President Obama is concerned about Football

[Horatio]

The future of at least amateur football ( high school , little league) is probably going to change in this country. I played organized football from age 7 to 19. I'm in my forties now and after about 4 concussion's, a broken nose and two knee surgeries I feel lucky, it could've been worse.

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=8886528

 

[superjohn]

Take it over to the football board, not sure how far off it is but at some point football is going to change so much that it won't resemble the football we grew up with.

 

[JustHusky]

I think that grown men should also only be able to walk around with pop guns and no sharp objects, we don't want anything in this country that could possibly hurt anybody, that would be unheard of.

 

[Palatine]

Yet, he is apparently unconcerned with his 16.4 trillion dollar deficit.

 

[uconnell]

Heard Greenie say a retired football player quipped "I'd let my son play football but not go into politics". This quote is pretty close but not verbatim.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Love his quote about kids getting hurt in college having nothing to fall back on. What a dope.

 

[Husky25]

Yet, he is apparently unconcerned with his 16.4 trillion dollar deficit.

Yeah, thats right. Obama's not allowed to have an opinion on anything that is not political in nature. He can't sleep, he can't take 15 minutes to do "the Presidential Bracket" bit on ESPN in March, he can't enjoy Football (Played on Sundays. You know? The Fore Fathers' day of rest?), and he can't have an opinion on the game its .

Football at that level is inheritly dangerous, but these guys who play professionally know the risks going in, even before all the concussion and CTE studies going on today. One look at Earl Campbell illustrates the toll at the NFL level.

You may be interested to know that President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, once looked into the safety of college Football (Pro football was not really considered a legitimate sport until "Red" Grange entered the game), and considered it to be on trial, casting its future in doubt. But that is not on Roosevelt's Wikipedia page so you wouldn't know that.

 

[buckley503]

Yeah, thats right. Obama's not allowed to have an opinion on anything that is not political in nature. He can't sleep, he can't take 15 minutes to do "the Presidential Bracket" bit on ESPN in March, he can't enjoy Football (Played on Sundays. You know? The Fore Fathers' day of rest?), and he can't have an opinion on the game its .

Football at that level is inheritly dangerous, but these guys who play professionally know the risks going in, even before all the concussion and CTE studies going on today. One look at Earl Campbell illustrates the toll at the NFL level.

You may be interested to know that President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, once looked into the safety of college Football (Pro football was not really considered a legitimate sport until "Red" Grange entered the game), and considered it to be on trial, casting its future in doubt. But that is not on Roosevelt's Wikipedia page so you wouldn't know that.

He sure can have an opinion but why limit it to football when hockey, soccer, lacrosse all have concussion concerns. He's a politician through and through and likes to chime in on the flavor of the day.

And if he say's "well, if I had a son" again, I guess he would be a Trayvon Martin-looking, non football playing son.

 

[Carl Spackler]

What's really ironic, is that the president has daughters. Proper, and repeatedable research, shows that when you correct statistically for the numbers of athletes across sports and gender (there are way more male football players, than girls soccer players.....) but the fact is that females are more likely to sustain diagnosed concussion than males.

THe problem with concussions arises when you don't diagnose and manage them effectively. The days of smelling salts on the sidelines, adn then strapping the headgear back on on trotting back out on the field are over.

Football is not going away though. The media and the politicians that use the media, is such a problem for the dissemination of actual, useful information in today's world. It's a real problem, the information age has had major unintended consequences. Literacy itself is a problem, again, a few centuries later after the renaissance.

you need an advanced degree, and siginfiicant training in information processing these days, just to be able to function without being completely misled in any and all directions by what you're bombarded with every day by information sources. Most of it is garbage.

Concussions are one of the most misinformed and misguided subjects of discussion in the media and politics, today. Concussions happen, in all sports, females are more at risk than males. While football has the highest rate of concussions sustained, it also has by far the highest number of players, practice and competition during which concussions can happen, and when you correct for that statistically, it's actually not much different than other sports.

The problems, come with evaluation and treatment, just like you need time to heal from a muscle bruise, you need time to heal from a concussion. THen you have this CTE condition that was created in 2002, and has resulted in all kinds of misinformation, adn also all kinds of research funding for universities, and the media is COMPLETELY misinformed about it.

