The Pain of Playing in the NFL - What Is It Worth?
by Rip Jersey on Feb 2, 2012 12:22 PM CST
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PrintTony Dorsett looks at brain scans which show the damage due to repeated concussions
via l.yimg.com
As we enter the 2012 offseason, several of the Houston Texans players are facing negotiations for new contracts. As with every player in the NFL, they have a history of injuries of varying degree. To stay in the NFL, they face a future of more injuries. When they retire, the degradation to their bodies, brains and emotions remains and quite often worsens. Who can question why the players do this. Fame, taking care of their family, and personal satisfaction are high on the list of answers. What is it worth? How can the NFL take care of its players that have already gone through the system and retired? How can the NFL take care of its future retirees?
Some former players are trying to find answers in a lawsuit. Tony Dorsett is one of over 300 former NFL players who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. What will the outcome be? Would a court victory provide enough relief to satisfy the former players in the lawsuit? Will the former players ever find relief for the toll to their bodies, brains and emotions? I read through that article and I saw that former NFL player Steve DeOssie, who I met when he was with the Boston College Eagles, has not joined the lawsuit because he has not decided if the concussions he incurred while an NFL player have impacted him. This may be the case for many players. But, for others, they are definitely impacted.
Sure, the rules today are changing in favor of greater protection for the player, but that does not mean they will never be affected. Play has changed. Fines have been levied. The game is safer than it was. But, there are no guarantees. Severe injuries in the NFL will never go away so long as they still allow tackling, blocking, and running. No matter what, there will always be risks associated with the game of football at every level, not just the pro level. Concussions and other severe injuries can take place on the Pop Warner, high school, and college level, too. Are the rules in place now sufficient for the current players purposes and is the NFL's responsibility covered. Should lawsuits by current and future players go away as a result of today's rules? What are the answers? I don't know.
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I think the helmets should be modified
to carry electronic impact monitors, sort of like the kind used on cars to signal airbag deployment. They could be checked after hard hits to see if the player has been hit with enough force to cause a concussion.
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.--Washington Irving
I think the helmets should be removed
Then the players would stop using them as weapons and get back to being athletes instead of gladiators.
You could probably improve both helmets and pads significantly
New materials and technology are coming out every day. They should look at dense foams or gels rather than the current hard plastic. They are still using the same stuff they did in the 70s. Something with a little give to it, rather than a hard plastic, would protect both people in the collision.
Kevlar pads?
Murphy’s 20th Military Law:
If it’s stupid, but it works, it ain’t stupid
"Fuck em all. Go Texans."
by The Night Owl on Feb 2, 2012 2:11 PM CST up reply actions
I don't think Kevlar has a lot of give to it, but
using Kevlar filled with a gel might work really well, since Kevlar is almost cut and tear proof.
Also remember Kevlar is designed to absorb & displace the impact
Another softer material on the inside would help cushion the wearer since Kevlar isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing to wear
Murphy’s 20th Military Law:
If it’s stupid, but it works, it ain’t stupid
"Fuck em all. Go Texans."
by The Night Owl on Feb 4, 2012 12:34 AM CST up reply actions
it is very stiff and has a high tensile strength, therefore it doesnt tear
so bullets dont penetrate it. As you say, it spreads out the load because of that, but it doesnt cushion the blow. In other words, the head would still snap back just as fast. You need something that flexes like rubber, although rubber is too flexible. Or something inside the kevlar that is flexible
spreading out the load helps prevent injuries from things that cause damage
by penetrating your body. Things with sharp edges like knives, or points like bullets. Concussions are due to the change in speed of the head. Spreading out the injury over a wider area doesnt change anything. You have to slow down the energy transfer. If you covered your face with a steel mask, and I hit it with a sledge hammer, the mask would spread out the blow. It might keep your nose from being broke, because spreading out the blow would help with that part, but your head would snap back just as quickly. And you could get a concussion from it.
I think that
the inherent dangers of playing football is the reason that every single player gets paid more in one year than the average household makes in 5 years, the top of the line players make more in one year than the average household makes in decades and in numerous cases their entire lives.
I'm not inferring anything with this question, but let me ask...
Do you think that their pay is sufficient as compensation for each player taking the risk of being an NFL player or do you think the answer is deeper than just a yes or no?
