rolling American football death spiral thread

in my football career i got:

1) the wind knocked out of me (the most terrifying)
2) my "bell rung" (dazed and stars and loss of equilibrium, not sure if actual concussion lol football)
3) racked right in the balls since i brilliantly decided not to wear a cup for that game <--this is by far the worst

a good friend did have a diagnosed concussion one day, and i remember him approaching me on the sideline and basically cheerfully saying something that made no sense at all. i had to keep him from going back in the game since he thought he was fine. he came to school the next day (thursday night game) and said his parents had to wake him up once an hour, which i guess is some kind of stand procedure for concussions.

a good friend did have a diagnosed concussion one day, and i remember him approaching me on the sideline and basically cheerfully saying something that made no sense at all....

― ryan, Saturday, January 23, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRscxQZs8E

yeah getting the wind knocked out is much less serious but a whole lot scarier while it's happening

i've had the wind knocked out of me too many times to count. i just thought that was part of being young. never had a concussion, but also never played anything but pick up football

my grandpa would never watch the nfl: "they're all just trying to hurt each other" dude had a point

concerned citizen: um your skin is literally flayed and i can see all your muscles
football bro: oh i just got my sausage casing peeled
cc: also i am a doctor and u have lupus
fb: just gotta little jam on my face
cc: plz stop dying
fb: just getting my toe tag sized

― ecclesiastes nutz (m bison), Saturday, January 23, 2016 5:01 AM (Yesterday)

lol

I was thinking earlier this year that if the Pats got to the SB again it would actually be bad for the NFL, because lol cheaters, but now they lost by a missed FG to some juicers, so really, why would anybody watch this? If the Panthers lose, I mean. Cam Newton is, unfortunately for my argument, a joy.

Oh wow I can't believe this hasn't been linked from this thread yet

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2305112-roger-goodells-a-christmas-carol

The Davis specter shrugged. "Suit yourself, shortcake. But keep in mind it's not just your soul that's at stake. Professional football itself is in jeopardy."

Goodell scoffed. "You know better than that, Al. The sport is healthier than ever, because I give fans and advertisers exactly what they want."

"If you say so, rainbow. It's no skin off my back, since I don't have a skin or a back anymore. The first ghost will get here when he gets here." With that, the Davis ghost vanished from sight.

As the final wisp of his visage faded, Goodell heard a peculiar bell. It was not a Christmas bell, nor a funerary church bell, nor the cathedral bells he could hear peeling each hour over the Manhattan street noise.

It was a boxing ring bell, Goodell realized as sleep overtook him.

peeling pealing

>=( @ bleacher report.

The only reason he works there is because FO doesn't pay the mortgage, Sports On Earth went half-Grantland, ESPN already hired Barnwell and SBnation is just stupid I guess

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/sports/football/former-giants-safety-tyler-sash-found-to-have-cte.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

I realize SF denizens hating on shitty public displays isn't like a big surprise or any kind of indicator of the imminent demise of the sport but this is mildly entertaining

http://deadspin.com/san-franciscans-have-declared-war-on-super-bowl-sculptu-1756345681

and I also liked this comment:

You can glean this from the TV advertising, but it really stood out to me when the NFL draft was held last year not far from where I live in Chicago: the NFL has this thing where they can’t just smile and acknowledge that they’re the most popular sport in America; they have to have MORE. It’s like they want to bully you into getting hyped for football, like they want to create this sense that you’re not really participating in the culture if you’re not glued to your TV every Sunday*. Is my walk to work disrupted and my coworkers’ commute messed up by the weeklong unavailability of every parking lot near my office? THE NFL DRAFT IS COMING TO CHICAGO LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. Why wouldn’t arguably the most beautiful city in America (I went to high school in SF) welcome dropping garish SUPERBOWL 50 sculptures all over the place? IT’S FOOTBAAAWWWL.

Dude shouldn't drive to work anyway if he works in the loop. Ban cars.

OMG FUCK THIS STUPID SPORTSBALL POLICE STATE BULLSHIT

had to vent

there are metal detectors and cops in riot gear all over the place near my office - streets are blocked, public buildings are only accessible through security checkpoints, traffic/public transit is re-routed, ugly temporary statues everywhere... I hate pro-sports in general but making it unavoidable like this should be against the law imo.

I mean the game is in FUCKING SANTA CLARA

gawd if they schedule a super bowl for Seattle ever I'm taking a goddamn vacation

there are drones/copters flying over head scanning for "background radiation"

O RLY

When Dallas-Ft Worth had the Super Bowl I flew to NY for four days. Even better, it was actually warmer in NY than Texas that weekend.

just deigned to check and fortunately Seattle is not in the running through at least 2020

i still follow the NFL from the outside looking in with regards to stats and standings a lot, but even with that limited exposure stories like the Ken Stabler one continue to give me pause. also the Stabler story being the top sidebar story on ESPN, right next to a front page story about the #1 college recruit choosing to go to Michigan and me wondering if we're gonna see a similar story about him in thirty years.

I didn't realize SBNation runs the "Meet The Bag Man" story every year on NCAA signing day.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/09/bruno-mars-super-bowl-halftime-show.html

Approaching stunt-shittiness

SAN FRANCISCO -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that if he had a son, he would "love to have him play the game of football" despite various concerns about concussions and other safety-related issues.

