Joe Paterno’s No Facemask Idea Isn’t So Insane

[Duane]

http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sp...insane/3450102

As the debate over NFL player safety suddenly erupted this week, Joe Paterno made an interesting suggestion on how to stem the problem at his weekly press conference Tuesday.

No facemasks.

Paterno:

“I have been saying (it) for 15 years. Then, you would get back to shoulder blocking and shoulder tackling and you wouldn’t have all those heroes out there. Guys (would) have to worry about broken noses, knocked-out teeth, which we would like to prevent, but you don’t get anything for nothing.

“We used to have one single bar; now we have a weapon.”...

[Hoofbite]

Except players are using their head instead of their face to hit other players.

[187beatdown]

It isn't 1950.

[joseephuss]

There are many hard hits that don't involve the facemask. You could put a good hit on a person with just a shoulder and of course a few times a year there are guys that use the crown of the helmet.

It is just a difficult task to prevent every conceivable form of injury in the game of football. You can work to minimize them, but you can't stop them all. Like they say, football is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport.

[SupermanXx]

Originally Posted by joseephuss

There are many hard hits that don't involve the facemask. You could put a good hit on a person with just a shoulder and of course a few times a year there are guys that use the crown of the helmet.

It is just a difficult task to prevent every conceivable form of injury in the game of football. You can work to minimize them, but you can't stop them all. Like they say, football is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport.

who's "they"?

[joseephuss]

Originally Posted by SupermanXx

who's "they"?

Those guys on the side of the street around the corner from where I work.

[SupermanXx]

Originally Posted by joseephuss

Those guys on the side of the street around the corner from where I work.

[BigWillie]

Make it happen!

[Seven]

Of course it's insane. It came out of Paterno's mouth.

[Aggie87]

Why not replace facemasks with clear shields that cover the whole face? There would be nothing to grab on to.

Many players used these to cover their eye areas already, just extend them to cover the whole face, in place of the facemasks.


(I meant this sorta tongue-in-cheek, but the more I think about it, it could make some sense. Helmets would look a bit different, but you'd cut down on the risk of injuries, for sure).

[Idgit]

I like the idea.

[VirusX]

The idea is valid, there will always be players wanting to make "dirty" hits but the majority will react as instinct which would be to lead with their shoulder.

[Yeagermeister]

Originally Posted by Aggie87

Why not replace facemasks with clear shields that cover the whole face? There would be nothing to grab on to.

Many players used these to cover their eye areas already, just extend them to cover the whole face, in place of the facemasks.


(I meant this sorta tongue-in-cheek, but the more I think about it, it could make some sense. Helmets would look a bit different, but you'd cut down on the risk of injuries, for sure).

Except for the shield fogging up why not

[ABQCOWBOY]

Originally Posted by BigWillie

Make it happen!

Big Jim.

[ZeroClub]

I wonder what Paterno thinks about seatbelts.