What will this mean for the future of football?

[John813]

Nothing.

Players will still take the risk of getting CTE for the chance to be multi-millionaires.

Fans won't stop watching due to this.

Now, I could see increased support from the NFL/PA to former players and improvements in protective helmets. However, there is only so much you can do. When two fully grown, strong men collide head on, there's no way of fully eliminating the chance of the brain being bounced around

 

[punchnjudy]

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...york-times-article/1nwcxol35bog71qkkaz783y0am

In all, 202 brains, all donated to the study, were examined, and 177 were found to have CTE. Those of non-NFL players came from every level of the sport dating back to high school.

That’s 67 out of 91 football players, nearly 74 percent, who did not play in the NFL.

 

[diefree666]

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...york-times-article/1nwcxol35bog71qkkaz783y0am

In all, 202 brains, all donated to the study, were examined, and 177 were found to have CTE. Those of non-NFL players came from every level of the sport dating back to high school.

That’s 67 out of 91 football players, nearly 74 percent, who did not play in the NFL.

which is why I am afraid that the sport will get destroyed at the high school and college level which in the end will kill the NFL.

 

[joseephuss]

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2645104

Results Among 202 deceased former football players (median age at death, 66 years [interquartile range, 47-76 years]), CTE was neuropathologically diagnosed in 177 players (87%; median age at death, 67 years [interquartile range, 52-77 years]; mean years of football participation, 15.1 [SD, 5.2]), including 0 of 2 pre–high school, 3 of 14 high school (21%), 48 of 53 college (91%), 9 of 14 semiprofessional (64%), 7 of 8 Canadian Football League (88%), and 110 of 111 National Football League (99%) players. Neuropathological severity of CTE was distributed across the highest level of play, with all 3 former high school players having mild pathology and the majority of former college (27 [56%]), semiprofessional (5 [56%]), and professional (101 [86%]) players having severe pathology. Among 27 participants with mild CTE pathology, 26 (96%) had behavioral or mood symptoms or both, 23 (85%) had cognitive symptoms, and 9 (33%) had signs of dementia. Among 84 participants with severe CTE pathology, 75 (89%) had behavioral or mood symptoms or both, 80 (95%) had cognitive symptoms, and 71 (85%) had signs of dementia.

 

[sean10mm]

That's what i find funny. It's no big surprise. Same with smoking. I knew as a kid it was bad for you. Didn't need no studies. lol

You probably didn't know how bad though. And that ignorance killed literally millions of people.

The extra deaths caused by the increase in cigarette smoking in the 20th century were greater than the lives saved by every advance in cancer treatment during the same period.

Think about that: the lives saved by a century of medical advances were more than counterbalanced by the extra deaths caused by the boom in cheap mass produced cigarettes at about the same time.

NOBODY thought smoking was THAT bad for you. Even with the big drop in smoking rates, 16,000,000 people have smoking related diseases and 480,000 die every year. On average it takes 10 years off a smoker's lifespan. Meanwhile, lung cancer was basically a wacky novelty death before mass consumption of tobacco became a thing, not a mass killer.

THAT'S why you need studies.

It's starting to look like football and CTE have a similar overwhelming connection.

 

[fishspill]

I appologize if this is posted in the wrong forum, I looked but didn't find a thread on this.

PFT is reporting but I had also heard it on Fox Sports:

The recent finding is that out of 111 donated brain specimens submitted for study, a whopping 110 out of a possible 111 past NFL players showed signs of CTE. An incredble amout for sure.

I'm in medicine. Not one person I talk to in medicine let's their kids play football at any level. Maybe the game will survive because of gambling and the fact we don't care so much about the uneducated that participate, but I'm betting it goes away in the next 50 years due to liability.

 

[diefree666]

You probably didn't know how bad though. And that ignorance killed literally millions of people.

The extra deaths caused by the increase in cigarette smoking in the 20th century were greater than the lives saved by every advance in cancer treatment during the same period.

Think about that: the lives saved by a century of medical advances were more than counterbalanced by the extra deaths caused by the boom in cheap mass produced cigarettes at about the same time.