"All our lives we're taught to get in line. The ones who conform never discover." - Undrafted Free Agent and NFL Rushing Leader Arian Foster
It is certainly a deeper answer than yes or no
but I could simplify it so. If players don’t believe that their pay is not sufficient compensation for the risk, they shouldn’t take it. Simple as that. I personally believe that being one of the highest compensated employees on the planet justifies the risk.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 2, 2012 4:04 PM CST up reply actions
that is probably true
but if we have the capability to make it safer for them, shouldnt we do it?
Ah that's a good question
should they? Maybe, do they have a responsibility to? No. Of course they want to protect their product, so most of the time the NFL does what they can to keep the players as safe as possible without harming the quality of play. It’s also important to remember, no matter what the union would have you believe, it’s not like the players are going to work in meat factories from the 20’s, they play football.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 2, 2012 4:13 PM CST up reply actions
I think it might improve the quality of play
they might be able to rescind some of those ticky tacky fouls, like the ones where a helmet actually touches someone.
Well the problem is
that “better” helmets is more than likely the cause of a lot of the concussions. There is nothing that can be done to stop your brain from bouncing around inside your scull in a violent collision, concussions can’t be avoided. If you give the players “better” helmets, it will likely lead to them making even more dangerous plays that could harm the brain even worse. You can get a false sense of safety when you put on equipment like a helmet leading you to take more obscene risks. If they players today were still wearing leather helmets, they sure as hell wouldn’t be going “helmet to helmet” as much.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 2, 2012 4:26 PM CST up reply actions
concussions come when your head stops suddenly
and your brain hits the inside of your skull. If the helmets were not hard, and gave when they hit something, it would soften the blow and the head would not stop nearly as quickly.
Cars are another example. They are a lot safer than they used to be when I was a kid. Back then the cars and bumpers were very hard and rigid. Nowadays they have learned it is a lot safer if the car crumples. The cars take more damage, but the people inside are safer.
Very true about cars
How many of us have seen cars that have been totally torn up in an accident, and then been astonished to find out that the passengers lived.
"All our lives we're taught to get in line. The ones who conform never discover." - Undrafted Free Agent and NFL Rushing Leader Arian Foster
This is the premise that motorcycle helmets operate under as well.
There are two or three “layers” to a motorcycle helmet and each one has a different rate of compression. The very inner layer gives the most, followed by each succeeding layer. The outer shell is to try and avoid penetration into the helmet.
However, with all that being said….one has to replace a helmet after an accident, I don’t think the NFL would want to be changing out helmets after every solid hit.
Just my $.02
Even duct tape can't fix stupid
a collision is just a transfer of energy
They could better take advantage of technology to aborb and redirect the kinetic energy transfer. Standard shoulder pad designs which are decades and decades old absorb 50% of the energy from a collision. That number could be improved on, the NFL just doesn’t want to spend the resources, and neither do the player because it comes out of their pie too. They all want their cake and eat it too.
I mean they don’t even have rules requiring players to wear knee, thigh, and hip pads anymore. Have you seen an NFL wide receiver? They only wear shoulder pads and a helmet.
The Houston Texans: The Ron Paul of the NFL.
to continue this line of discussion
Can we compare the NFL to other industries? Let’s say construction workers, for instance; there is risk involved there and OSHA takes a heavy hand in regulating safety with a lot of rules. I will list some safety concerns that OSHA has, and believe me, this is not all-inclusive: falls, electrical safety, power tools, scaffolding, lifts, cranes, hazardous materials, and the list goes on and on. And, believe me, accidents in construction continue to happen and no amount of education and prevention can eliminate construction accidents. Now in comparison, construction workers are not paid like NFL football players. There is insurance and worker’s compensation that cover injuries. But, where am I going with this? I can ask so many questions relative to this line of discussion. Are NFL players worth more than construction workers? My answer would be no. Just because we know the face and name of an NFL player doesn’t give him more worth than any construction worker who probably also has a family that needs to be cared for. A retired NFL players life after football is no more valuable to him than a construction worker’s life is to that guy. Where am I going with this, not sure. Maybe I’m just putting thoughts out there.
