history.
My best friend growing up told me about a family member who had died from inkuries in a game after bucking the line, head down, and ran full tilt into a goal post. My friend said he had seen the man's jersey which had been cut from neck to the lower hem to remove it in the hospital.
In Oklahoma, the Eufaula HS football team has been called "Ironheads" since the 1920's when a fabled coach taught aggressive headplay, or at least to keep your head up to see what was going on. An observer is supposed to have remarked, "They play like they have iron heads," and the tag stuck. Nowadays, as you might imagine, the name is generally shortened to 'Heads, and with perhaps or probably a very different connotation.
Former Congressman and CFL, OU and EHS quarterback J. C. Watts mentioned that coach in his memoire.
I read the comment of a former player, myrdell, with interest, bearing as it does on my opening statement. Looks to me like any move to lessen head injuries will be very difficult to implement, and most contoversial, given the Mike Leach affair and the Saint's bounty hunting case.
Yes but helmets were just one of many changes including opening up the passing game and most importantly ending mass plays
No Quarter wrote:I always heard that helmuts were adopted after Teddy Roosevelt pushed for rule changes to lessen the number of series injuries / fataliities that were the result of playing football. The link below is to an article that mentions that bit of history.
My best friend growing up told me about a family member who had died from inkuries in a game after bucking the line, head down, and ran full tilt into a goal post. My friend said he had seen the man's jersey which had been cut from neck to the lower hem to remove it in the hospital.
In Oklahoma, the Eufaula HS football team has been called "Ironheads" since the 1920's when a fabled coach taught aggressive headplay, or at least to keep your head up to see what was going on. An observer is supposed to have remarked, "They play like they have iron heads," and the tag stuck. Nowadays, as you might imagine, the name is generally shortened to 'Heads, and with perhaps or probably a very different connotation.
Former Congressman and CFL, OU and EHS quarterback J. C. Watts mentioned that coach in his memoire.
I read the comment of a former player, myrdell, with interest, bearing as it does on my opening statement. Looks to me like any move to lessen head injuries will be very difficult to implement, and most contoversial, given the Mike Leach affair and the Saint's bounty hunting case.
Yes but helmets were just one of many changes including opening up the passing game and most importantly ending mass plays
I would be nice to have some reliable statistics regarding head injuries up until the hard shelled helmet was introduced in the 1940s. Perhaps the false security of the hard helmet has been a reason for greater and more severe injuries with players assuming greater protection than actually provided. Perhaps players were more cautious with how they used and protected their head with the old leather helmets. Lastly, you never hear much about head injuries in the sport of rugby where most players do not wear any head protection and the tackling is vicious with guys similarly sized and trained as US football. Wonder what rugby rules might be adopted by football?
No Quarter wrote:I always heard that helmuts were adopted after Teddy Roosevelt pushed for rule changes to lessen the number of series injuries / fataliities that were the result of playing football. The link below is to an article that mentions that bit of history.
My best friend growing up told me about a family member who had died from inkuries in a game after bucking the line, head down, and ran full tilt into a goal post. My friend said he had seen the man's jersey which had been cut from neck to the lower hem to remove it in the hospital.
In Oklahoma, the Eufaula HS football team has been called "Ironheads" since the 1920's when a fabled coach taught aggressive headplay, or at least to keep your head up to see what was going on. An observer is supposed to have remarked, "They play like they have iron heads," and the tag stuck. Nowadays, as you might imagine, the name is generally shortened to 'Heads, and with perhaps or probably a very different connotation.
Former Congressman and CFL, OU and EHS quarterback J. C. Watts mentioned that coach in his memoire.
I read the comment of a former player, myrdell, with interest, bearing as it does on my opening statement. Looks to me like any move to lessen head injuries will be very difficult to implement, and most contoversial, given the Mike Leach affair and the Saint's bounty hunting case.
Yes but helmets were just one of many changes including opening up the passing game and most importantly ending mass plays
I would be nice to have some reliable statistics regarding head injuries up until the hard shelled helmet was introduced in the 1940s. Perhaps the false security of the hard helmet has been a reason for greater and more severe injuries with players assuming greater protection than actually provided. Perhaps players were more cautious with how they used and protected their head with the old leather helmets. Lastly, you never hear much about head injuries in the sport of rugby where most players do not wear any head protection and the tackling is vicious with guys similarly sized and trained as US football. Wonder what rugby rules might be adopted by football?
There are some good studies and people advocating less headgear, like in rugby. It's pretty sad. I met SMU great Bill Forester before he died but after he developed Parkinson's...really tough. Never thought I'd say this but I don't know that I want my 4 year old playing football even though high school football is a cherished memory of mine.
I do find the rugby comparisons flawed though-rugby play is more fluid and doesn't have the same head in tragectory smashing from what I see. Anyone here play it at a high level?
The game was played different in the leather helmet day than now. There wasn't any Run and shot offenses back then. It would be extraordinary difficult to compare leather vs. pre-face-mask vs. face-mask era players and their injuries. Longevity, medical records and various equipment and the type of play have changed so quickly that a standard would be hard to establish.
To be honest, I don't want to know the long term risk of playing football. I don't want to worry about what the potential consequences of playing football in my twilight years might be. I want to face what happens as it happens, just as all humans before me have done.
And of course that is just my desire and not based on science or others' desires. Would I give up a few Saturdays of playing football if I knew I would develop Parkinson's, dementia or suicide later in life? Probably not. No, absolutely not. And if that is the case, why worry about it now that I can't change those decisions made so long ago? And I would bet quite a few other athletes would make similar choices.
Juniors suicide is a tragedy. But we have no idea the reason for his state of mind that left him with no options but to end his life. That is far more complex than whether the helmet or type of play causes injuries or not.
This is a tragedy. I read that his brain is being donated for study. The sad fact is that suicide is many times a fleeting impulse. If intervention is made, many times the suicide is averted. The warning signs though for Junior and the car crash several months ago, clearly were a cry for help. He unfortunately didn't get it and succeeded this time.
EastStang wrote:This is a tragedy. I read that his brain is being donated for study. The sad fact is that suicide is many times a fleeting impulse. If intervention is made, many times the suicide is averted. The warning signs though for Junior and the car crash several months ago, clearly were a cry for help. He unfortunately didn't get it and succeeded this time.
