An existential threat to the NCAA and college football as a whole...

[shizzle787]

The NCAA Is Going To Trial Over Traumatic Brain Injuries

A jury will decide whether a deceased USC linebacker, who was found to have CTE, died because of the NCAA's negligence on concussions.

frontofficesports.com

If the lawsuit is lost by Gee, it is possible she could sue USC, and a win there would put the sport on life support. If it can be shown, that people can sue and win judgements over individual schools over CTE, the sport at the college level is finished.

 

[Palatine]

The NCAA Is Going To Trial Over Traumatic Brain Injuries

A jury will decide whether a deceased USC linebacker, who was found to have CTE, died because of the NCAA's negligence on concussions.

frontofficesports.com

If the lawsuit is lost by Gee, it is possible she could sue USC, and a win there would put the sport on life support. If it can be shown, that people can sue and win judgements over individual schools over CTE, the sport at the college level is finished.

What about boxing?

 

[Exit 4]

The NCAA Is Going To Trial Over Traumatic Brain Injuries

A jury will decide whether a deceased USC linebacker, who was found to have CTE, died because of the NCAA's negligence on concussions.

frontofficesports.com

If the lawsuit is lost by Gee, it is possible she could sue USC, and a win there would put the sport on life support. If it can be shown, that people can sue and win judgements over individual schools over CTE, the sport at the college level is finished.

End the sport- go ahead.

But actually it won’t end- just end here in the US. But anyway.

Look for a minor league system to develop overseas….which is fine.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think these lawsuits will be a mixed bag and unlikely to be decisive. Plaintiffs will win some and lose some, and the decisions will be fact dependent. The bigger risk for football will be the drip drip of bad news about long term injuries from football continuing to drive kids away from sport.

One thing that would be devastating to football is if a test is ever developed to diagnose CTE in living people. I bet a material percentage of college football players have the early stages of CTE.

 

[huskymedic]

What about boxing?

Is boxing an NCAA sponsored sport?

 

[Nostical]

Is boxing an NCAA sponsored sport?

Not exactly boxing, but you can still letter in wrapping, and ribbon placement.

 

[Palatine]

Is boxing an NCAA sponsored sport?

Too subtle? As long as boxing exists as a sport, so will football The point of boxing is to hit the other guy in jaw and knock him out. As long as that is a legal and cultural accepted sport, football is in fine shape even in college.

Probably more importantly, if the NCAA tried to kill football it would be in the courts for a decade. Everyone knows this.

Here's a fun quiz, what college sport produces the most money?

 

[Nostical]

Here's a fun quiz, what college sport produces the most money

 

[RC111]

I've read some pretty well-written articles about how football's biggest threat is not from lawsuits, conference realignment, or the NFL pissing people off posing as a nonprofit, not even CTE or other gruesome injuries of current players: it's a slow death from a diminishing number of players in the pipeline.

I know multiple people that played high school ball and said they won't let their sons play because of the risk of long-term, debilitating injury. The rosters are shrinking and teams are moving to 7 v. 7, even in football hotbeds.

Maybe we can find a way to make the game safer and still satisfy whatever it is about the sport that we all enjoy. I've traveled a good deal through Europe, and rugby is a fun, violent game with less protective gear and remarkably fewer nasty head injuries from what I've read and heard anecdotally. The tackling is different but still physical. I drove by the local middle school last week and saw dozens of boys AND girls playing flag football in an after school league.

Granted, I don't want to watch men playing flag football as we know it, but with some creativity there's got to be a way to keep the game relatively intact while removing the risk of brain damage that is scaring parents away from letting their kids play.

 

[Get a Job]

I've read some pretty well-written articles about how football's biggest threat is not from lawsuits, conference realignment, or the NFL pissing people off posing as a nonprofit, not even CTE or other gruesome injuries of current players: it's a slow death from a diminishing number of players in the pipeline.

I know multiple people that played high school ball and said they won't let their sons play because of the risk of long-term, debilitating injury. The rosters are shrinking and teams are moving to 7 v. 7, even in football hotbeds.

Maybe we can find a way to make the game safer and still satisfy whatever it is about the sport that we all enjoy. I've traveled a good deal through Europe, and rugby is a fun, violent game with less protective gear and remarkably fewer nasty head injuries from what I've read and heard anecdotally. The tackling is different but still physical. I drove by the local middle school last week and saw dozens of boys AND girls playing flag football in an after school league.

