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America’s Coming Depression
No, I don’t mean an economic depression. I mean an emotional depression. I fear that a funk could hit a significant portion of the population over the next five years. Tens of millions of lives will be affected. There will be substantial economic hardship. Fortunes will be lost. Media empires will be rattled. Some municipalities will face bankruptcy. Universities and colleges across the country will face new funding pressures. The changes that I see coming will reshape a cornerstone of the American way of life.
What could possibly cause this? The answer is that American football is in very, very serious trouble.
2,450 players have now filed 89 concussion related law suits against the NFL and Riddell Athletics (helmet manufacturer) . All of the State cases are being referred to Federal Court.
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I’m no expert on this topic. I follow (among others) ESPN and NFL Concussion Litigation. I have recently talked with four attorneys (none directly involved – all sue for a living). The cut to the chase question for the lawyers was:
“Will there be financial awards?”
Four out of four were quick to answer:
“Yes.”
The dark side for American football depends on whether these four attorneys are right.
The suits against the NFL/Riddle are based on the fact that a significant number of players have received permanent brain injuries while playing for the NFL. There are dozens of reports that prove this. A Michigan University study of former players found that:
“Alzheimer’s disease or similar-memory related diseases occur ‘vastly’ more often than the national population – including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30-49.”
NY Giant’s ex ace QB, Jeff Hostetler, has filed a suit against the NFL. A review of the court papers (Link – paragraphs 47-117) lists the medical conclusions that football is directly linked to permanent brain injury. It's going to be very hard for the NFL to beat this.
That football is dangerous and players might get traumatic brain injuries is old news. The basis of the suits is that the NFL teams, knowing full well the risks that the players were taking, willfully ignored the scientific evidence, and repeatedly put the players at neurological risk.
A critical issue for the teams/players is, "What did the teams do when a player incurred a head injury during play/practice?" As far back as 1999 it was shown that players who received a concussion during practice or a game were 4Xs more likely to receive another concussion in the following 10 days.
The NFL ignored this information. It was not until 2009 that it established rules that required players who exhibited any sign of concussion had to be removed from a game or practice, and be barred from returning the same day. But there are hundreds of documented cases since 2009 where players who received a head injury that produced symptoms of concussion who were returned to the playing field within minutes of the original injury.
The problem that the teams face is that it’s not possible to diagnose a minor concussion on the field. The league established a practice of identifying a player with a concussion as one who had to be carried off on a stretcher. The lawsuits allege that the teams/NFL knew the facts on concussions, and their documented actions put the players at risk. This is referred to as Willful Misconduct. If the juries agree with this (I think they have to), then the financial awards will go through the roof.
Can the NFL afford these suits? Some say they can, and point to the fact that the 32 teams have a value in excess of $40 billion, and revenues of $20+ Billion a year. I don’t think this argument stands up. There are 1,700 active pro players each year. The suits will go back at least ten-years. The evidence is that as many as 60% of all players have suffered multiple concussions during their careers. When a class action settlement is made, thousands of additional players will seek compensation. The individual awards will be in the millions. Based on this, the total damages could easily exceed $20 billion. That would put a very deep hurt on the NFL and the team owners.
An import question for the courts will be Riddell Sports’ liability. If there is liability on behalf of Riddell, it creates a major problem. Can Riddell (the official provider of helmets for the NFL) continue to make helmets knowing full well that every helmet that goes out the door is a lawsuit to be in the future? I would think not.
I’ll come back to the problems with the NFL, but first some thoughts on college, high school and pre-teen football. There has to be some very substantial changes for this group of athletes. The medical evidence is clear. The younger a person receives head injuries, the greater the chance of a lifetime consequences.
When the lawyers finish busting up the NFL, they will turn their sights onto colleges and high schools. In our litigious society more football suits are a sure thing. What will happen to the big football schools? All of these Universities have mega endowments. The schools are sitting ducks for lawsuits. Then there is the moral issue. How can a University field a team knowing that half of the players are taking life time risks?
I can imagine that Penn/Ohio State will be one of the last Universities to come to grip with this problem, but what about the Ivy’s? Can Yale, Cornell, Brown etc. stand up to the coming suits? I would think not. The legal risks are too high. Can the Trustees at Harvard (or the Army/Navy/Air Force) put their students at risk of turning their brains into Jell-O?
The only question I have is which University is going to drop football first.