Being literate, isn't enough anymore, you have to be literate, and also be able to critically evaluate the information you are bombarded with on a regular basis. Otherwise, you're no different than an illiterate person 300 years ago, being led around like a sheep.

Football isn't going anywhere, people are just getting smarter when it comes to throwing players back on the field, when they've gotten their bell rung. It's the NFL, where this has become a problem, not lower levels, and that is a product of how the NFL owners have treated their players for decades, adn it's coming back to bite them.

BTW: People have died playing football before. Just not in the 24/7 media age.

 

[Husky25]

He sure can have an opinion but why limit it to football when hockey, soccer, lacrosse all have concussion concerns. He's a politician through and through and likes to chime in on the flavor of the day.

And if he say's "well, if I had a son" again, I guess he would be a Trayvon Martin-looking, non football playing son.

You show me a politician who does not like to chime in on the flavor of the day and I will show you someone who lost the election. I know he has two daughters and no sons. As a father of a son, I take his comments regarding them with a grain of salt.

Lacrosse, Soccer and Hockey do not have nearly the same concussion risk as football. Linemen get into the equivelent of 60-80 low speed car accidents in any given game, and more considering practice. Those NFL players who count their concussions in the single and low double digits are only trying to fool themselves. They may be more mild in nature, but they are still concussions, nonetheless. Concussions in hockey, lacrosse and soccer are fewer and farther between, albeit probably more severe. As a result, there is no mistaking a concussion and the rest time before returning to live action is much longer in those sports. Take boxing for example. Ali has Parkinsons and Holifield slurs like a perpetual wino. Boxers have to wait at least 3 months between fights and they need a state license. Professional football is played almost every day (including practice) for 24 weeks in a row, plus OTA's.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Here: Inform youselves.

http://www.bu.edu/cste/files/2011/07/Daneshvar-et-al.-Epi-Sport-Concussion.-2011.pdf

http://www.udel.edu/PT/PT Clinical .../Marar et Al_ Epidemiology of Concussions.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22012081

(what the last one confirms, is that one of the best ways to prevent concussions, is to do a really good strength training program for neck musculature, and head/neck support musculature, and teach proper contact techniques involving everything from breathing to body position, the way body contact is taught in martial arts.)

Sooner or later, the incidence of concussion in high level martial arts (judo, jiu jitsu) etc, is going to be studied, and what will be found, is that these people don't get concussions, even though they are banging heads and bodies against each other and the ground (with no head gear) because they know how to handle body contact and protect their heads.

Lastly - read this unfortunate story about CTE - the media terror of the last 10 years, that has resulted in millions and millions of research dollars, adn has caused retired NFL football players to leave suicide notes so that their brains can be studied (it's not a condition that is specific to direct head trauma and concussions - this poor kid, never had a concussion, and never had a direct head trauma - but was subject to repeated high intensity air pressure waves and sound - and was dead by age 27). Shell shock has been known to exist for as long as gunpowder has existed. It's only now, being understood at a cellular level, and yes people have developed that played football, boxers, and soldiers, with more types of people to be discovered I'm sure, as it's clearly following the pattern of a developmental condition that is genetic in tendency, because not all people that get concussions, or are subject to bomb blasts, get it, and very few that are subject to them - do get it.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22044102

 

[Carl Spackler]

You show me a politician who does not like to chime in on the flavor of the day and I will show you someone who lost the election. I know he has two daughters and no sons. As a father of a son, I take his comments regarding them with a grain of salt.

Lacrosse, Soccer and Hockey do not have nearly the same concussion risk as football. Linemen get into the equivelent of 60-80 low speed car accidents in any given game, and more considering practice. Those NFL players who count their concussions in the single and low double digits are only trying to fool themselves. They may be more mild in nature, but they are still concussions, nonetheless. Concussions in hockey, lacrosse and soccer are fewer and farther between, albeit probably more severe. As a result, there is no mistaking a concussion and the rest time before returning to live action is much longer in those sports. Take boxing for example. Ali has Parkinsons and Holifield slurs like a perpetual wino. Boxers have to wait at least 3 months between fights and they need a state license. Professional football is played almost every day (including practice) for 24 weeks in a row, plus OTA's.