Granted, I don't want to watch men playing flag football as we know it, but with some creativity there's got to be a way to keep the game relatively intact while removing the risk of brain damage that is scaring parents away from letting their kids play.

There was another thread on this topic where someone posted a link to a study of head injuries in different sports. If I remember correctly, rugby had the most head injuries per athlete exposure of all the sports looked at. I have no point; just a friendly fact check.

 

[Chuck]

I think these lawsuits will be a mixed bag and unlikely to be decisive. Plaintiffs will win some and lose some, and the decisions will be fact dependent. The bigger risk for football will be the drip drip of bad news about long term injuries from football continuing to drive kids away from sport.

One thing that would be devastating to football is if a test is ever developed to diagnose CTE in living people. I bet a material percentage of college football players have the early stages of CTE.

I've wondered why there hasn't been more testing to determine the prevelence of CTE across many walks of life. Most studies seem to be of ex-NFL (and NHL) players that exhibited symptoms in life. What I'd like to see is more control cases. What about:

• Football players that stopped in college or high school. Is there a point where the CTE shows up?
• Other athletes, including professional (and similar to above, non-professional) soccer, basketball, baseball. Is there CTE showing up in those ex-athletes, but not getting the publicity because we're not really looking?
• Non-athletes. Is CTE just something that a number of people wind up with from living their lives?

My son will never play football. He never wanted to, but while I'm not sure if she would've refused to sign a permission slip, my wife would have done everything in her power to convince him not to. I have a few rational friends who love that their kids play football. They laugh off the CTE danger because their kid isn't Junior Seau or Jim McMahon.

 

[Kolumbo]

Soon the colleges will be paying some serious workers' comp premiums.

 

[RC111]

There was another thread on this topic where someone posted a link to a study of head injuries in different sports. If I remember correctly, rugby had the most head injuries per athlete exposure of all the sports looked at. I have no point; just a friendly fact check.

Yikes. Sounds like I'm totally off base. Haven't read on it in a while, and anecdotes are likely to be wrong. Thanks for the friendly heads up

 

[Get a Job]

Yikes. Sounds like I'm totally off base. Haven't read on it in a while, and anecdotes are likely to be wrong. Thanks for the friendly heads up

I found the article. It was posted on a thread about Tua Tagovailoa. I don't know anything about the quality of the source, but if the numbers are right, rugby and football are similarly dangerous (concussion-wise) for professionals, and rugby is WAY more dangerous for youth participants than any other sport.

What Sport Has The Most Concussions? | Concussion Rate

 

[RC111]

I've wondered why there hasn't been more testing to determine the prevelence of CTE across many walks of life. Most studies seem to be of ex-NFL (and NHL) players that exhibited symptoms in life. What I'd like to see is more control cases. What about:

• Football players that stopped in college or high school. Is there a point where the CTE shows up?
• Other athletes, including professional (and similar to above, non-professional) soccer, basketball, baseball. Is there CTE showing up in those ex-athletes, but not getting the publicity because we're not really looking?
• Non-athletes. Is CTE just something that a number of people wind up with from living their lives?

My son will never play football. He never wanted to, but while I'm not sure if she would've refused to sign a permission slip, my wife would have done everything in her power to convince him not to. I have a few rational friends who love that their kids play football. They laugh off the CTE danger because their kid isn't Junior Seau or Jim McMahon.

My nieces and nephew play soccer, and they're not allowed to head the ball before age 11 because there's actually some pretty good evidence it can do damage. I guarantee that professional soccer players whipping 70mph corner kicks with their head are doing some damage as well. It just doesn't get the attention that NFL injuries do because it builds owly over time and it doesn't have the same dramatic effect.

You raise a good point about confirmation bias.

 

[RC111]

I found the article. It was posted on a thread about Tua Tagovailoa. I don't know anything about the quality of the source, but if the numbers are right, rugby and football are similarly dangerous (concussion-wise) for professionals, and rugby is WAY more dangerous for youth participants than any other sport.

What Sport Has The Most Concussions? | Concussion Rate

The methodology and data sounds very legit. I'm convinced. This is what I get for listening to old rugby fans. They always say the same general things about thinking our American football is an odd sport with all the stopping and starting and big pads and helmets.

I think this is the article I read Which Is More Dangerous, Rugby or Football?

