rolling American football death spiral thread

Painkiller abuse is a more serious concern than steroids/HGH, IMO.

If baseball can fall from its heights during the 20th century, then so can football. What might cause that decline won't be easy or pretty, of course.

baseball is a $10b/yr business, so while it is no longer front and center, it's doing okay. also it's been pretty successful selling the nostalgia/experience of attending a game, which i can't see the nfl ever managing

this isn't really an existential threat to the nfl, but imo before long there's going to be a successful lawsuit against the ncaa and big-money college sports for leeching off amateurs, and it will be interesting to see how things shake out

To the Penn State point - sure, in State College and environs, being a diehard is acceptable. Leave town wearing your fan gear and see how that plays.

Redskins fanship is undergoing a similar issue from where I sit

also more and more players are making the news by retiring early due to CTE concerns

The NFL’s “concussion crisis” has taken its next logical step: the “retirement crisis.” On Friday, New York Jets offensive tackle and former Pro Bowler D’Brickashaw Ferguson announced his decision to retire from the NFL at 32 years old. Unlike some players who are forced to hang up their cleats after clinging to every last bit of turf in the hopes of scoring another contract but eventually retire because of debilitating body injuries, Ferguson — like around a dozen other NFL players over the past two years — has retired early without any outstanding injury or body-related issues.
[...]
San Francisco 49er Chris Borland retired at 24 years old in March 2015, saying that he didn’t want to have “any neurological diseases or die younger.” Buffalo Bills linebacker A.J. Tarpley retired at 23 years old on Wednesday, citing concussions and a desire to “preserve my future health” as his reason. Safety Husain Abdullah, 30, retired last month because he wanted a “sound mind” in the next stage of his life. Below the NFL level, 26 college football players have retired over the past three seasons because of concussions, according to Al Jazeera America.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dbrickashaw-ferguson-nfl-early-retirement-no-surprise_us_5707c4d5e4b0c4e26a2273fa

Guys, Will Leitch is right, Luke Wilson is completely unbelievable as Roger Goodell. The NFL has won.

so cam newton got fuckin rekt last night

http://imgur.com/Mn1z9Ld?r

oof. If I went to work and that happened to me all day, pretty sure I'd quit.

broncos are dirty as fuck they all need to be fined and probably suspended since when is head to head legal? bc the qb runs sometimes so anything goes?

oof. If I went to work and that happened to me all day, pretty sure I'd quit.

No amount of money worth a traumatic brain injury imo, period.

http://verysmartbrothas.com/the-nfl-is-sociopathic-and-racist-trash-but-keep-watching-and-just-know-youre-watching-trash/

It's nice that we want to tell these people what's best for them and in some respects we are right. But the fact that not a single NFL'er has retired over this is telling. These people want to play, and even most former players, those who played under much worse safety rules and were paid much less, still say they'd do it again. The issue of parents not letting their kids play is a real concern though, but I'd reckon we won't see the effects of that for 20 years.

― frogbs, Thursday, November 7, 2013 8:36 AM

Not a call out, just noticed this and wondering if the trickle will be a flood. Linked from Tombot's article is this more insiderish article about how the NFL's players are on a whole the youngest they've been in a decade and I would have to assume ever.

ILX's own also did a piece on it:

http://deadspin.com/if-the-nfl-is-worse-now-the-reason-why-is-obvious-1786338046

there have been a lot of dumb takes on kaepernick -- and i haven't been able to bring myself to read david brooks yet -- but trent dilfer's is incredible

the NFL is absolutely the worst place to have a 'national conversation' on this shit.. its ran by a bunch of authoritarians and yes men.

nah, it's the best place. a backup qb is kneeling instead of standing for a song and it's espn's top story

i don't know that it will actually *accomplish* anything apart from highlighting racists, but still

Actually I think it is ESPN's top story because the games suck.