NOBODY thought smoking was THAT bad for you. Even with the big drop in smoking rates, 16,000,000 people have smoking related diseases and 480,000 die every year. On average it takes 10 years off a smoker's lifespan. Meanwhile, lung cancer was basically a wacky novelty death before mass consumption of tobacco became a thing, not a mass killer.

THAT'S why you need studies.

It's starting to look like football and CTE have a similar overwhelming connection.

to be blunt that is pushing it. I remember when the Surgeon General warning came out on cigarette packs. It took about 20 years before people really started to get it. It was not because of studies or anything like that. It was because they saw people around them dying of lung cancer. Getting emphysema. And so on.
Actually I think the smell of cig smoke has done more to turn people off then just about anything else.

 

[Melonfeud]

The league could considerably increase the size of rosters also.

Double the size of fielded units, triple the size of the stadiums, put them all on horses and give them swords Als,,,er,,,wait,,,I forgot to add they got to drink a 5th of scotch before kick off,,,yeah! that's gonna be the GAME.

 

[Melonfeud]

Have they examined the brains of non-football players to see how many had CTE? Would be interesting to see if the narrative changes if it's found in seemingly regular people.

Bull riders, moto cross riders ,rough n tumble in general types would register pretty high,even the war vet that got blew out of the trench and survived would show similar readings

 

[haleyrules]

Double the size of fielded units, triple the size of the stadiums, put them all on horses and give them swords Als,,,er,,,wait,,,I forgot to add they got to drink a 5th of scotch before kick off,,,yeah! that's gonna be the GAME.

Yeah!! GD right! .

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

You probably didn't know how bad though. And that ignorance killed literally millions of people.

The extra deaths caused by the increase in cigarette smoking in the 20th century were greater than the lives saved by every advance in cancer treatment during the same period.

Think about that: the lives saved by a century of medical advances were more than counterbalanced by the extra deaths caused by the boom in cheap mass produced cigarettes at about the same time.

NOBODY thought smoking was THAT bad for you. Even with the big drop in smoking rates, 16,000,000 people have smoking related diseases and 480,000 die every year. On average it takes 10 years off a smoker's lifespan. Meanwhile, lung cancer was basically a wacky novelty death before mass consumption of tobacco became a thing, not a mass killer.

THAT'S why you need studies.

It's starting to look like football and CTE have a similar overwhelming connection.

I knew it was bad. Both my parents smoked. I probably have asthma because of it. I used to have to roll down the backseat car windows cause the smoke got so bad. My Dad eventually quit smoking. My Mom never did. She died in 2002 and I believe smoking was a big reason why. She could never quit so I knew it was bad for you. When I was a kid other kids tried to get me to smoke but I never did so yea I always knew. Always thought the tobacco ads were disingenuous. I couldn't believe people actually believed them but they believed what they wanted to believe. People want to smoke and nobody's going to talk them out of it.

 

[Nightman]

Did the report say how many of them had symptoms? I read someplace about a brain that was examined--had the CTE damage, but the person never exhibited symptoms.
I assume it's like boxers......plenty of old, long term boxers lose it. Some don't. But I am sure even the boxer's who never went completely south still had brains that looked the part.

That is what is unknown and got Jerry into trouble last year........not one researcher has linked CTE to actual side effects.....it is still theory....... the ex-NFL guys that got ALS are outliers so far.....are their numbers within the rates of the general population

They are saying CTE is showing up in people that just played HS football so it isn't just an NFL problem......they just have the money..... did the people that had their brains examined demonstrate symptoms before death and that is why the % is so high.......who looks at healthy brains???..... still a lot of questions and too many kids are play no matter what the risks..... the rewards are too high and the game is too awesome

 

[NIBGoldenchild]

that to me always made the lawsuit against the nfl completely bogus.

I'm with you, to a degree. I just don't like the fact the NFL went through a lot of effort to stifle any research or information into this and/or finding a better solution with all of our advancements in science and technology. That simply shouldn't be dismissed.

 

[joseephuss]

.... did the people that had their brains examined demonstrate symptoms before death and that is why the % is so high.......who looks at healthy brains???..... still a lot of questions and too many kids are play no matter what the risks..... the rewards are too high and the game is too awesome

Take a look at post #36. It provides some good information about the acknowledged bias in the study.