But I'm ashamed to see there's no actual science in it, just conjecture that people will take fewer chances because of the differences in play, and they will get fewer concussions cause there is less forceful stopping. Seems like it's a hypothesis that isn't supported by the data you provided.

 

[BlueandOG]

What about boxing?

NCAA doesn't sanction boxing.

 

[Dizzy21]

Is boxing an NCAA sponsored sport?

NCAA doesn't sanction boxing.

NCBA sanctions/sponsors it for College. UConn sanctions and funds a pretty good boxing team that is non-scholly club status.

 

[UConnJim]

One of the most dangerous sports is downhill skiing. Almost all states with ski resorts have laws that make it difficult for people to sue a ski resort because there would be no ski resorts due to the high liability cost. Don't you think Big 10 and SEC states would enact laws to limit liability for football?

 

[McLovin]

My nieces and nephew play soccer, and they're not allowed to head the ball before age 11 because there's actually some pretty good evidence it can do damage. I guarantee that professional soccer players whipping 70mph corner kicks with their head are doing some damage as well. It just doesn't get the attention that NFL injuries do because it builds owly over time and it doesn't have the same dramatic effect.

You raise a good point about confirmation bias.

You raise a good point and maybe they should take head injuries more seriously in soccer. Because I can tell you how many times Im watching soccer and a guy gets checked in the upper body but falls to the ground grabbing their foot. Happens about once every 10 minutes!

 

[freescooter]

I think these lawsuits will be a mixed bag and unlikely to be decisive. Plaintiffs will win some and lose some, and the decisions will be fact dependent. The bigger risk for football will be the drip drip of bad news about long term injuries from football continuing to drive kids away from sport.

One thing that would be devastating to football is if a test is ever developed to diagnose CTE in living people. I bet a material percentage of college football players have the early stages of CTE.

I think you are generally right but they will also be location dependent.

 

[Kolumbo]

One of the most dangerous sports is downhill skiing. Almost all states with ski resorts have laws that make it difficult for people to sue a ski resort because there would be no ski resorts due to the high liability cost. Don't you think Big 10 and SEC states would enact laws to limit liability for football?

People pay the resort to ski and they assume the risk. Colleges will be paying players so I think the college assumes the liability. Just my illegal opinion.

 

[Scrutineer]

The methodology and data sounds very legit. I'm convinced. This is what I get for listening to old rugby fans. They always say the same general things about thinking our American football is an odd sport with all the stopping and starting and big pads and helmets.

I think this is the article I read Which Is More Dangerous, Rugby or Football?

But I'm ashamed to see there's no actual science in it, just conjecture that people will take fewer chances because of the differences in play, and they will get fewer concussions cause there is less forceful stopping. Seems like it's a hypothesis that isn't supported by the data you provided.

Might simply be a case of "see no evil, be no evil", "whistling past the graveyard" (so to speak), and "move along, nothing to see here".
Why ask questions if you fear the answer and your league's over $1 Billion annual tv contract is dependent on football?

 

[Waquoit]

Might simply be a case of "see no evil, be no evil", "whistling past the graveyard" (so to speak), and "move along, nothing to see here".
Why ask questions if you fear the answer and your league's over $1 Billion annual tv contract is dependent on football?

The bottom line...is the bottom line.

 

[traitor71]

I've wondered why there hasn't been more testing to determine the prevelence of CTE across many walks of life. Most studies seem to be of ex-NFL (and NHL) players that exhibited symptoms in life. What I'd like to see is more control cases. What about:

• Football players that stopped in college or high school. Is there a point where the CTE shows up?
• Other athletes, including professional (and similar to above, non-professional) soccer, basketball, baseball. Is there CTE showing up in those ex-athletes, but not getting the publicity because we're not really looking?
• Non-athletes. Is CTE just something that a number of people wind up with from living their lives?

My son will never play football. He never wanted to, but while I'm not sure if she would've refused to sign a permission slip, my wife would have done everything in her power to convince him not to. I have a few rational friends who love that their kids play football. They laugh off the CTE danger because their kid isn't Junior Seau or Jim McMahon.

As a parent, it is very difficult. You simultaneously love and dread every play that you watch. I will say that technology is making the equipment so much better than anything we have ever seen, but the other side of that is how physical training has changed over time. Even at a young age, players are training to be so explosive that I am not sure how it all ends up. "Back in our day" we were never anywhere near as explosive as these kids are. It's crazy.