And the games don't just suck because the players are too inexperienced- they're being coached by the likes of the fucking Ryan twins and Jeff Fisher and and and.

it's espn's top story because espn's visitors, like the rest of the web, care more about ~controversy~ than content

see also megan rapinoe making women's soccer a flashpoint, and omg some nyfg receivers zinged a hatcats cornerback, and tim tebow's very existence

Apparently, Colin is not a great football player anymore. Who knew? In 2013, Colin was representing the Nupes well and competing against the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl. In 2016, Colin is representing the Nupes well and competing with J.Cole for the 47th annual Murray’s Pomade Wokest hair award. Now, I’m sure Colin’s play hasn’t been immaculate but there’s no way a man who did this can be one protest away from irrelevancy. But, I don’t blame Colin. I blame the NFL, because it’s trash too, and if it continues on this path, I may have to take a knee.

i'm sure everyone here would agree that kaepernick's play has been erratic but as a philly fan i'm happy to admit that kelly clearly has some weird race problems

http://deadspin.com/nfl-memo-blames-plummeting-tv-ratings-on-presidential-e-1787539401

told u so

Additionally, we are challenged in comparison to the first few weeks of the 2015 and 2014 seasons, which from a ratings perspective were two of the three best starts we have had in the last 10 years. No two seasons are the same when you consider the different matchups, game windows and other factors.

Deadspin, as usual: Roger Goodell: No, It's The Fans Who Are Idiots

Let’s see: The NFL has eroded public trust by its handling of players accused of violence against women, its treatment of players suffering brain injuries during and after their careers, and treating the healthy players on the field as assholes for celebrating touchdowns. In the meantime, their product is currently terrible and they can’t figure out why ratings are way, way down. But it’s the fans who are misunderstanding things.

The Ringer: Is There Too Much Football?

blah blah blah blah link to a better story about baseball: http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/are-we-gonna-talk-about-how-good-baseballs-postseason-ratings-have-been.html

The NFL has blamed its ratings dip on competition with the presidential election. Well, that Jays-Orioles game, hardly the sexiest matchup you’ll ever see, went up against the VP debate and held its own, outdrawing CNN and MSNBC’s coverage while ranking behind FOX News. If cable news is dooming the NFL, shouldn’t it be affecting MLB even more, given that baseball is on every night, continually up against Megyn Kelly and Anderson Cooper? And yet, here we are, with baseball setting viewership records wherever you look.

But back to the Ringer story, so I can spoil the end for you!

Mulvihill said that in this changing world, he’s found himself wondering what the postelection ratings will look like. “The election is over after Week 9,” he said. “We have a gigantic game on Week 10, Dallas-Pittsburgh. Are we going to see the type of number for Dallas-Pittsburgh that we would have expected if this was a normal year?”

No, you won't. Your product sucks and your league is run by assholes from stem to stern.

I, for one, have invested more time in baseball over the last few years. Time that used to be spent on NFL.

ESPN is bleeding subscribers via lag8n on twitter

We're getting FIOS next month and they have a partial a la carte thing going on, but I don't think opting out of all the ESPNs is an option - yet.

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/nfl-football-moms-kids/

http://www.gq.com/story/the-concussion-diaries-high-school-football-cte

Well that was a great way to start the morning. "Now what?"

feel a little bad for thinking it, but the dad is a piece of work

holy shit, that was brutal

I would be interested to poll who here would let their kids play high school football. There's no way I would allow it.

we have a nerf football i play soft-toss with, with our five year old. i already told him this is the only football i ever want him to play, though he does enjoy running me down and tackling me.

there is another football tbf

...rugby football! lol!

but seriously, give in usa. give in

gripping article btw

I'll let my kids competitive play flag football and that's it

acknowledgement that being able to choose to not let your kids play football is to some degree a privilege

how so

sports can be a "way out" for people from underprivileged communities when american society keeps them out of other fields

i haven't read the gq article yet but this recent new yorker article is also relevant: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/09/can-technology-make-football-safer

xp that's true, but most high school football players don't get college scholarships and vanishingly few will reach the pro ranks. and there are several other sports offering a 'way out' that are less destructive to mind and body

if your kid runs a 4.2 40 then i guess maybe you weigh the risks somehow, but that is basically never the case

i'm just saying if you've got a high school-age kid who's interested in playing football and has some talent, it's easier for you to say no if the perception is that he has lots of other opportunities in life to succeed than if it feels like one of the few avenues for them to succeed

this is specifically mentioned in the article i linked:

In “The U,” a 2009 ESPN documentary about the University of Miami in the late eighties, Melvin Bratton, one of Irvin’s college teammates, described football as “basically a way out of the hood.” Irvin agreed. Youth participation may be down in well-to-do communities, but the Upper East Side has never been a font of football talent. Wealthier Americans might ponder the future of football, Irvin said, but poor and middle-class kids were betting their future on football.

