A BANKRUPT LOUDMOUTH AND CHILD SUPPORT CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR: Mike Tanier evaluates Warren Sapp and the other 14 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
added from the chronic brain trauma desk: Roger Goodell is floating an idea to eliminate kickoffs by giving the kicking team a "4th and 15" from its own 30, effectively replacing a kickoff with a punt and an onside kick with a normal offensive formation from 4th and 15 (or fake-punting). It is weird. It would change the game significantly. But if this is what the research shows might lead to a safer game, it has to be considered.
This is purely anecdotal, but it's my impression that very few concussion plays are kickoffs. It seems like most concussions come either on blind-side sacks or on regular plays within 10-15 yards of the line of scrimmage (generally RB-vs-LB, WR-vs-waiting-DB, or DB-on-DB accidental violence). Eliminating (or shortening) kickoffs seems designed to appear as if it were a heroic effort to address a problem without actually addressing the problem. And it would result in a marginal increase in sub-concussive brain trauma, since the players most likely to suffer from that are OLs, who generally do not participate on kickoff plays but who would participate in plays with normal offensive formations.
ReplyDeleteIf this is being floated, by the way, I take it that the science must not show that the helmets with the foam outside do any good. Banning KOs is a much more drastic change than foam-outside helmets, which suggests that the NFL would be okay with the latter if it thought it would decrease its exposure.
This was my thought as well. I continue to think that within our lifetimes, football (at least in its current form) will no longer be played in the US.
ReplyDeleteYou're right -- this may just be window-dressing while ignoring the fundamental problem as to whether the game can be made safe.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what happens on a DPI on this 4th and 15 play? Makes it too easy to keep the ball, compared to an onside kick. Make it 4th and 20 instead?
When someone who is the consensus greatest ever at their position, a 7 time Pro Bowler, 8 time All-Pro (6 first team, 2 second team) selection, 3 time Super Bowl champion, member of the 75th Anniversary Team, an All-Decade Team, has the collegiate award for his position named after him and was so good they had to invent new statistics isn't in the Hall of Fame--and not because of any scandal; well, it makes me wonder what kind of a place it really is.
ReplyDeleteLike I said on Twitter, I'm sure everybody who thinks Ray Guy shouldn't be in the HoF is totally cool with it when his or her favorite punter is terrible. Oh, yeah, 15 yard net, that's totally cool, I'm not one of those nerds who cares about field position.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that. Boxing is done in the US, and that's a sport where concussions are actually your goal as a participant. MMA is increasing in both popularity and participation.
ReplyDeleteIs it worth having a poll for this, like you did for baseball HoF? Or is ALOTT5MA not enough of a football crowd?
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I have yet to forgive Sapp for his hit on Chad Clifton. You know, the garbage hit that left him paralyzed and for which Sapp never apologized or showed any sign of remorse. Yes, Clifton recovered, but that's more a testament to his dedication than a reprieve for Sapp.
Also, Sapp is the reason I stopped watching Inside the NFL, a show I used to watch devotedly. Just discovered he's not on this year, so I can start watching. Wish I'd known earlier in the season.
And he's a deadbeat dad? Can't say I'm surprised.
Boxing is much smaller in terms of popularity and participation than football is. Perhaps "no longer be played" is an overstatement, but I think it's likely headed for a decline.
ReplyDeleteWhy not just make it a free kick like after a safety, with the option to onside kick. The 4th and whatever idea is a bad one that will lead to refs determining the outcome of more games.
ReplyDeleteMy perhaps countervailing but also statistically bereft impression is that the high-speed contacts on kick coverage and kickoffs in particular cause many of the neck/back injuries (the "stingers" and what have you) that threaten permanent nerve damage or even paralysis with repetition but without necessarily concussing anyone, and that these injuries are nigh-ubiquitous on special teams.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the 4th and 15 (or 20 or anything). Want to get rid of kickoffs after field goals/touchdowns? And avoid injuries? Easy -- give the other team the ball on its own 25, and make them march down the field. No more onside kicks. Onside kicks are exciting, but they are so random that they can seem unfair, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for it, just so I can vote for Ray Guy and stick it to the folks who don't care about field position.
ReplyDeleteMy thought as well, Chuck. 20 was what I came up with; make it a touchback, basically.
ReplyDeleteDid that story really say John Lynch and Warren Sapp are the only serious Hall of Fame candidates from the Bucs' Super Bowl team? I always thought Derrick Brooks was the best player from the Bucs of that era, and I figured he was a no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer.
ReplyDeleteOn the field, I'd say Sapp was a more dominant player. He just can't keep out of his own way off the field, though. But sure, Brooks at least deserves consideration (and I don't know enough about him to weigh his merits fairly).
ReplyDeleteI take it you spotted the sarcasm in my Ray Guy comment. Wouldn't want anybody to think I actually think field position is unimportant.
ReplyDeleteOkay, but I was responding to what you said, which is that it would no longer be played. As for a decline in popularity echoing what happened in boxing between the 1970s and the 1990s, it's possible. There were a lot of reasons why boxing declined in popularity (corruption and dilution through multiple governing bodies among them). But the decline in boxing participation, which I think started much earlier, certainly may have contributed to the decline in popularity. They used to teach boxing in P.E. in some places up until the 1970s (I remember seeing the gloves and headgear in the equipment rooms), and colleges (including the Ivies) had boxing teams. Boxing declined in popularity just about when people could no longer remember that stuff. It's certainly possible that the same thing will happen with football if enough parents hold their kids out (though I doubt it will happen in as soon as 50 years).
ReplyDeleteOh, I did. But there are people who seriously think it's relatively unimportant. Those people....field position, geez, I just don't know.
ReplyDeleteHere's a story that was written upon his retirement.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=yasinskas_pat&id=3434965
Here's a story that was written upon Brooks' retirement.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=yasinskas_pat&id=3434965