"All our lives we're taught to get in line. The ones who conform never discover." - Undrafted Free Agent and NFL Rushing Leader Arian Foster
Trust me
as a “disabled vet” I don’t think that the “risks” that NFL players take are any greater than numerous employees who work for small fractions of the compensation. I knew the risks of injury when I joined the Army, the compensation was worth it for me, and now I live with the consequences much the same as the construction worker or anyone else. There is a dangerous idea out there that people should get paid a certain percentage of what their output is, it’s just not the case. Without the U.S. military none of the almost 15 trillion dollars in America gets made, should the military demand half of that? Of course not, it would crush the system. At some point the players are going to have to come back down to earth a little bit or the league will suffer in the long run. If you heard about a CEO of a company that was in the red last year demanding his company give him an 8 million dollar a year raise there would be demonstrations in the street, yet it happens every year in sports and those who would protest the CEO are there to back the player. Isn’t that odd?
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 2, 2012 4:42 PM CST up reply actions
So, taking this all in has me wondering about all this
While I am not unconcerned with what Tony Dorsett and other former NFL players are going through and future NFL players will go through, would it be wrong, to try to put the whole thing in perspective and say that they were well compensated for the risks they took by playing in the NFL and they knew about these risks going in, yet they continued to play and expose themselves to these risks, therefore, they are not due anymore compensation? Would that be wrong to think that? Because, I can compare their situation to so many other people, and I could use disabled vets as an example, or construction industry workers, or you name it. So many questions and thoughts….
"All our lives we're taught to get in line. The ones who conform never discover." - Undrafted Free Agent and NFL Rushing Leader Arian Foster
I dont have much sympathy for the stars, they made their money
but the guys who maybe only get off the practice squad one year, and then get injured and cut? Those guys aren’t set for life like the stars. Even worse is the college players. Look how much money they make for their schools. Many of them only have partial or no scholarships and have no chance making the pros. I think the amatuer status stance of the NCAA is absolutely ridiculous considering it has no bearing on the Olympics these days.
Sorry for the soap box
I agree with you Rip
I believe the players now are compensated. I am also on the same page as people who say “Well they shoudln’t have decided to play football.” I do not know how retired players get compensated for their injuries, but I do think that people in “hazardous” industries get compensated for their work as they should. I think the NFL is different though.
I mean…dude nobody has ever contracted Ebola, and lived to tell…right?
by Fastalkerus_Prime on Feb 3, 2012 2:20 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
I hope by We
you mean the NFL and NFLPA who are rolling in caves full of dolla bills like Scrooge McDuck. I hold absolutely zero responsibility.
The Houston Texans: The Ron Paul of the NFL.
by DaGoaT on Feb 3, 2012 6:56 AM CST up reply actions 3 recs
Rec'd for Scrooge McDuck, but it was a Money Bin, not a cave.
"How can an idiot be a policeman? Answer me that!"
-Chief Inspector Dreyfus
by FreedomRide on Feb 3, 2012 8:03 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
McNair prob'ly has one of these in the basement at reliant.
"How can an idiot be a policeman? Answer me that!"
-Chief Inspector Dreyfus
Here you go, Scrooge McDuck in the Cave of Ali Baba
"All our lives we're taught to get in line. The ones who conform never discover." - Undrafted Free Agent and NFL Rushing Leader Arian Foster
I think the level of pay is more about the revenue they bring in for tv rights
and to a lesser degree, ticket sales.
The players would certainly
have you believe that, and in a way they have a point. The high level of compensation is both really. The owners give the players a chunk of what the team earns in order to convince them to take the risks associated with playing, but it’s not like they are entitled to that money. The NFL is the only place on the planet that will compensate the players anywhere near the same level for their talents, they don’t really have anything to complain about.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 2, 2012 4:08 PM CST up reply actions
Nonsense.
By that logic, coal miners would get paid more than left tackles.
"How can an idiot be a policeman? Answer me that!"
-Chief Inspector Dreyfus
Big if...
If you paid to watch coal miners mine coal, and not a left tackle “play” left tackle would that undermine your logic?
by Fastalkerus_Prime on Feb 3, 2012 2:25 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Were you not saying pay is based on inherent danger?
Did you mean people pay to watch football because they enjoy the inherent danger?