Goodell, speaking Friday at his annual Super Bowl week news conference, said the NFL has "made great progress" in the area of concussions by way of rule changes and improving equipment.

"From my standpoint, I played the game of football for nine years, through high school. I wouldn't give up a single day of that," Goodell said. "If I had a son, I'd love to have him play the game of football. I'd love to have him play the game of football because of the values you get.

"There's risk in life. There's risk sitting on the couch. What we want to do is get people active. I want them to experience the game of football because the game of football will teach you the values ... the discipline, the teamwork, the perseverance. Those are values and those are skills that will lead you through life, and I believe football is the best to teach that."

johnny values

it's true though there are so many former NFL players who movingly talk about how football has given them a new appreciation for what is actually important in life, what should be valued, and they really desperately try to pass that message along to people thinking about playing the game.

If I had a son

Joe Montana at 59: 'I can't really run or do much'

“I tried a little bit of skiing, but unfortunately when you get weight on one ski under my left knee, it’s just not very strong. After my first back surgery, what kind of compounds things, is my sciatic nerve has been damaged. So the muscles along my sciatic nerve into my left foot have been numb since ’86.’’

Add Marshawn Lynch to the reasons you used to watch

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/2/7/10934536/marshawn-lynch-retirement-seahawks-nfl

there are smokier guns than a 59yo who has trouble skiing

Oh yeah if I'm trying to run and jump and ski at age 59 then I've got other things wrong with me
But I am never an elite QB

during that one last touchdown, i was reminded why football was awful -- as CJ anderson struggled the few yards to the end zone, he took like three or four really intense blows to the head. a little horrifying, frankly.

in the super bowl obvs

you can kind of see (and hear) it around 0:50 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8nYdByKNRM

Magary has another excellent piece up, on pads and helmets:

http://deadspin.com/the-one-thing-the-nfl-will-never-do-to-make-football-sa-1758114037

IMHO somebody else will try and create a no-armor league, and who knows, people might watch. I would.

Big fan of the XFL?

@washingtonpost
Ivy League football unanimously votes to cut tackling in practice http://wapo.st/1LTm0Cw

@dick_nixon
Jesus!

boom

In N.F.L., Deeply Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to Big Tobacco

x2

https://twitter.com/NYTSports/status/713068574441652224

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/3/28/11250362/nfl-concussions-cte-connection-roger-goodell-comments

The owners really do all deserve their own circle in hell.

At the end of the day I think [these athletes] are adults and they're getting paid large sums of money.... A lot of these guys that are claiming they're having these concussion issues, they have alcohol or drug problems that are just going to compound it.

jim irsay's daughter in glamour

an aside to this part, but:

But the hardest thing—in some ways, even more than being a woman—is people just assume that this was handed to you [by your parents].

the owners and their families are all first against the wall imho
I have one lung holding its breath for some of the "good ones" like the Maras or the Rooneys to come out and state that this is bullshit while the other lung just keeps going GLWT DUMBASS

The Browns pick up RG3. Parity is bullshit, there's a competitive set of teams and then a pile of organizations that demonstrably are long past pretending to give any fucks.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/18/474702082/concussion-update-u-s-appeals-court-affirms-deal-between-nfl-retired-players

A couple million bucks each for the uncompensated QALYs likely to be lost by all these thousands of men seems like robbery but I'm not a judge I guess.

I believe the eventual payouts from that could become what insurance underwriters talk about when they talk about "the tail"

Leitch swoops in with the challops!! He's got the numbers to back him up!!

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/09/by-staying-silent-roger-goodell-and-the-nfl-won.html

The film flopped. Nobody cared. Television ratings for 2015 games were up from 2014, and so on. The American public has listened to all the arguments about the immorality and dangers of football, and they have responded by … watching more football. I’m sorry, Mr. Bradshaw, but however scary CTE makes football seem, I’m not sure soccer’s gonna catch up.

1. Everybody still hates Goodell. Nobody will defend his record. He is an atrocity. I repeat, everyone hates him.
2. Concussion didn't do well at the box office?!?!? OMG NFL football is doing great!
3. The product keeps getting worse (nobody remembers anything about the last seven highest rated shows on TV except that one where the Seahawks were dumb and that one with the blackout)
4. All the preseason headlines I've seen have been about:
- disgusting injuries
- the Vegas stadium pricetag
- some guys kneeling during the anthem

Yes, it's an exciting sport that people want their young boys to play and it definitely hasn't peaked, because people still put the Super Bowl on while they do other stuff - Goodell's a genius!

I look forward to Leitch reversing his position on the WB DC film franchise two years from now when Zack Snyder cleverly chooses to not address his critics.

lol as if the film was the first time people had heard of concussions and CTE

does everybody think Tagliabue is often getting let off the hook for things he made Goodell inherit simply cos he didn't commish in the social media explosion era?

obv I think he was better than Goodell (esp in public relations), but his administration is also the one that let Leonard Little play again so idk how much better....

I think Goodell is definitely getting hit with criticism for things that are exactly as they were under Tagliabue - Leitch does trot out his "journalist issue" thing wrt head trauma - people really didn't pay that much attention. Ditto stadium financing, shitty officiating, do-nothing domestic abuse policy, arbitrary discipline and dumb ideas about drugs.