Mmm. I actually think there is a long way to go with mitigation before the game should be abolished. I think that hypothetically there would be a way to play it with rigorous safety standards, and probably some changed rules, while maintaining a level of contact. I think it’s worth testing.
That said, American Football is a uniquely violent and idiotic sport. It’s got some similarity to Rugby League, in that it’s rules have been made in order to maximise entertainment value (and ads). There’s a collision, a reset, and then two teams sprint into collision with a run-up.
The difference between even Rugby League and AF is that in Rugby League, a player will spend 60-80 minutes in play, jogging and sprinting, attacking and defending. This limits the size of players. You’ve got to be big but you’ve also got to be fit and mobile. In American Football, each play is essentially a full sprint speed collision, with everyone putting in 120% effort for less than a minute. As a result, player mass and collision speed is just ridiculous.
There’s also direct head collisions that are completely within the rules of the game. Big plastic helmets don’t do anything but stop your skin from splitting. Most of the energy is in collision is still transferred through to your skull. You’re probably getting a micro concussion with almost every single hit.
I think that hypothetically there would be a way to play it with rigorous safety standards, and probably some changed rules, while maintaining a level of contact.
Last I heard studies were starting to show that even the relatively static line contact, not even high speed tackling or the like, was causing measurable brain damage just because it’s a lot of repeated hits and a lot of force.
And of course the effect is much worse on teens because the damage actively fucks up their neurological development in ways that cause impulse control problems, increased aggression, etc similar to lead poisoning. Kind of puts into context all the stereotypes about former high school football players, if it’s just been generation after generation of “for at least a sizeable chunk of them this is as bad as lead poisoning” brain damage.
Yup, repeated ‘sub-concussive’ hits are shown to be dangerous and a possible contributor to CTE. In Rugby they’ve tried to mitigate that with rules on hours of contact in training per week, among other new safety systems. The problem is in the meantime you’ve got to potentially sacrifice a few generations to see the data, especially since CTE often presents in later life. The other complicating factor is that players are all so much bigger and faster these days, due to over-professionalisation and elite sport science, so safety that might’ve been applicable to guys in the 90’s might not even be effective now.
Yeah. If you think of the actual collision zone too - the front of the skull. The frontal lobe regulates a lot of impulsivity and aggression. That said though, I think it’s more cultural than biological in teen behaviour. The macho and drinking culture of the sports combines very badly.
In rugby the tackling technique doesnt seem as wreckless. In american football guys are straight up throwing themselves at you. Imagine if even with pads rugby players threw themselves at each other like that for 80 minutes with the nonstop nature of the sport. You’re asking for horrible injuries.
Rugby league is pretty reckless but there’s no head collision and a rule against high tackles.
Rugby Union is a lot stricter with tackle technique and head injury - they’re trialling collision recorders, where if a player is recorded colliding too hard, they’re automatically sent off for a head check. It’s come leaps and bounds recently. The 90’s and early 2000’s were a terrible time to be a professional rugby player.
I guess that’s the other thing though - rugby’s non stop nature means a lot more total collisions per game, and therefore per career. With science coming out emphasising the role of ‘sub-concussive’ hits in CTE, who knows what’s in store for this generation of players, especially considering their increased size and speed compared to pre super professionalism.
One suggestion I’ve heard is legalizing many forward passes. This would spread out the field and the game would be less about colliding and more about blocking passing lanes. It would end up playing like fast paced ultimate Frisbee more than anything else.
