Is It Time to Retire the Football Helmet?

[Gothamite]

Exactly.

This is the first step in changing how the game is played, which is the only way this issue can seriously be addressed.

Good on the NFL. Hope they have the fortitude to follow through.

[rams80]

In light of the possibility of suspensions we have this lovely quote from James Harrison...

"I thought Cribbs was asleep," said Harrison. "A hit like that geeks you up -- it geeks everybody up -- especially when you find out that the guy is not really hurt -- he's just sleeping. He's knocked out, but he's going to be OK. The other guy, I didn't hit that hard, to be honest with you. When you get a guy on the ground, it's a perfect tackle."

So how long until he's just simply banned from the league.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, that's not going to fly anymore.

[Saintsfan]

Yeah that Harrison quote is exactly what I was on about. The league should step in and ban Harrison now. The message has to go out that the league won't accept that attitude!

[fishheatcats]

Suspensions might help some but I don't think these kind of hits will stop. The only surefire way to prevent the head-on-head collision is to take the plastic "protective" shell out of the equation. If I'm a linebacker I'm not going to throw my head at somebody else if I don't have a hard shell and a facemask on it. I think a streamlined version of what Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech wears would work:

Soft and provides some protection without giving players that illusion of invincibility they seem to have with the full on helmets. I wouldn't mind seeing them reduce the rest of the pads as well.

Even with proper teaching, tackling technique and fines/suspensions, there will still be rough hits by irresponsible players. The closer they get to rugby-style with no pads, the less reckless players will be with their bodies IMO.

[Gothamite]

Yeah that Harrison quote is exactly what I was on about. The league should step in and ban Harrison now. The message has to go out that the league won't accept that attitude!

I think a quiet word in his ear, first.

I've heard reports that the League will be sending representatives to each team's locker room to review some of the recent hits, and explaining which ones will result in suspensions from this point on.

fishheatcats is right that protective equipment will have to be reduced and/or eliminated. We are allowing players to defer paying for their hits until years after the fact, which has bred a dangerous recklessness.

Bottom line: the current game is just too hazardous to the health of its players, and the repeated hard hits must be eliminated, by rule change and equipment change.

[Saintsfan]

I wonder if it's really possible to turn the clock back like that. I think it's difficult to imagine fans buying into a less intense version of football. It would be interesting to see a game between modern pros in say 1940s style gear.

[BlueSky]

I agree the players need to be protected, but it seems now that every time a guy gets lit up, even on a legal hit, out comes the flag. When it's questioned, you get the "err on the side of caution" argument. That's BS. They need to use some common sense here.

[TFoA]

I agree the players need to be protected, but it seems now that every time a guy gets lit up, even on a legal hit, out comes the flag. When it's questioned, you get the "err on the side of caution" argument. That's BS. They need to use some common sense here.

Agreed. I do like the fact that the NFL is looking out for the well-being for the players...but you can't do that & then:

• Use video of big hits in league advertising when you're trying to crack down on it.
  
• Crack down on big hits, but then tell the players to play even MORE games in the regular season, which would increase their chances of injury.
  
• Fine players for LEGAL hits. Helmet-to-helmet is illegal, and it should be officiated & sanctioned as such. But if you're gonna fine someone for a shoulder-to-chest hit, then WTF. How are you gonna fine someone for something that they've been taught to do since childhood? It reminds me of what's going on in the NHL. Players are getting punished for what happened to the recipient AFTER the hit, instead of punishing the actual action. If a player gets injured due to an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit, then discipline them as you see fit because helmet-to-helmet hits need to be eliminated from the game. But don't fine players for legal hits just because the recipient of the hit was hurt afterwards.

So yeah, I'm glad to see that the NFL is trying to look out for the players & trying to get dirty helmet-to-helmet hits out of the game...but like you said, the league really isn't using common sense when it comes to actually reviewing these hits.

[BlueSky]

And I forgot the one that really burns my a**, when a defender's hand literally brushes a QB's helmet and they get hit for 15 yards.

[rams80]

I agree the players need to be protected, but it seems now that every time a guy gets lit up, even on a legal hit, out comes the flag. When it's questioned, you get the "err on the side of caution" argument. That's BS. They need to use some common sense here.

The common sense is, "It may have been legal 5 years ago, but it's not a legal hit anymore." Of course by the same token, no flag should not mean no fine either. A Charger made a blatant helmet to helmet on Sam Bradford on Sunday, but the ref didn't see it and since it was Rams-Chargers, none of your media types saw it either.

Speaking of which...

NFL fires shot across bows of several players, including Harrison

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh...