This socioeconomic disconnect is not unique to football: in 1965, after the second heavyweight fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, the Times columnist Russell Baker addressed the growing abolitionist campaign against boxing, noting, “Fighters usually came from the hungry classes and were risking their brains for the titillation of the overfed.” Irvin put it this way: “When we start talking about ‘Will parents stop letting their kids play?,’ well, some parents will have that opportunity. But many will not. They will say, ‘Son, this is your best chance.’ ” Even some of the St. Thomas players were growing up in dire circumstances: one had been living in a motel, after his family lost their home; another student, whose guardian had been a drug addict, was in foster care.

did roman citizens fight in the gladiator pits? fuck no! (well, some exceptions excluded, looking at you commodus)

feel a little bad for thinking it, but the dad is a piece of work

I think that's unfair, or rather, reductive. It's all too easy to read the dad through a lens of "Jeez can you be any more stereotypical?" but I see someone who, whatever his particular beliefs or outlooks across the board and how I might disagree with them, grew up with and in an ethos and code as translated into various actions and activities that, because it worked out for him just fine (football is great, I'm successful, got a loving family) made perfect sense to carry forward with his kids. Now he's got to grapple with what that all resulted in for the rest of his days, and I think the portrayal of someone who is stuck knowing something has to happen and yet unsure what's the best way forward strikes me as understandable. It's not like he's suddenly going to drop pearls of wisdom, nor should we expect it of him; he's got his own son's words telling him not to blame football even as he wished he never played it. That's a hard combination to maintain.

I thought the end of the article was particularly dark and sad, him putting on a brave face (and why wouldn't he, again based on what we know of him) but alternating between walking his dogs and quietly drinking huge amounts in his kitchen, isolated. The high school football coach clearly isn't who he was before either. In both cases I would put it as an example of what happens when someone loses an absolute faith or surety -- they're holding on hard to what they have. And I don't think either of them, especially the dad, could be any more hurt or upset by anything that might be said to them that they haven't had to confront in themselves.

His assumption that old NFL players commit suicide because "they blew all their money and aren't famous anymore" is kinda shitty but let's face it, like half the country believed that five years ago

Nowadays I'm pretty thankful I sucked at football - I played 3 years in HS but wasn't good enough to start for a year and a half. I remember having these exact conversations when hanging out with certain teammates - "these concussions are really scary and I'm not convinced there isn't some lasting impact here"

His assumption that old NFL players commit suicide because "they blew all their money and aren't famous anymore" is kinda shitty but let's face it, like half the country believed that five years ago

And again, feeds into a pattern/adheres to wider beliefs. "Hey I'm a regular guy, would never happen to me," etc. And clearly he doesn't think that any more. If he STILL thought that, then yeah, opprobrium and then some.

yeah, it is both unfair and reductive. i feel terrible for him, knowing the role he played in it, and i admire the way he stepped up when the kid admitted he needed help.

but i had a hard time getting around his enjoyment of both 'fucking people up' when he played and watching his sons 'fuck people up.' that's an ethos and a code, but it's a shitty one, and there are ways to play football that aren't necessarily based on it. and his prior dismissal of NFL veterans with CTE as deceitful pussies showed a lack of empathy and a willful ignorance i found disturbing -- probably because it sounds exactly like a trump voter about other issues.

Not saying it isn't shitty, etc. Just that him holding onto that for so long isn't surprising. This is our society and these beliefs are recurrent and their roots are clear enough. I'm not thrilled with that at all, and I think it's terrible that it took a personal tragedy for him to question that. But again, sadly not surprising.

I'm comfortable with my privilege and will continue to judge parents harshly for letting their kids play football, regardless of socioeconomic status.

that's an ethos and a code, but it's a shitty one, and there are ways to play football that aren't necessarily based on it.

not once you get past middle school. if you didn't have the genes and couldn't keep up an insane diet/workout schedule, the way to compensate was by being extra tough and nasty