RIP Junior Seau

[Snipe]

just read Malcolm Gladwell arguing that football will fade away due to concussions and such, and that was before this incident. I would never let my kids play. Sad what happens to those guys. RIP

[zanesxu]

just read Malcolm Gladwell arguing that football will fade away due to concussions and such, and that was before this incident. I would never let my kids play. Sad what happens to those guys. RIP

you have a link for the Gladwell piece?

RIP for Seau, regardless of how/why this went down...

Goodell has his hands full on this... there are no other sports where former players less are killing themselves for science... this concussion issue is a rabbit hole that goes really deep, to the core of what makes football, football...

[boozehound]

That's an interesting point. I wonder if the prevalence of concussions and the severity of post-career brain issues is comparable between football and rugby players. Concussions are definitely one of the most common (if not the most common) injuries for rugby players.

I would wager that concussions for Rugby players happen far less frequently than football players. The main reason is the style of tackling. In Rugby you don't have some guy getting a 10 yard head start and running full steam into you using the top of his helmet like a missle. Rugby tackling is primarily about wrapping up and taking down, not hitting like in football. In college Rugby (I'm not sure about Pro Rugby) you could get a penalty called on you if you were running around head hunting without at least attemption to wrap and tackle.

You also don't have as much 'gang tackling' in Rugby due to the continuous play. If you take 4 guys to tackle the ball carrier that is an extra 3 guys who are not in position after the ruck is completed which can give the opposing team a major advantage.

Rugby players are probably more prone toward minor injuries due to the lack of protective gear, but football players are more susceptable to serious injury due to the violent nature of the hits.

[GuyFawkes38]

just read Malcolm Gladwell arguing that football will fade away due to concussions and such, and that was before this incident. I would never let my kids play. Sad what happens to those guys. RIP

I think Gladwell wrote that piece in 2009 on the New Yorker (I believe I linked to it here on XH). Many mocked Gladwell at the time. But I can definitely see parents not letting their kids play football and instead encouraging them to play golf, track, bball, baseball, etc...

Edit: Here's the thread: http://www.xavierhoops.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=11775&

[bleedXblue]

No one is forcing anyone to play football.

It's important that everyone is informed about the risks associated with concussions.

It then becomes a personal decision.

I can see moving forward the NFL getting heavily involved in monitoring how many games a player sits out after a concussion.

The NFL is starting to fine and suspened players for violent hits.......they have to get this under control. It's a PR nightmare just waiting to explode.

[PMI]

I never suffered any head injuries during my rugby days and don't remember many who did. Granted I only played football as a young kid, but I definitely had some woozy moments back then. When you aren't wearing pads, you are much more conscious about tackling rather than just colliding. It's in the nature of football players, especially as the level of competition increases, to hit people as hard as they can. It's why many of us love the game, but it obviously comes with a price a lot of the time.

[nuts4xu]

You don't see many people kill themselves with a bullet to the chest.

Effed up.

[boozehound]

You don't see many people kill themselves with a bullet to the chest.

Effed up.

I believe that several other NFL players suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (sp?) or CTE have killed themselves with a bullet to the chest. I believe that they shoot themselves in the chest instead of the head so that their brains can be studied. I think one player even wrote a note to that effect.

Crazy stuff. We all love football, but what a price some of those players are paying in their later years.

[xudash]

Are the concussions causing intense migrane headaches, which are causing some of these players to take their lives, or is it more about impaired judgement, etc.?

[Jumpy]

A sad turn of events for a great player. The man left it all on the field and ended up paying for it with his life. It was, what, two years ago when he survived his car falling off a cliff in San Diego. I guess that was probably the first attempt.