American football has a big problem. The accumulation of huge hits seems to be causing severe neurological problems. The NFL has responded by adopting a more strict concussion protocol and now looks to be adopting or enforcing more rules against helmet-to-helmet contact.
NCAA legend Joe Paterno says that the league should remove the face mask from the helmet.
I say they should remove the entire helmet!
Really. You can't have helmet to helmet hits without a helmet! Maybe receivers and quarterbacks get helmets but no one else does.
It is not a huge stretch to argue that better helmets make for more vicious hitting and more injuries.
Maybe, a la Gordon Tullock, backs and receivers could wear a headband of metal spikes while defensive players go bareheaded.
If football doesn't solve this problem, it may not exist in anything like its current form in another 20 years.
Then poor Oklahoma won't be first in anything!
2 comments:
Football pads are an arms race for sure. We used to speculate in the locker room about whether we'd be better off with just soft pads.
The helmet is designed for protection, but makes for a very effective weapon. I imagine if they'd go back to the leather helmet/no face mask days, we'd see a lot fewer head shots. The pace of the game has become more dangerous. However, I doubt we're going to see players become suddenly less powerful, less fast, etc. I wonder if anything will change unless someone actually gets killed on the field.
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