Fans plug their ears and pretend that documentary evidence about the dangers of football as currently played should be ignored because it is manly to do so.

[Saintsfan]

The issue isn't just hits, it's dangerous hits. Don't want a suspension? Don't lead high with your helmet. Lead with your shoulder lower. You get some pretty big hits in Rugby still.

[Mac the Knife]

Get rid of helmets AND pads. Make them go out with no protective gear at all, save a jock strap and cup. Take off the armor that these guys wear, and see how they react - I'd guarantee you the way they play would be dramatically impacted, as players wouldn't be nearly as reckless in their blocking/tackling techniques.

[HedleyLamarr]

And I forgot the one that really burns my a**, when a defender's hand literally brushes a QB's helmet and they get hit for 15 yards.

Can't touch a QB's legs, either.

[AJM]

http://www.michaelprincip.com/Bulwark.html

This link that I had previously posted has been updated with more data and images of what helmets could look like.

A combination of improved equipment and regulations on hits will help this issue, but head injuries are never going to disappear...injuries are an occupational hazard, and when you sign up, you know what you're getting into, especially when performing at the highest level in your field such as the NFL.

Lets look at new helmets, fine & suspend players for flagrant/reckless tackling, and move on.

[STL FANATIC]

I know everyone ends up talking about big hits and I know they seem masculine, but does anybody really turn football on on Sunday's to see guys get lit up? I turn it on to watch football. (Maybe I'm just making the same argument as people who are against fighting in hockey--an argument I'm on the other side of. But I'll call them similar when I'm provided with similar health risk evidence.)

It's about time the league started doing this. I hope they don't limit it to helmet-to-helmet contact either. It only takes one helmet to matter, on either side. If a defender hits a player in the chest by leading with his helmet, flag him, fine him, and consider suspending him. That hit not only will hurt the lower (below the neck) body of the offensive player, but it holds the same risk of head injury to the defender as a helmet-to-helmet hit. Similarly, if I defender manages to hit an offensive player in the helmet with some other part of his body (be it shoulder, hand, or whatever), flag that too.

Maybe that's the plan, I'm not sure. I just know that these concussions and their long-term effects happen on all kinds of hits with and to the head, not just ones that are head-to-head.

I'm in the camp of take away or minimize helmets, but that's an option I put in the "extremely unlikely" category. That being the case, you've just got to teach players a safer way to play, and by measures of discipline seems to be the best path.

[omnivore]

I doubt they'll get rid of helmets, mostly because they've been around so long now that the game is pretty resistant to the massive change on the way they game is played since we all know helmets play a part in how players hit. But the invincibility thing has been the case for a while, citing the AFL was great but...I think NASCAR is a better example of the NFL's future with the Car of Tomorrow and how the sport was forced to take safety more serious with deaths on the racetrack. Football's future is somewhere in there with a "helmet of tomorrow" with better technology to present catastrophic head injuries that naturally will get more grisly as guys feel more invincible. Just a vicious cycle.

[Gothamite]

http://www.michaelprincip.com/Bulwark.html

This link that I had previously posted has been updated with more data and images of what helmets could look like.

A combination of improved equipment and regulations on hits will help this issue, but head injuries are never going to disappear...injuries are an occupational hazard, and when you sign up, you know what you're getting into, especially when performing at the highest level in your field such as the NFL.

Lets look at new helmets, fine & suspend players for flagrant/reckless tackling, and move on.

No, no, no.

New helmets will not solve this issue, unless I missed the proposal for a helmet which sits under the skull.

[STL FANATIC]

http://www.michaelprincip.com/Bulwark.html

This link that I had previously posted has been updated with more data and images of what helmets could look like.

A combination of improved equipment and regulations on hits will help this issue, but head injuries are never going to disappear...injuries are an occupational hazard, and when you sign up, you know what you're getting into, especially when performing at the highest level in your field such as the NFL.

Lets look at new helmets, fine & suspend players for flagrant/reckless tackling, and move on.

No, no, no.

New helmets will not solve this issue, unless I missed the proposal for a helmet which sits under the skull.

I wouldn't say no to better helmet technology. You're right that they won't solve the issue. If the league is going to keep helmets (and they are... they just are), then they're going to have to teach players a safer way to play. And they're going to have to enforce that with rules and penalties. But there's ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with simultaneously putting the safest technology on their heads.

Again, I'm with you in the camp of retire helmets and change their instincts. But that's just not going to happen.

[The_Admiral]

Maybe I'm just making the same argument as people who are against fighting in hockey--an argument I'm on the other side of.

How much of that has to do with the current construction of the Blues? If you were DET FANATIC, would you hold the same view on fighting?