The Passion of the Game

I speak mainly about football when I am writing these because that is my passion. Well, I should say a passion of mine. I am not an expert by any means, but I have researched concussions, CTE, long term effects of concussions, FTD and preventative measures. I pick scholarly articles and other reliable resources when I research this subject. Concussions happen in all sports, basketball, wrestling, soccer, baseball and on and on. Football have more concussions than others due to the nature of the sport. There are many preventative measures that can be taken beside the fact of banning the sport. Which is not an option.

I recently posted an article regarding the research performed with less contact in football. As the rules are changing to protect players from unprotected hits and blocks, the research was conducted for less hitting in practice. The study was of youth league football teams. While one team had a no pad (helmets only) no contact policy, the other had full contact with pads. Through this study, they found that on game day, players hit with as much impact that had no contact practices than that of the team that had full contact practices. Research has also indicated that the repetitive hitting is as detrimental as a full blown concussion.

So, full contact practices that weaken the brain through repetitive hits during the week turns a hard hit into a full blown concussion on Friday night. this concussion is far worse due to that the brain is trying to heal the damage that was created through the week of practice. Second Impact Syndrome. Most players do not live through this one. Although it is a great minority that suffer this, it can be prevented. There are resources available that assist programs to implement these new policies, but people need to get on board. Parents need to demand that coaches and athletic directors and school boards are educated. School boards have no problem screwing a lunch program up for the sake of the kids. I see no reason they would balk on concussion safety.

There are football programs and I am talking about state powerhouses that have went to this type of program. Some national high school powerhouses despise youth football leagues. Heads Up USA Football, has regional trainers that come to your program, train and educate coaches to help safety in the game.



Injuries and accidents are going to happen and to take a proactive step towards preventative unnecessary injuries is a step in the right direction. As the lawyers are now involved in this new revenue stream, it would seem irresponsible to ignore the facts. Judges in these concussion cases are spreading the monetary penalties to the percentage of responsible parties. This includes helmet manufacturers all the way down to the coach.  I can see where in the future, extracurricular activities will be ranked right up there with skydiving for insurance purposes.

This is the picture of the helmet I was issued in college as a "test" helmet for Riddell. If you can notice the lack of padding in the middle of the forehead padding? That is where the knot on my forehead, or as I like to call it, the trophy I wear. Haha!! I did have a facemask, however this picture is only the helmet  obviously. And many friends of mine would question whether I wore a helmet. A kid asked me what kind of helmet I had in 1982. I asked him what he meant and he said was it leather or did they go to plastic by then? He was serious!  What a punk!!!

Have a great day! Life is good!!!! Remember in numbers, our voice can be heard!!!