For You "Old-Timers"

[Risen Star]

For their rate, you don’t know jack. I should’ve listen to some of the other people. I thought you were just being sarcastic most of the time. You actually believe the stuff

Well keep me posted on what else I'm saying in this alternate universe you live in. I think I have a right to know. How many likes do I have over there?

 

[Whirlwin]

Well keep me posted on what else I'm saying in this alternate universe you live in. I think I have a right to know. How many likes do I have over there?

I don’t know I seem to be taking some away from you. LMAO. People like the negatives of the derogatory. So you You keep collecting your illegitimate likes.

 

[Captain-Crash]

jack youngblood said hey

 

[Whirlwin]

jack youngblood said hey

I like mark Van Egan, yeah I’m in trouble for spelling it wrong LOL

 

[OriginalNameGuy]

Players are treated better these days when it comes to injury. I don't think it's anything to it more than that. Injuries get disclosed, players have more reason to sit it out versus risking future earnings for a week 2 regular season game.

I have an issue calling these players soft because lord knows I'm not signing up to take these hits. I recommend people play basketball or baseball if they have the skill.

 

[conner01]

The doctors in the 60s they medical staff. They won’t even tell some of the players how bad injury was. Just give me some more Cortizone Lol

Exactly

 

[blueblood70]

Tell me more about that imaginary conversation you had with me

I imagined it with him lol jk

We were in the Matrix or Inception state..

 

[RonnieT24]

There are a lot of reasons for the increased injuries we see today and most have already been touched on.. Here are my reasons.. forgive me if some of these have already been covered but I got here late..

1) Overall toughness.. back in the day playing through pain an injury was a badge of honor.. Today it's viewed as being stupid.

2) Playing surfaces .. back in the 60's and 70's most teams played on grass.. nowadays most teams play on artificial surface like FieldTurf, which is not as brutal as AstroTurf but it's still carpet over concrete. It looks great and you feel really fast on it.. until you come crashing down on it with 2-3 other huge dudes on top of you.

3) $$$$ .. teams now have so much money tied up in players that they are forced to weigh t years ahead on their contracts against winning games right now.. As such they are reluctant to risk turning a 3-4 week injury into a long term multi year issue just to try to win 1 or 2 more games with a guy playing hurt. Same with players.. If they don't have a lot of guaranteed money then playing through an injury and putting out bad tape could cost them millions.. Much better to sit on IR and collect checks than limp around and be thought of as a bum.

4) Practices.. this one does not get talked about enough.. practices are so soft now that guys simply do not learn how to fall properly.. How to protect themselves when colliding with other large men and their bodies do not get a chance to become accustomed to the bumps and bruises of football. In music it's referred to as building up your chops.. Guitar players build up callouses on their fingers .. horn players build up strength in their jowls/cheeks and lips. Singers build up lung capacity and diaphragm strength. If football players don't hit in training camp then they don't start building up their chops until the season starts. Frankly by then it's too late. Yes most guys manage to avoid missing a ton of time but more and more are unable to play full seasons and I think this is a big reason why.

 

[trickblue]

Is it just me or has anyone over the age of 50 noticed that the never-ending list of injured players on today's teams dwarfs teams from the past? I know the players are bigger and faster, yada, yada, yada but, I KNOW for a fact they don't hit any harder than back in the day. Heck, the rules don't allow them to ..

Why do these guys seem to run for the medical tent and IR at every opportunity? Pampered, been told you're the hottest thing since Tabasco sauce since you were 12 years old? Business decisions protecting the contract? Free agency and lack of team cohesion?

Love to hear your thoughts ..

Old School players played through injuries. Walt Garrison once played with a broken collarbone and fractured ankle at the same time.. Today's game is different and is all about the money, so teams tend to protect their investments...

 

[OldJarhead]

There are a lot of reasons for the increased injuries we see today and most have already been touched on.. Here are my reasons.. forgive me if some of these have already been covered but I got here late..

1) Overall toughness.. back in the day playing through pain an injury was a badge of honor.. Today it's viewed as being stupid.

2) Playing surfaces .. back in the 60's and 70's most teams played on grass.. nowadays most teams play on artificial surface like FieldTurf, which is not as brutal as AstroTurf but it's still carpet over concrete. It looks great and you feel really fast on it.. until you come crashing down on it with 2-3 other huge dudes on top of you.

3) $$$$ .. teams now have so much money tied up in players that they are forced to weigh t years ahead on their contracts against winning games right now.. As such they are reluctant to risk turning a 3-4 week injury into a long term multi year issue just to try to win 1 or 2 more games with a guy playing hurt. Same with players.. If they don't have a lot of guaranteed money then playing through an injury and putting out bad tape could cost them millions.. Much better to sit on IR and collect checks than limp around and be thought of as a bum.

4) Practices.. this one does not get talked about enough.. practices are so soft now that guys simply do not learn how to fall properly.. How to protect themselves when colliding with other large men and their bodies do not get a chance to become accustomed to the bumps and bruises of football. In music it's referred to as building up your chops.. Guitar players build up callouses on their fingers .. horn players build up strength in their jowls/cheeks and lips. Singers build up lung capacity and diaphragm strength. If football players don't hit in training camp then they don't start building up their chops until the season starts. Frankly by then it's too late. Yes most guys manage to avoid missing a ton of time but more and more are unable to play full seasons and I think this is a big reason why.

.....
Don't forget that it was not a year round job. Many, the majority in fact, of the players weren't sure if they had jobs from season to season. They had "off-season" jobs.

 

[OGCowboy]

Who is that in your avatar?