Read some of the articles I posted, and work your way through the data. What it shows, is that those girls, are actually higher risk of sustaining concussion than the boys.

There are way more football palyers, practices, and games in which concussions can occur. When you correct for that, the data straightens out.

As noted, the major difference moving forward, has already happened. Evaluation, treatment and management of concussions.

 

[Scoe]

It is what it is, you cant and will never avoid injuries. Some preventative measures can be taking and more research on long term injuries, concussions and such. No one is making anybody play football, its a choice just like going into the military is a choice or being a cop, its all a choice. Its a violent game and you cant play the game passively, you can throw a flag for hitting a defenseless receiver but it doesnt change the fact that the receiver was already layed out. The NFL protects their qb's and wrs. Guys who dish out the hard hits get just as much long term health problems as guys that get hit.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It is what it is, you cant and will never avoid injuries. Some preventative measures can be taking and more research on long term injuries, concussions and such. No one is making anybody play football, its a choice just like going into the military is a choice or being a cop, its all a choice. Its a violent game and you cant play the game passively, you can throw a flag for hitting a defenseless receiver but it doesnt change the fact that the receiver was already layed out. The NFL protects their qb's and wrs. Guys who dish out the hard hits get just as much long term health problems as guys that get hit.

Well said. The NFL, is most definitely at fault, for being a multi billion dollar profit machine that treats it's primary money maker - the players......poorly. It's incredible, how poorly in the past NFL players were treated for giving up their bodies the way they do. As I've said many times, when you reach that level, it's not just your brain, it's your heart, your kidneys, your knees, hips, ankles and shoulders, that are all given up and put at risk.

They all enter into it willingly, and the NFL owners, for way too long, have used that fact, against them. It bothers me to no end, that professional baseball or basketball player can sign a contract, and get a paid seat on the bench if they throw a childhood like tantrum - and have that guaranteed contract....makes me not want to watch those sports when it happens.

but the only sport, where people actually give up their bodies to play - if you're not on the field becaue your body, or brain, is injured, your contract is in danger. NFL owners, have perpetuated an environment, with roster limits and restrictions, and contract agreements, where players are literally risking life and limb to be on the field, so that they can get their next paycheck.

The 53 man roster limit, and the salary cap, are two totally redundant things, that NFL owners have in place, to continue to maximize their profits, while they squeeze their labor.

and as noted - it's a lot better now, than it was in the not so distant past.

Football played up to the collegiate level, is much, much different than NFL football. NFL football would easily and for the better be changed by lifting roster limits, maintaining a salary cap, and guaranteeing contracts for players that sustain injury.

 

[metsfan2323]

Eventually anyone who hits with their helmet or shields themselves by lowering their helmet will be ejected from the game. Allowing your head and neck to absorb the hit is insanity.

As far as what Obama said in this link that is much ado about nothing. He states that as a parent he would be concerned about his kid playing football which probably represents the view of every parent who watches their kid play the game. There is an ambulance at every game for a reason.

 

[Husky25]

What's really ironic, is that the president has daughters. Proper, and repeatedable research, shows that when you correct statistically for the numbers of athletes across sports and gender (there are way more male football players, than girls soccer players.....) but the fact is that females are more likely to sustain diagnosed concussion than males...

This is the key word here. Regardless of Title IX, women have been, are, and will continue to be treated differently in sports. We glorify a man's "toughness" in sports and we, as a society encourage men to try and make it in their chosen sport becaue it can be such a financial windfall.

IMO, society views Womens' Athletics as a good way to pass the time until they are ready for their next stage in life. Women, by and large, have an even smaller chance of making a living as a professional athlete than men, due merely to the number of professional leagues. This forward thinking on the women's side potentially leads to the over-diagnosis of concussions. This benefits them as a person, but it is to their detriment as an athlete.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Maybe he was offering a simply and logical answer to a question he was asked.....Some of you are almost beyond belief. If you would have pause before allowing your kids to play any contact sport, you probably aren't a good parent (of an intelligent human being). He did not call for a ban on football, didn't even say he wouldn't allow his "fictional" son to play. Simply said he would have to think long and hard. This is news?

