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

[Iceman03]

As a Minor League Ice Hockey player just prior to enrolling at The University of Connecticut, I can share a few thoughts. In the late 1970s, the Large Athletes were generally slower that average sized Athletes. They are now as fast as lightning. My Son played AAA youth hockey, and although the equipment has improved significantly since I was a player, it was still inadequate for a person's head to be slammed into plexiglass. I bought my son a state of the art helmet each season, he was still concussed at least twice. He was being pursued by Xavier High School, and certainly would have made the Public High School team as a freshman, we decided as a family that it was best for him not to participate in High School. His long term health was more important than wearing a letter on his jacket. I think many parents share our view.

 

[RC111]

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.

There are some amazing helmets the NFL is paying to develop -- one neuroscientist is working on magnetizing them -- but it's going to be hard to make the sport much safer from a concussion standpoint. From what I understand, a lot of concussions don't result strictly from the impact, but from the sudden loss of speed. The brain is floating in fluids, and when a player running nearly 20 mph hits a wall of bodies, his brain smashes against the inner front of his skull. Even without the actual impact, that kind of damage is taking place.

 

[Sky ball]

There are some amazing helmets the NFL is paying to develop -- one neuroscientist is working on magnetizing them -- but it's going to be hard to make the sport much safer from a concussion standpoint. From what I understand, a lot of concussions don't result strictly from the impact, but from the sudden loss of speed. The brain is floating in fluids, and when a player running nearly 20 mph hits a wall of bodies, his brain smashes against the inner front of his skull. Even without the actual impact, that kind of damage is taking place.

How about football with NO Helmets and No Pads. Just like we played in a field when I was 14. It would be less violent as there would be no protection.

University of Missouri - some leather helmets

 

[Slick]

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.

What about soccer or hockey? Lot of head trauma in both.

 

[UConnJim]

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.

Another example would be state laws that were passed to limit liability for businesses for COVID-19 infections.

 

[RC111]

What about soccer or hockey? Lot of head trauma in both.

And not just head trauma! I've got Arthritis, since my late twenties, in both knees from soccer playing days.

 

[RC111]

How about football with NO Helmets and No Pads. Just like we played in a field when I was 14. It would be less violent as there would be no protection.

University of Missouri - some leather helmets
View attachment 79781

I linked to an article earlier that actually suggests this. It suggests that if you take away all the protective gear the players are going to be leading with the head. I would, however, probably still use the rugby-style cap to prevent what they call "cauliflower ear."

 

[Greedo]

How about football with NO Helmets and No Pads. Just like we played in a field when I was 14. It would be less violent as there would be no protection.

University of Missouri - some leather helmets
View attachment 79781

People straight up died on the field in this era of football. I remember reading somewhere that the president at the time wanted to outlaw the sport so they added helmets and better padding.