CTE found in living football players.

BAMA1979

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IMO, that's a pretty radical viewpoint by the author. The game of football isn't going anywhere. It may be altered due to new findings, but I don't think it's going to suddenly disappear as the author suggests.
 

rgw

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Wait for the evidence. Also, I don't see football stopping over this...the sport has always been violent and came close to being axed when it first got started.
 

KrimsonNinja

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You would think that there would be something created by now that would lessen the chances of head trauma in college and pro football. I know the high school level has changed/improved helmets to help reduce the impact a player receives when getting hit. When it comes to a sport like football there is only so much you can do to decrease the chances of head trauma or any injury.

But you tell a parent that their kid has a five percent chance of developing crippling brain damage through playing a sport, and you will see the end of Pop Warner and probably the end of high school football. Colleges would likely follow. (How common are college boxing teams these days?)

After that, I don't know how pro football can stand for long.
This is a bit extreme. I doubt football will end anytime soon on any level, especially in America.
 

rgw

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Until doctors can provide research on the effects of tackle football on the brain at every level of participation, I find the "football is dead" argument completely off base.

I imagine the truth of the situation will be uncovered and it will state that the greatest CTE risk is only found in those who played a long professional football career. I hardly take this as a death knell to Pop Warner, high school, or college football. Until they can show that tackle football only takes a few years of participation to dramatically effect one's brain, it is a dramatized issued. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong and will admit it...but I think this is more of an NFLPA long-term health insurance issue than the death of the entire sport.

Showing the effects on NFL veterans and extrapolating the inherit risk of amateur football is a gross lack of statistical or medical understanding by journalist. It's like poor white trash hillbillies worrying about the estate tax or income tax on the top 1-2%. 99% of everyone who plays football never reaches the pros.
 
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Perhaps the government should step in and regulate football players. For example, a linebacker couldn't be more than 6' tall, weight more than 190 lbs and incapable of running the 40 in under 5.5 seconds. And there's no reason in the world an offensive tackle should weigh more than 225 pounds.....:rolleye2:
 
You could say the same for Horse Racing, Boxing, Professional Wrestling, Nascar, Cliff Diving, etc.
This I know. NASCAR is a waste of gas by the way, but still how do we come to a common ground on this. The game is getting more violent, most often times when it shouldn't be. It's hard to say what to do in this.


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NationalTitles18

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First, we have to remember that there are many things we still do not know regarding neuroscience. There are a number of theories we have that, while good hypothetically, have not been proven - sometimes because ethically we can't prove them due to the consequences of so doing (killing or impairing the patient and such).

Second, although a protein linked with CTE may have been found as described this protein has not been proven to be the cause of or to be exclusively related to CTE - meaning it could be there due to some other cause.

Thirdly, in order to show that these findings have any relevance you have to compare similarly situated non-football players and/or non-athletes to football players, accounting for other circumstances such as other causes of head trauma like MVA's.

Bottom line is this research at this point doesn't change a thing really from a scientific point of view other than advancing the science a little further. Still, years of research need to be done to bear out the multiple assumptions made by the author.

That being said, there will be changes to the game. I enjoy the hell out of a good clean hit, but I don't watch boxing because I don't enjoy seeing people brutalize and potentially permanently injure someone. Yes, injuries are a fact of life and they will occur. No, I don't want to watch someone prepare to be the next Ali or Turner or Seau or whomever.

There are already changes being made for the better with the best evidence we have regarding head injuries and we must remain open to new science. We must also change with the science available to us. It can be very frustrating when I have to defend my decision to remove a kid from practice/game time to give their brain a chance to heal from a parent who doesn't get it or doesn't care. We are getting better in this regard and some of the recent changes are needed, though not perfectly implemented. There will be more changes and not only will they save the game we love, they will make it better because it will be safer. Not all head collisions can be avoided, but they should be reduced as should the severity of them when possible. The game will not suffer as a result any more than it suffered from the penalization of spearing.
 
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Gr8hope

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Were subjects who did not participate in sports studied? Were those who play other sports examined? Often the quest for research dollars or desire to please certain politicians dictate the direction of research and even skew results. This is too premature to come to the conclusion that football will vanish.
 

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