 

[Husky25]

Well said. The NFL, is most definitely at fault, for being a multi billion dollar profit machine that treats it's primary money maker - the players......poorly. It's incredible, how poorly in the past NFL players were treated for giving up their bodies the way they do. As I've said many times, when you reach that level, it's not just your brain, it's your heart, your kidneys, your knees, hips, ankles and shoulders, that are all given up and put at risk.

They all enter into it willingly, and the NFL owners, for way too long, have used that fact, against them. It bothers me to no end, that professional baseball or basketball player can sign a contract, and get a paid seat on the bench if they throw a childhood like tantrum - and have that guaranteed contract....makes me not want to watch those sports when it happens.

but the only sport, where people actually give up their bodies to play - if you're not on the field becaue your body, or brain, is injured, your contract is in danger. NFL owners, have perpetuated an environment, with roster limits and restrictions, and contract agreements, where players are literally risking life and limb to be on the field, so that they can get their next paycheck.

The 53 man roster limit, and the salary cap, are two totally redundant things, that NFL owners have in place, to continue to maximize their profits, while they squeeze their labor.

and as noted - it's a lot better now, than it was in the not so distant past.

Football played up to the collegiate level, is much, much different than NFL football. NFL football would easily and for the better be changed by lifting roster limits, maintaining a salary cap, and guaranteeing contracts for players that sustain injury.

Agree here and this is where I think Obama got it wrong in hs statement. Many players in the NCAA know (or atleast have an indication) very well that they are not going to make it as a professional football player. They, as a whole, are not as big and the game is not as fast. The first major difference between the two levels that any NFL rookie mentions is game speed. Now factor in that almost every NFL offensive lineman is at least near 300 lbs., with many well over 3 bills. Many college players take advantage of the scholarship, play their four years, perhaps dip a toe into a pro camp, but ultimately do something else. They absolutely have something to fall back on. The elites and those who are hooked up with bad advice are the ones at risk.

 

[Husky25]

Maybe he was offering a simply and logical answer to a question he was asked.....Some of you are almost beyond belief. If you would have pause before allowing your kids to play any contact sport, you probably aren't a good parent (of an intelligent human being). He did not call for a ban on football, didn't even say he wouldn't allow his "fictional" son to play. Simply said he would have to think long and hard. This is news?

As much as Beyonce lip syncing the National Anthem (to her own voice)...

 

[BlueMAB]

Some of you are almost beyond belief... ...This is news?

Yes, blame the people who respond to the media story rather than the media that made it a story, that behavior is so much more logical.

You want to be upset about the fact it's news write an email to CBS (or whomever) for asking the question, and ESPN for reporting the answer.

He should have said the NFL is a business that can run itself, he's worried about our economy, continued 8% unemployment (that he promised would never go over 8%), or an ever deteriorating political climate in the middle east.

But he, and the media he pretends isn't on his side, would rather the softball questions that focus on how kind and caring he is. Because putting my kids in debt up to their eyeballs before they even graduate HS is so benevolent.

 

[Carl Spackler]

This is the key word here. Regardless of Title IX, women have been, are, and will continue to be treated differently in sports. We glorify a man's "toughness" in sports and we, as a society encourage men to try and make it in their chosen sport becaue it can be such a financial windfall.

IMO, society views Womens' Athletics as a good way to pass the time until they are ready for their next stage in life. Women, by and large, have an even smaller chance of making a living as a professional athlete than men, due merely to the number of professional leagues. This forward thinking on the women's side potentially leads to the over-diagnosis of concussions. This benefits them as a person, but it is to their detriment as an athlete.

Nice pickup. I deliberately included that "diagnosed" in there. One of the legitimate questions that needs to be further addressed, is whether or not concussions are still being covered up / hidden by football players at high rates. Females are much more likely, to report health problems to a parent,coach or doctor than males are. It's a society thing, and not specific to sports or age. When a woman doesn't feel right, they go to a doctor. When a guy doesn't feel right, he complains to his woman, and goes to bed.

My personal opinion, is that at high school, college levels, over the past 10-15 years, concussions are being diagnosed, and reated at as close to actual occurence rate as possible. You get to the NFL though, and I believe whole heartedly that players are hiding symptoms, so that they can remain on the active rosters and get their paychecks.