High school football is at risk. The evidence is clear that the earlier in life a person receives multiple head injuries, the greater the probability of medical complications later in life. Will individual towns that sponsor high school teams get sued in the future? It would appear that this is inevitable. Knowing that they may get sued will force changes. But the most compelling argument is, again, the moral one. How can a municipality support a sport that it knows will cause traumatic injury to the players? Based on the information now available, we know that football for high school is like giving kids cigarettes. A percentage of the players will be affected in their lives.
A check of the Internet shows that across the country the issue of high school football is up for discussion.
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Now go back to the NFL. What’s the future?
- The existing suits (and those that are coming) will result in payouts to former players and substantial losses.
- The suits will force changes in the way that football is played. The suggestions on how to reduce the risk of head injuries include:
I) No kick offs or punt returns. (What?)
II) No blocking or tackling above the waist. (Impossible)
III) Strict rules on a player who does use his upper body when making plays. Players who break the new contact rules will face multiple game suspensions. Repeat offenders will not be allowed to play. (There would be few players left)
IV) Players will be forced to wear new uniforms that substantially increase padding. New helmets with both a soft and a hard surface will be the rule. Players will look like the Michelin Man on the field. The ability to run fast and maneuver will be diminished. (Think of this, it doesn't work)
V) Television will be banned from showing any hard hits. Announcers will be forced to not speak of any aggressive blocking and tackling. (The assumption is that the TV attention on those doing the hard hits contributes to the number of injuries.) (Boring....)
There will be more rules. A significant one is what will teams do when and if a player does have a head bump during practice or a game. The players will have to be monitored, assessed, evaluated or otherwise examined to insure that any transitory or permanent injury is properly recognized, diagnosed and treated before allowing return to play.
How can the NFL teams maintain this standard? If every player who had head contact was forced to sit out the rest of the game, then the teams would run out of players before the 4th quarter. (The scrubs take over at the end of a game? Where's the fun in that?)
What is the future of the NFL if/when these changes are implemented? I’m curious to hear from readers. I think it will kill the public interest in the game. From an audience perspective, the hard-hitting nature of the sport is part of the reason for the popularity. Without the speed and action (hard hits) on the field, pro football will lose fans.
I conclude that American football is going to have to go through some radical changes. High School teams will disappear; college and university ball is going to be suspended by some schools. Pro-football is going to be transformed into something that will not work.
Sorry if I have ruined some reader's Father's Day. Try to enjoy it anyway.
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Soccer should go to 9 on 9 to open the field just as hockey should permanently be 5 on 5 (including a goalie). There are too many people on the playing surfaces.
Assumption of risk is a mighty powerful affirmative defense to overcome in this case. I think your four litigators are wrong, although they may find something coming out of defective headgear.
Assumption of risk applies in most voluntary personal and recreational activities. In the US it generally does NOT apply in the case of paid employment. Pro football is obviously paid employment. A decent argument can be made that college football is as well.
Separate from the employment aspect, there is also the issue of one side holding out on important information allowing a person to gauge the risk. Assumption of risk is fine with something like parachuting where the risks are fairly obvious and independent information is available. Now think of parachuting where the risk-taker knows the general risk, and the jump operator knows, but does not share, that the parachute they are providing is made from defective material. The principle will probably not apply in that case.
Max I have to disagree. This is not a normal work place environment. This is professional sports. Injuries are a part of all professional sports. Football just happens to be a full contact sport and thus participants cannot claim they were unaware of the risks. They have agents who negotiate enormous salaries determined in part upon injury based longevity as well as specific injury clauses in some contracts. Thus the suggestion that these are innocent lambs lured by big dollars who didn't know or couldn't have determined the risks through their own due diligence is frankly bullshit. The fact that they can't be bothered to put some of their salaries aside for their increased late term costs is just another dodge to stick someone else with the bill.
Most states have a prohibition from an employee suing an employer for injuries. The trade-off is access to no-fault worker's compensation. The common exception for the worker's comp bar is when an employer knowingly puts employees into harms way. That's why they are focusing on the organization's conduct after a player suffers a concussion.
Legally, this is no different than an employer repeatedly sending employee into a toxic environment without adequate protective gear. Assumption of risk is a non-starter for the same reason you can't contract for indentured servitude.
El,
I agree. The assumption of risk for money is an accepted practice. The premis of the league withholding evidence is weak since much of this stuff is available or has been available to players. I'm supposed to believe that this player with his mega dollar contract didn't have the where with all to do or understand his prudent man requirement to understand the risk before entering into an agreement to play? Bah!! HE WANTED THE MONEY AND HE COULD HAVE SAID NO!!!
Where I think the big deal is in the college ranks. These are kids who've just become adults. They are not playing for pay aside from scholarships etc. College football has become nothing more than the FREE farm league for the pro's.
