OT: Junior Seau is dead

[NOTaDIME]

Yeah, and there's only so much state-of-the-art helmets can do. Head-on collisions at NFL speed (and they happen every single game) are pretty much never good.

These monster hits happen every single play I would say. Normal joes like most of the guys on this board would be flung five yards in the air for the average hits these guys take on a routine play. Many of the NFL players bodies can take this punishment but the human brain simply isn't cut out to take that harsh, repetitive force. I have a sad feeling that football is changing and I don't think it will be the same in the next ten to twenty years.

 

[babysheep]

As for concussion related suicides, is there anything different today than say 20 years ago in the NFL? This increase in concussions and subsequent brain deterioration do seem on the rise. I ask because the sport hasn't changed or the way it is played (i.e. tackling).

Any one have a clue/idea?

The game is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY faster (and thus arguably rougher, offsetting the progress in equipment) than is was 20 years ago. Quarterbacks didn't have to worry about getting the ball out of their hands in less than 2 seconds as much back then. The throwing windows were way bigger. Every other guy who wasn't a lineman or QB wasn't running a 4.4.

 

[babysheep]

I don't think we're seeing a rise in the actual incidences of concussions and sports-related neurodegenerative diseases, so much as an increase in the public discussion (and a generally increasing sense amongst the sports fans and sports media that the problem is serious and needs to be addressed) of said conditions. What's changed, to answer your question, is that people are more aware of the severity of a concussion and the ethic amongst coaches and players is slowly drifting away from "play through it".

Possibly. Basically, the prevalence is increasing, not the incidence per se. Kind of like other neurogenic disorders like autism.

 

[babysheep]

This is a sad and scarey thread. What alarms me most is that babysheep has dissected a human brain. I have to conclude that means bs is either in the medical profession or just a sick sick human being, but either way it's concerning given the "everyone pay attention to me" act from earlier this year.

It was at UConn Health Center. Doctorate-level class to help better understand the connectivity of the brain, namely in the domains of speech perception, production, and everything that goes on in between (hint: a lot). Had to do it in the anatomy labs of the medical school, which was pretty creepy at first.