There are still definitely lots of questions remaining. This study points to the need for more research to generate even more questions. Perhaps over time, more of those questions can be answered. There is no answer that will completely eliminate concussions or head trauma in football. The best equipment will not keep the brain from sloshing around and knocking into the inside of the skull.

The rewards are too high for those that have at least a chance to achieve them. What about the guys that have no chance? The are plenty of kids who play high school football who everyone knows won't be going on to play college football and will never sniff the NFL. The ones who are 5'-3" and run 5.1 s forty times. They may love the sport, but their parents may not like the risk to the little ultimate reward.

 

[diefree666]

I'm with you, to a degree. I just don't like the fact the NFL went through a lot of effort to stifle any research or information into this and/or finding a better solution with all of our advancements in science and technology. That simply shouldn't be dismissed.

Considering how long the AMA took to get into it blaming the NFL is bogus.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

One of the flaws of this finding is that I would be willing to bet that almost all of those brains donated where from families that suspected the player had CTE. So, it's not exactly representative of the population of football players. And they still lack quality evidence as to what exactly correlates to CTE which I'm sure the NFL will fight against.

IIRC, there was a study done that showed that college female soccer players suffer a far higher percentage of concussions than any other college sport (both male or female). So that does beg the question as to what the CTE rates are in former female collegiate soccer players are. And if it's not nearly the same amount as former football players, then why?

I think what we will see is less participation in the end. Too many people are scared about the unknown of brain injuries. But, there's too much money involved in the game at this point to think drop in participation will be significant. What it may cause is higher insurance premiums that high school, Pop Warner and Youth Football teams cannot afford and thus players may not get involved in the game until later in their teenage years.





YR

 

[Vtwin]

Yep. Hockey is a live game. It must be watched at the rink. Terrible TV game. Completely different in person. I used to go to a lot of games and go way up in the nosebleed seats and you could really see the plays develop. On TV you get very little feel for the game.

First game I ever went to, in the Montreal forum, I was so wrapped up in what was happening behind the play that if the puck that was deflected up into the row I was in about ten seats down had been at me I would never had seen it until it bounced off my head.

 

[Nightman]

Take a look at post #36. It provides some good information about the acknowledged bias in the study.

There are still definitely lots of questions remaining. This study points to the need for more research to generate even more questions. Perhaps over time, more of those questions can be answered. There is no answer that will completely eliminate concussions or head trauma in football. The best equipment will not keep the brain from sloshing around and knocking into the inside of the skull.

The rewards are too high for those that have at least a chance to achieve them. What about the guys that have no chance? The are plenty of kids who play high school football who everyone knows won't be going on to play college football and will never sniff the NFL. The ones who are 5'-3" and run 5.1 s forty times. They may love the sport, but their parents may not like the risk to the little ultimate reward.

99% of the people that play football will never play in the NFL.......90% won't play college

Football is too fun to go away .......... I would play again in heartbeat and let my kids play

Millions of people have played football and led fantastic lives...... i don't need any further studies to see that

 

[joseephuss]

99% of the people that play football will never play in the NFL.......90% won't play college

Football is too fun to go away .......... I would play again in heartbeat and let my kids play

Millions of people have played football and led fantastic lives...... i don't need any further studies to see that

I agree that football will not go away. It will probably change. It has been on such an incredible rise over the last several decades. It won't surprise me to see a decline due to several factors along with the CTE issue.

I loved playing high school football, too. I would love to play at that level of play again. I do think some parents will not encourage their kids to play football due to concussion issues.

 

[haleyrules]

First game I ever went to, in the Montreal forum, I was so wrapped up in what was happening behind the play that if the puck that was deflected up into the row I was in about ten seats down had been at me I would never had seen it until it bounced off my head.

Ha! I hear you..l couldn't count all the great games l watched at the Forum. The behind the play stuff, in the old one referee, games was worth the price of admission...which wasn't much in those days...the last game l attended l had a 10 dollar standing room ticket...the first game l went to in Montreal the SR ticket was 3 dollars Canadian!!