Brain Disease Found In NFL Players

[Rob Williams]

Researchers at Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy published the largest case series study of CTE to date, according to the center. Of the 85 brains donated by the families of deceased veterans and athletes with histories of repeated head trauma, they found CTE in 68 of them. Of those, 34 were professional football players, nine others played college football and six played only high school football. Of the 35 professional football players' brains donated, only one had no evidence of the disease, according to the study.

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/12/05/0130229/brain-disease-found-in-nfl-players

Oi, this is a pretty scary statistic. 34/35 deceased NFL players had CTE! It's hardly a surprise, but it's no wonder the NFL is working towards making the game safer. Perhaps they're not doing enough.

 

[Optix]

The only way to ever make football safer is to change the padding that the players wear. I propose the following change:

 

[Rob Williams]

Haha, sometimes I wonder if that is in fact the only way to solve things. I really can't picture any sensible helmet design being able to lessen concussions, especially in a sport that's dependent on smashing into each other.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

The answer might be to go the opposite direction, remove the protection. During the early years of boxing, there were no gloves, but strangely, knockouts were minimal. Why? Fighters avoided punching each other in the head because it would damage their hands. Now that gloves are required, boxers go ape-shit at each other with punches to the head frequently - knockouts became common.

With NFL, all that protective gear the athletes wear, it makes them feel like they can just throw themselves around and be completely fine from external injury - and they do. Slamming into each other at full speed, flipping and jumping with no regard to injury because of the protective gear. Not saying to remove it all, but reduce the amount. Even if they wore super padded helmets and such, it wouldn't protect them from the ridiculous stunts they often perform. Want to limit the stunts they perform? Put rules in place to prevent it or reduce the amount of protective gear so they feel more vulnerable and less likely to perform said stunts.

 

[Doomsday]

Rugby guys play without helmets so do they have this disease too?!?

 

[Rob Williams]

With NFL, all that protective gear the athletes wear, it makes them feel like they can just throw themselves around and be completely fine from external injury - and they do. Slamming into each other at full speed, flipping and jumping with no regard to injury because of the protective gear. Not saying to remove it all, but reduce the amount. Even if they wore super padded helmets and such, it wouldn't protect them from the ridiculous stunts they often perform. Want to limit the stunts they perform? Put rules in place to prevent it or reduce the amount of protective gear so they feel more vulnerable and less likely to perform said stunts.

Great points!

Rugby guys play without helmets so do they have this disease too?!?

Definitely - any contact sport could result in CTE. Concussions aren't only caused by being hit in the head; being pushed back all the time with hard hits alone cause them also.