Certainly there are injuries, but I think we are looking at another group of lawyers in search of another ambulance. Oh yeah, why isn't the players union being sued to? What ever happened to their representation of the players. The fact that players are bringing suit tells me that representation lacking. Oh, I forgot there is that almighty DOLLAR again.
The players union is another scumbag organization that routinely fights the owners and any and all safety proposals, including testing for drugs that make the players bigger, faster, more violent and more dangerous. They are not innocent by any means.
Fuck football
Yep... pretty much this. Except that football is a real sport. The american thing that claims the name is more like a girls-only version of pussified rugby. Add to that Basketball = Netball and Baseball = Rounders... hey look, games for little girls to play. Seriously, it's a fucking joke.
Let us not forget NASCAR... the "sport" of driving around in a circle.
The hole is too small.
it is a one nutted game!
Rugby, AFL, League- they all feature some horrifying hits. AND NONE OF THEM WEAR ANY RETARDED PADDING OR HELMETS AT ALL.
I've seen a lot of rugby games. It is true they wear less padding but I have never seen anything like Ray Lewis on one of those fields. Let's see how the rugby boys would do against some NFLers. There would be deaths.
Yes, even allowing for the offence, defence and special teams taking turns and time outs and ad breaks etc, the NFL players would die of exhaustion. Oh yeah, google Jonah Lomu...
While I agre generally, what you have to remember is the NFL is full of 280-300 lb guys who can run faster than the average high-school track athlete. That makes for some insane collisions that you won't see on the rugby pitch, because self-preservation instincts mean tackles in rugby are usually more of the 'take-down' variety, as opposed to the NFL 'impact' variety.
What I've learned to do is watch sports for their individual attributes. The NFL for speed and dynamic spurts of violent action. Rugby for a contest of endurance with a healthy dose of violence thrown in. Hockey for the dazziling display of pure speed, collisions, violence, and dexterity in a small team-based pass/defend/attack game. And soccer...yes soccer....for endurance and the dexterity necessary to try and control a fully spherical ball....without the use of your hands. Oh yeah, on a bigger field too, and for 90 minutes. Best of all, soccer is a great equalizer, in the sense that billion dollar budgets won't get you far in terms of gearing up your team. All you need is a ball. So when the international tournaments start, its good to see little countries with zero budgets compete, and in some cases do so effectively against world powers.
Having said all of that, my favorite sport is still NFL football. But the more the league caters to corporate customers ahead of the very people that made the sport America's favorite (i.e. blue collar salt of the Earth real people), the more my interest wanes because the game loses that 'every-man' appeal and becomes a 'rich-man's spectator sport'.
Sorry about the off-tanget long-winded point. I think the lawyers will do their best to destroy football with these lawsuits, as they have destroyed so much else in this country. It's unfortunate, because some of these players (particularly the ones from decades gone by who played when 70% of the 'rules' that we have today didn't exist) are truly suffering. Equally as unfortunate, is that there will be plenty of degenerate former-players who will leech onto this class-action looking for a big payday.
Anyway, happy Father's Day guys.
A lot of soccer/football players have had almost the same thing from doing headers. Not a good thing. It was even worse with the older soccer balls and in the UK where wet games were more common. The wet leather soccer ball was heavier.
The NFL is dangerous crap and the NHL needs to tone down the fights.
The NHL has dramatically toned down the fights, as well as sanitized much of the violence that existed in the game in decades gone by. However, the refs will still let them go at it in minor league hockey. I don't really have too much of a problem with the occasional dust-up in hockey, because even at the minor league level as soon as the two players involved hit the ice (and they usually do after a few haymakers), the refs swoop in and break it up. Additionally, the smaller size of a hockey rink makes such fights and fight break-ups a quicker proposition, as opposed to allowing fist-ta-cuffs on a wide open soccer field, where a ref would have to run 25 yards or more just to arrive on the scene.
I suppose its a bit of a double-standard, in the sense that boxing and UFC (and the growing 'extreme' type of fighting sports) hold no interest for me. It's one thing for a couple of opposing players to get chippy with each other to the point where some blows are exchanged.......its another thing for a sport to be specifically designed around the concept of beating your opponent to a pulp. These new ultra-fighting leagues are moving us closer to the modern era of gladiatiorial combat. At this rate, it will only be a few more years before actual fights to the death are on pay-per-view....and the ratings will be stratospheric.
Then they should wear a trilby atop their helmet hats for sufficient protection. And the skin tight leggings is just embarrassing.