"How can an idiot be a policeman? Answer me that!"
-Chief Inspector Dreyfus
People like me
pay to watch because I enjoy watching football, not because somebody is going to get hurt.
by Fastalkerus_Prime on Feb 3, 2012 10:34 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Then why did you say players are highly paid because of the inherent danger?
"How can an idiot be a policeman? Answer me that!"
-Chief Inspector Dreyfus
I said they were compensated.
by Fastalkerus_Prime on Feb 3, 2012 5:28 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
I said they were compensated.
by Fastalkerus_Prime on Feb 3, 2012 5:29 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
aou'd
- Feeling the five stages of grief since 2002.
"It's either gonna make you a man or a coward. One of the two. I'm a be a man. I ain't never seen a coward, heard a coward, coward not in ma
vocabulary." - Lawrence Vickers
"I believe in this "zombie team that won’t fucking die no matter how many body parts you shoot off." We can win this game.
by NoSafetiesNeeded on Feb 4, 2012 7:56 PM CST up reply actions
I'm not going to lie
I love seeing a linebacker blow someone up. It’s human nature to enjoy violence.
The Houston Texans: The Ron Paul of the NFL.
Ah, but that's just the thing
coal miners are much easier to buy off than left tackles, they are largely unskilled, uneducated workers who would be working at McDonald’s otherwise. Coal miners are paid considerably more than minimum wage, and that is enough for them to look past the dangers of the job.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 3, 2012 11:07 AM CST up reply actions
The revenue they produce/worker is much less than that produced by pro football players.
The relative dangers of the jobs are not the controlling factors in compensation. FP seemed to say in his OP that danger = $$.
"How can an idiot be a policeman? Answer me that!"
-Chief Inspector Dreyfus
That's not what determines how much money they make though.
The fact that NFL players could opt out of playing football and make a good living doing other things is what drives the price up, coal miners often don’t have that choice. A great player could earn a living coaching, using their degree, starting a business with the money they made playing in college (JK, sort of). They don’t have to risk their bodies playing in the NFL. The fact that they can always walk away combined with what their play would add to the team determines their value. Owners will throw 5 mil at a player if he thinks that him walking away would cost the team that amount or more. If a coal miner decides to quit, often there won’t be any other jobs and their families will starve, they don’t have the leverage to get more money because they are so replaceable. As far as I am concerned, the players get compensated for every risk so they shouldn’t complain when bad things happen, it’s part of the reason they were so highly compensated.
by Bobbythegreat on Feb 3, 2012 1:23 PM CST up reply actions
Their value is determined by the scarcity of their skill set.
Anyone with a strong back who’s willing to work can be a coal miner. NFL caliber players are much more rare, hence the price goes up.
by JBal on Feb 3, 2012 1:35 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Sounds alot like the typical NFL player
Have you heard Chris Johnson speak?
The Houston Texans: The Ron Paul of the NFL.
no
but i’ve heard him set the english language back a couple of decades.
- Feeling the five stages of grief since 2002.
"It's either gonna make you a man or a coward. One of the two. I'm a be a man. I ain't never seen a coward, heard a coward, coward not in ma
vocabulary." - Lawrence Vickers
"I believe in this "zombie team that won’t fucking die no matter how many body parts you shoot off." We can win this game.
by NoSafetiesNeeded on Feb 4, 2012 7:57 PM CST up reply actions
This is a great discussion, Rip, thanks for posting it.
Sorry I have no time now to comment further.
by JBal on Feb 3, 2012 12:57 PM CST via Android app reply actions
I think they should get rid of helmets altogether, so that players are forced to learn how to tackle in a much safer way.
They do it in Rugby with way fewer injuries, its just the American Football tackling style of leading with the head is just flat out dangerous.
I’m in Australia and had to teach a numbers of Americans that came over for college how to tackle with a safer style, and their habits made it tough.
Sure they could
If they want it to be less exciting to watch like Rugby is.
No offense to Rugby, but people want to see those big collisions whether they admit it or not.
The Houston Texans: The Ron Paul of the NFL.
Rugby players are pussies
"All our lives we're taught to get in line. The ones who conform never discover." - Undrafted Free Agent and NFL Rushing Leader Arian Foster
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