OT: Next Woman Up: Maria Rodriguez

[SVCBeercats]

In 15-20 years the world's game will be football, not fútbol. The NFL is marketing internationally. See article below about Maria Rodriguez with the Pittsburgh Steelers and her role in the spread of the NFL fútbol americano. Actually a cool story about a kid from Honduras who attends TCU and gets hooked on sports beyond soccer. She gets an internship with the Steelers at just the right time with the right linguistic skills, personality, work ethic, smarts, etc. After reading Maria's article see other Next Woman Up NFL stories that follow her story.

Next Woman Up: Maria Rodriguez, International Content Manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers

 

[Mdoggie]

In 15-20 years the world's game will be football, not fútbol. The NFL is marketing internationally. See article below about Maria Rodriguez with the Pittsburgh Steelers and her role in the spread of the NFL fútbol americano. Actually a cool story about a kid from Honduras who attends TCU and gets hooked on sports. She gets an internship with the Steelers at just the right time with the right linguistic skills, personality, work ethic, smarts, etc.

Next Woman Up: Maria Rodriguez, International Content Manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Not before basketball.

 

[Sargassoc]

I respectfully disagree. I think that colleges will start to see the long-term (financial) effects of CTE (lawsuits) and start to scale back. Once that happens, the NFL is next.

There are some worrisome statistics that speak to the dangers of playing college and professional football:
“For every year of absorbing the pounding and repeated head collisions that come with playing American tackle football, a person’s risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a devastating neurodegenerative disease, increases by 30 percent. . .
While we don’t yet know the absolute risk of developing CTE among American football players, we now can quantify that each year of play increases the odds of developing CTE by 30 percent,” says lead author Jesse Mez, a MED assistant professor, director of BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center Clinical Core, and a CTE Center researcher. “We hope that these findings will guide players, family members, and physicians in making informed decisions regarding play.” SOURCE

From that same study, researchers studied the brains of 202 deceased football players, including 111 who were former NFL players. And 48 out of the 53 college football players (91%) were posthumously diagnosed with CTE.

I don't think this is long-term sustainable for universities, even counting the NCAA payoff.

SOURCE

 

[topogigio]

The study is real damning for football. I loved and played the game for years, but would never encourage my grandchildren or any child to play the game. It's just Russian Roulette. I would like to see if there is any study on professional soccer players. That ball hits the unprotected head pretty hard, and over and over though the years can't be a good thing.

 

[HopJim]

With NIL $ and the growing millions in pro ball, why would we think there will not be enough players in the future to fuel college and pro teams. Both have deep legal staffs and I suspect can write agreements more than adequate to protect their brands.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

I’ve read reports that participation in high school football is down considerably from past years. Our local high school, The feeder school for my old middle school, recently canceled a season because they did not have enough students to field a team. This is North Carolina where football should still be pretty popular, and it was not an especially small school. This loss of popularity at the high school level can eventually lead to issues in college and the pros.

East Rutherford drops varsity football due to lack of participation

East Rutherford High School will not field a varsity football team this fall due to a lack of participation, the school announced on Friday.

www.highschoolot.com

The Decline Of Football Is Real And It’s Accelerating

Despite the continued popularity of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, more broadly gridiron football is in an era of rapid decline, and evidence suggests that the decline is accelerating.

www.forbes.com

High school football participation continues to decline nationally

NFHS reports fewer participated in football last season, but the decline could be slowing

www.latimes.com

 

[Sifaka]

Google Buddy Teevens and the MVP robotic dummy. He's a college football coach who was concerned about CTE. Many oher colleges and NFL teams are now using the robot to avoid player to player collisions in practices.

How Buddy Teevens ’79 Transformed Football Forever

A few years ago, Coach Teevens looked like a goner. Then he reorganized his staff and started a radical experiment: no tackling in practice.

dartmouthalumnimagazine.com

 

[Mdoggie]

I’ve read reports that participation in high school football is down considerably from past years. Our local high school, The feeder school for my old middle school, recently canceled a season because they did not have enough students to field a team. This is North Carolina where football should still be pretty popular, and it was not an especially small school. This loss of popularity at the high school level can eventually lead to issues in college and the pros.

East Rutherford drops varsity football due to lack of participation

East Rutherford High School will not field a varsity football team this fall due to a lack of participation, the school announced on Friday.

www.highschoolot.com

The Decline Of Football Is Real And It’s Accelerating

Despite the continued popularity of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, more broadly gridiron football is in an era of rapid decline, and evidence suggests that the decline is accelerating.

www.forbes.com

High school football participation continues to decline nationally

NFHS reports fewer participated in football last season, but the decline could be slowing

www.latimes.com

Demographics change?

 

[Alydar]

Football is king of hill right now and has been for several decades but all good things end. The most attended sport until the 70's was horse racing and boxing was king on TV in the 50's.
I agree that the health threat is real. It involves a lot more than just CTE. I remember watching a show about Jim Otto, an all-time lineman who at 55 could barely walk due to the pounding his spine took. But the stats used above are somewhat misleading. The 30% annual increase isn't as onerous as it seems. If 1 in a million in the general population contract CTE then a 30% increase makes a footballer's chances 1.3 in a million, not a 30% chance as some could conclude. 1.3 in a million or a thousand will not stop players showing the physicality and skill set to play football at a high level from pursuing careers. I'm sure that free-climbing 500 ft sheer rock walls has inherent risk and multiple deaths every year. My mother wouldn't let me go out for football in the 60's and since there was zero chance of me playing in college it was probably a wise decision. If I had been 6'4 and 250 (huge in the 60's) that decision may have been different.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

Demographics change?

No. The demographics stayed almost identical. I heard participation at lower, pre-high school levels has been down for several years. They had almost no sophomores, juniors, and seniors willing to come out for the team. The team was going to be almost entirely made up of freshman. The administration felt this was unsafe. I know a couple of the players who played at our middle school transferred to other high schools when they heard rumors that the school would be canceling the football team and season.

 

[HopJim]

Suggest that over time, with better helmut technology and evolved tackling and practice times, HS players will start to cherry pick. If you are Kyler Murray, who grew up near my last home in Texas, you are drafted immediately out of college to the pros, making $40M+ very several $M for baseball. Less HS football players but bigger bonus's.

 

[Sargassoc]

Suggest that over time, with better helmut technology and evolved tackling and practice times, HS players will start to cherry pick. If you are Kyler Murray, who grew up near my last home in Texas, you are drafted immediately out of college to the pros, making $40M+ very several $M for baseball. Less HS football players but bigger bonus's.

I think that, at least recently, folks have found that the "better" helmets were actually causing greater injuries. (But don't quote me on that; I can find the details if necessary.)

 

[EdSaid]

I think that, at least recently, folks have found that the "better" helmets were actually causing greater injuries. (But don't quote me on that; I can find the details if necessary.)

Your right, Better helmets are covering short term injuries, but the confidence and concussions leads to life altering injuries down the line, ie CTE/ALS

If you want to save football take the helmets off. Cleats and a cup, that's it. Players will quickly develop a respect for their bodies and their opponents. Football will not resemble football as we know it. Young kids falsely believe dreams of playing in the NFL and sacrifice their body at a young age, and continue for years. Youth football numbers are down.

Dr. Ann McKee has been making huge strides in CTE for years.

Meet Ann McKee, the woman who could save football from itself

Boston University neuropathologist visits Samford University and makes her pitch about making football safer from concussions.

www.al.com