Just switch to rugby. The whole world is "turning Euro" anyways, why not sports too ...
One word: Australian Rules Football
Yep, a great code. Full contact - no helmets or padding.
An analogy. Would you kick a big rock as hard with steel-toed boots as you would with bare feet?
No. Get rid of the padding and helmets. Sorted.
lingere league leporacy wrestling
pull my finger
Won't happen, because people with all that spare time on their hands and a lust for blood and guts will start guillotining bankers, lawyers and politicians, and they know it.
Minnesota just approved a stadium for the Vikings that will cost just under $1,000,000,000.00. I guess that might not be such a good investment. Maybe they could have powder puff soccer games there.
Stadiums costing $1 billion shows that pro sports is pretty out of control right now.
It's all Jew-MSM administered political anesthesia. Watching large, Black steroids crash into each other keeps the White People distracted from ongoing, globalist race-replacement. Whites, 1900: 30% of world population. Now: 9%. 2100: Gone.
And then the guillotine makers would be sued for personal injury.
>>>lust for blood and guts will start guillotining bankers, lawyers and politicians,<<<
See now I'd watch that instead of putting in a movie during "f" ball season.
The Execution Channel ? The Justice Channel ? The 99% Channel?
I'll even get cable or sat again for that.
'Rehab for Bankers'! I'd watch that!
Could you imagine on pay per view. The entire Goldman Sach trading desk dealt with at the Broad and Wall lamposts and guillotines? The finale would be the Master vampire squid Lloyd. They could have a double with Corzine and other Goldman alumni like Paulson and maybe the other Paulson too.
people wonder what it will take to make tiger woods become a winner again, a new swing or a new woman and plenty of woody. Depression times and woody woodpecker chimes.
what it will take to make tiger woods become a winner again, a new swing or a new woman and plenty of woody.
He would need to go back on the "juice." The PGA looked the other way. He cleaned up after the major he won and then had knee surgery and was out for 6 months. The authorities were getting a little too close to his Canadian doctor who went to jail.
At least his brain doesn't bounce off the inside of his skull every time he takes a shot.
No, Tiger will have to blame SOMETHING ELSE for his problems.
Oh yeah, what about his little brain, didja ever think of that? :>D
Own his behavior. Take responsibility. Make amends. Reconcile with his wife. Get into therapy and a 12 step program. Golf is not that important.
The manufacturer of the helmets is spelled Riddell. See www.riddell.com
Shit Ooops. I fixed it. Thanks.
bk
Well that's interesting. I graduated high school with Hoss, known him since I was 12 years old. I knew he had had some injuries when playing for the Redskins late in his career. But I didn't know him to suffer a concussion. Wonder if he's got early onset dimentia, will he recognize me in at the next class reunion?
there is a sinister covert agenda here called lawfare. no-one is forced to play.
http://covert.ias3.com/expose/
Bigtime college football almost makes the boys of Broad Street look ethical.
Some of these guys are so "f"ed-up after playing pro ball, they can't even get out of bed without assistance after age 50. The level of disability is staggering and not always apparent until later in life.
Brett Favre was addicted to vicadin at age 26 for a reason.
vicodin
v
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c
o
d
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don't mess with narcotics
abuse makes you spell and talk bad think funny
plsssshhhh
pass the jello
Sorry. It wasn't that important to me. I'm not really familiar with prescription meds and what they do. I am amazed by the people around me that seem to know every drug and what it does. It is scary.
Absolutely no need for an apology.
This voice of experience suggests that you stay well versed in not being well versed, my friend.
Hmm, Dilaudid has always been there for me (kidney stones are no laughing matter!)
I found Dilaudid #4's before moving on to anything more destructive...it was then I decided I couldn't do Dilaudid anymore or move on to "advanced classes".
Just liked em too much...(even when I had an excuse...L3-L4) a mans gotta know himself above all else.
Be careful Sty, they're very seductive, I found a little pain lets you know you're still alive ;-)
The cause and effect may be a little uncertain.
The attorneys will have to prove that their clients were not born stupid to play this sport in the first place.
Who cares? I gave up my worship of 'sports heroes', along with my cable service, years ago. BooHoo.
Anyone who plays Football, College/NFL will have to sign a waiver after reading all the evidence about head trauma and being advised by a lawyer. If they sign, the player indemnify s the University/NFL and the player, can play. Hence no lawsuits. If a player wants to put himself at risk, then it is on the player. Play Ball!!!!
Rome is burning, but no bread and circuses at the colosseum?
That's depressing...