Two (Super Bowl) Teams Show Divide in Debate on (Brain) Safety

HuckleB

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Fri Feb-04-11 03:34 PM
Original message

Two (Super Bowl) Teams Show Divide in Debate on (Brain) Safety

Edited on Fri Feb-04-11 03:48 PM by HuckleB

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/sports/football/04rodgers.html

"Aaron Rodgers sat woozily on the Green Bay Packers� bench after a hard hit from the Detroit Lions on Dec. 12. Midway through a ghastly loss, with the Packers� playoff hopes in the balance, the veteran receiver Donald Driver decided that Rodgers, his star quarterback, needed some encouragement.

�I went behind him and told him that this game is just a game,� Driver recalled this week. �Your life is more important than the game.�

A professional player telling another to put his long-term health ahead of the team � a once and, to some, still-heretical idea � thrilled those who are trying to temper the sport�s win-now, regret-later ideology. Neurologists nodded. Parents cheered.

As for the rebuttal in football�s continuing debate, that was gladly delivered this week by none other than the Packers� opponent in Sunday�s Super Bowl � the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose stars stumped as football�s defiant traditionalists.

..."

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An interesting difference in perspective on this matter... of course, the reporter picked a few individuals from each team. I suspect the actual story is a bit different, but it is odd, to me, to see some in the NFL ignoring the evidence of long-term issues in regard to head injuries.

No?

:hi:

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saras

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Fri Feb-04-11 05:00 PM
Response to Original message

1. Old issue

As a starter, I'd recommend Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article - a nice, readable summary of the issue.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell

The problem is, if you ignore the fact that it's *FOOTBALL* and just go neutrally gather the data, you come to the obvious conclusion that all football - high school, college, professional - should simply be stopped. It's unjustifiably destructive.

But the odds of America going for that are too close to zero to measure.

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HuckleB

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Fri Feb-04-11 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. This issue has been around, but it's been gaining steam, so it's not an old issue at all.

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Maru Kitteh

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Fri Feb-04-11 07:17 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. Oh, bullhockey. Here's the evidence.

This is what football helmets once looked like:

We've improved them a bit since then and continue to do so.

Why do you suppose that is?

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