I've seen the mug shot and it's bothering me that I can't recall who it is.

Is it Luciano?

Yep...

 

[RonnieT24]

.....
Don't forget that it was not a year round job. Many, the majority in fact, of the players weren't sure if they had jobs from season to season. They had "off-season" jobs.

I don't know how the year round training aspect of things plays into it. Did the 6 months off completely help them stay healthy or did it expose them to more injury? But then training camps were spent heavily on conditioning and physical practices so their bodies were forced to get ready. By the 70's though the players were making enough money not to need off season jobs. I recall that OJ held out until the Bills paid him over 700 G's a year in 1975. Not everybody made that kind of money obviously but by the mid 70's guys didn't have to work in the offseason as much as in the 60's.

 

[Starforever]

If you watch college football, you would think they are faster, hit stronger, etc., but there is a big difference between college and pro football.

 

[Ranched]

If you watch college football, you would think they are faster, hit stronger, etc., but there is a big difference between college and pro football.

 

[Bugsy12]

Thank you, somebody who finally got it right

Combination of factors, including that we know a lot more about injuries because of the internet. We’ll get 50 threads started when a player has gas…

 

[Whirlwin]

I imagined it with him lol jk

We were in the Matrix or Inception state..

Why would you respond to something you had nothing to do it

 

[mrmojo]

There are a lot of reasons for the increased injuries we see today and most have already been touched on.. Here are my reasons.. forgive me if some of these have already been covered but I got here late..

1) Overall toughness.. back in the day playing through pain an injury was a badge of honor.. Today it's viewed as being stupid.

2) Playing surfaces .. back in the 60's and 70's most teams played on grass.. nowadays most teams play on artificial surface like FieldTurf, which is not as brutal as AstroTurf but it's still carpet over concrete. It looks great and you feel really fast on it.. until you come crashing down on it with 2-3 other huge dudes on top of you.

3) $$$$ .. teams now have so much money tied up in players that they are forced to weigh t years ahead on their contracts against winning games right now.. As such they are reluctant to risk turning a 3-4 week injury into a long term multi year issue just to try to win 1 or 2 more games with a guy playing hurt. Same with players.. If they don't have a lot of guaranteed money then playing through an injury and putting out bad tape could cost them millions.. Much better to sit on IR and collect checks than limp around and be thought of as a bum.

4) Practices.. this one does not get talked about enough.. practices are so soft now that guys simply do not learn how to fall properly.. How to protect themselves when colliding with other large men and their bodies do not get a chance to become accustomed to the bumps and bruises of football. In music it's referred to as building up your chops.. Guitar players build up callouses on their fingers .. horn players build up strength in their jowls/cheeks and lips. Singers build up lung capacity and diaphragm strength. If football players don't hit in training camp then they don't start building up their chops until the season starts. Frankly by then it's too late. Yes most guys manage to avoid missing a ton of time but more and more are unable to play full seasons and I think this is a big reason why.

In the 1970-80s most fields were the hard concrete astro turf........

 

[Creeper]

I think we see way more stress injuries today than we saw back in the 60s and 70s. By stress I mean injuries where the strength of the muscles meets or exceeds the strength of the bones, ligaments and tendons.

I can't recall the magazine but years ago I remember reading an article about a study done by a group of physiologists and physical scientists. They postulated that there were limits to human performance because at some point the design of the human body would prevent higher performance. For example, there is a limit to how fast a human can run the 100 yard sprint. Not matter how much training, etc. humans would never be able to run faster. The muscle strength needed to run faster would exceed the structural strength of the legs. But the muscles are not designed to endure that kind of exertion either. They tear.

I wonder if we are seeing this now. Because athletes are so big and strong today, the slightest mistake in the position of an extremity results in muscle or tendon strains or tears.

 

[RonnieT24]

In the 1970-80s most fields were the hard concrete astro turf........

Yeah I don't know when turf overtook grass as the preferred surface..

Just off the top of my head in 1980 the stadiums that had grass were:

Candlestick - San Francisco
LA Coliseum - Los Angeles
Oakland Coliseum - Oakland
Jack Murphy - San Diego
Tampa Bay - The Big Sombrero
Miami - Orange Bowl
Mile High - Denver
Arrowhead - KC
Memorial Stadium - Baltimore
Memorial Stadium - Cleveland
Soldier Field - Chicago
RFK - Washington DC
Green Bay
Fulton County - Atlanta


That's 14 of 28 .. I stopped there.. I may have missed a couple but you get the picture.. Most teams were still on grass in 1980.. 3 of the 4 expansion teams since 1980 have been grass.. JAX, Carolina, Cleveland .. Houston being the only exception. Most teams that play outdoors have tried to go grass. The ones that worry about weather went to FieldTurf.

 

[KJJ]

I’ve been following the Cowboys and the NFL since 1972. Back in the day players played with broken bones and all kinds of ailments. They were sent back on the field with concussions. I think all the guaranteed money players make these days has some tapping out of games and not wanting to perform if they’re not 100%. Most of the players that opted out last season had guaranteed money so they weren’t going to lose anything by not playing. Decades ago players played for the love of the game because the money wasn’t close to what it is today. Players had jobs during the offseason to make ends meet. Duane Thomas talked about only making $25,000 to play RB. NFL players are extremely pampered these days. Training camps aren’t nearly as tough with players being given days off. The league did away with two a days. I remember some of the old time Cowboys players talking about having to tackle during practice. The reduce practice times and the lack of hitting to try and keep players healthy has probably softened players up. New player safety rules are added practically every season. Players want to add longevity to their careers so they can keep raking in the cash.