 

[huskymedic]

Nice pickup. I deliberately included that "diagnosed" in there. One of the legitimate questions that needs to be further addressed, is whether or not concussions are still being covered up / hidden by football players at high rates. Females are much more likely, to report health problems to a parent,coach or doctor than males are. It's a society thing, and not specific to sports or age. When a woman doesn't feel right, they go to a doctor. When a guy doesn't feel right, he complains to his woman, and goes to bed.

My personal opinion, is that at high school, college levels, over the past 10-15 years, concussions are being diagnosed, and reated at as close to actual occurence rate as possible. You get to the NFL though, and I believe whole heartedly that players are hiding symptoms, so that they can remain on the active rosters and get their paychecks.

Agreed... it is now required training for ALL high school coaches by CIAC through CGS.

http://www.casciac.org/pdfs/ConcussionAnnualReview.11-12.pdf

http://content.ciacsports.com/pdfs/ConcussionProtocolForOfficials.pdf

 

[Carl Spackler]

Agreed... it is now required training for ALL high school coaches by CIAC through CGS.

http://www.casciac.org/pdfs/ConcussionAnnualReview.11-12.pdf

http://content.ciacsports.com/pdfs/ConcussionProtocolForOfficials.pdf

Agreed.

Many state high school athletic associations have adopted this kind of thing across the country. I know there's a big organizational push out west in the western states as well, for standardized approaches to monitoring athletes, and approaching concussive symtpoms, and head trauma. Out there, it was actually spawned by a lacrosse player that died a few days after a hit to the head, I think he got hit in the head with a ball (while wearing a helmet) and had a circulatory/aneurysm.

The difficulty with concussions, is that the specific injury itself is sub-critical. There are many systems of classifying types of injury, and when it comes to the most severe kinds of injury (i.e. life threatening, debilitating).....a concussion is actually quite low on the list. The most severe football injuries, involving the head that are life threatening, are actually neck injuries, and not head injuries.

It's always been the management of concussions, and the tendency that once you've got one, they tend to repeat (much like a sprained ankle that hasn't healed properly will re-aggravate) that's been a problem, and there is now questions as to what the long term effects of repeated concussions are.

I don't know what kind of organizational approach exists intercollegiately, right now, but I do know that concussions are not being treated lightly at UConn. Until more information is known, the course of action is going to be to err on the side of caution. Whitmer got himself knocked around last season, but to my knowledge he was extensively monitored, and evaluated according to the best guidelines available right now. It's part of the game, it's part of all contact sports. Our best fullback, based on performance on field that I could see, hung up the cleats for good last season, becuase of the way he was evaluated regarding concussions at UConn. Not an easy decision, but as said, concussions aren't going to be taken lightly at UConn, if you look at the available info.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Yes, blame the people who respond to the media story rather than the media that made it a story, that behavior is so much more logical.

You want to be upset about the fact it's news write an email to CBS (or whomever) for asking the question, and ESPN for reporting the answer.

He should have said the NFL is a business that can run itself, he's worried about our economy, continued 8% unemployment (that he promised would never go over 8%), or an ever deteriorating political climate in the middle east.

But he, and the media he pretends isn't on his side, would rather the softball questions that focus on how kind and caring he is. Because putting my kids in debt up to their eyeballs before they even graduate HS is so benevolent.

It wouldn't be news if people didn't click/respond to such articles. So yes i blame the consumer. And again he was asked a question. Should he have said " i know you asked me a simple sports question, but i would rather offer an answer on the upcoming jobs report."? Be real.

 

[BlueMAB]

It wouldn't be news if people didn't click/respond to such articles. So yes i blame the consumer. And again he was asked a question. Should he have said " i know you asked me a simple sports question, but i would rather offer an answer on the upcoming jobs report."? Be real.

Then blame yourself since you also responded. Stop being a part of the problem and leave the discussion if that's what your problem is.

You know, on second thought, no politician has ever been asked a question, and then decided to respond with a message they want to get out, rather than actually answering the question. You're right, that is unheard of. Politicians, especially ones as politically astute as Obama, ALWAYS answer the questions that are asked of them. It would be completely unrealistic for a president to say he's more concerned with issues that affect every man, woman, and child in this country than those that affect less than 1%. Why would he dare respond that he'd rather talk about more pressing issues? Clearly, concussions in the NFL is what we all go to bed at nigh worrying about. Everything else is "doing just fine".

Wake up.