AHC: Mike Webster lives way past 2002, American football made both safer and 18+

Pittsburgh Steeler center Mike Webster died on Sept. 24, 2002, of heart failure. So, it was not directly related to CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

And there were articles before his death about how he was struggling, like this '97 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/movi...r-Mike-Webster-s-battles/stories/201410090319

My thesis here is similar to the idea that in a movie or book, sometimes when the main character dies it's too clean and neat an outcome. It's far messier and far more human, for the person to live. For example, perhaps football would have evolved where linemen abandon the three-point stance and start standing much like martial artists grappling? (this is a proposed reform I've read)
 
Last edited:
8a9c5a20-8394-4c3f-8648-e4ca391daf19.jpg

Feb. 15, 1981: Webster's children, Brooke, 4, and Colin, 2, with him following knee surgery the week before.
http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/movi...r-Mike-Webster-s-battles/stories/201410090319

Mike could have enjoyed more times with family and friends, even with declining mental, emotional, and life skill abilities. I intend this as an optimistic timeline, both for Mike and for future athletes.

* and CTE seems to affect more the EQ emotional intelligence quotient, rather than school-type skills of graphing a parabola or summarizing a historical narrative.
 
Last edited:
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/gv7zv4/beyond-targeting-how-to-make-football-safer

. . . Dr. Julian Bailes. . .

. . . "I advocated to the NFL several years ago that they should take linemen out of the three-point stance [Emphasis added]," Bailes told VICE Sports. "We had several former NFL linemen that did not have a concussion that were diagnosed with CTE." . . .


. . . Bailes isn't the only person thinking about dumping the three-point stance; John Madden has repeatedly advocated for a change, while NFL commissioner Roger Goodell once told CBS's Face the Nation that it eventually could be outlawed. . . .
Still recognizably football, just safer. We still need to talk about how the game might evolve to be 18+.
 
There was the commission led by Reagan's Secretary of Education Terrel Bell which came out with the report A Nation at Risk, which was presented to the public in April 1983.

And this reform effort in the state of Texas:

Texas' school reform law of 1984 still touches millions of students

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/loca...-still-touches-millions-of-texas-students.ece

' . . The school reform effort of 1984 was led by [H. Ross] Perot, then a Republican, and two Democrats — Gov. Mark White and Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby. . . . . . in the face of strong opposition from high school coaches, teacher groups and even the State Board of Education. [Emphases added]. . . '
So, it was H. Ross Perot vs. the high school coaches! The coaches lost.
 
Point being, school reform rolled through the '80s, '90s, 2000s, and into today.

And to de-emphasize high school football, perhaps no more potent reform than to roll it to the springtime only?
 
The Near-Myth of Our Failing Schools
Ideologically inspired lamentations about the parlous state of American education mask the much more complex truth.

The Atlantic, Peter Schrag, Oct. '97.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/10/the-near-myth-of-our-failing-schools/376966/

' . . . Mixed reports don't make for good headlines, and qualified good news undermines the sense of crisis essential both to liberal demands for more money and to conservative arguments that only vouchers and other radical solutions will do. Good news, even qualified good news, runs counter to the conventional wisdom and undermines almost everybody's agenda of reform. . . '
So, the 'crisis' style of reform can work for a while. But then people often resent being played and kick at the whole thing.

Maybe reformers on football and brain health take a different tack, that of a steady eddie accumulation of facts and potential improvements?
 
Last edited:
. . . they're student first, in college they could still be NFL development league
In this timeline, I envisioning high schools de-emphasizing football first and then colleges.

and then something like minor-leagues development leagues unconnected to school. And AH fellow members in parts of Europe or Asia, where popular sports teams are typically unconnected to school, yes, I do welcome your participation. :)
 
And in Jan. 2010, the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma laid off (made redundant) police officers and firefighters because of budgetary issues.
http://www.newson6.com/story/11864452/city-of-tulsa-starts-issuing-layoff-notices
A number of U.S. cities and states did the same during to the Great Recession.

So in an ATL . . .

1) Prior to the Recession, a number of school districts had already made a conscious effort to both make football safer and to de-emphasize the sport, including moving it away from the beginning of the school year when everyone is new and fresh and looking to get involved, and

2) After the financial institution crisis which peaked most dangerously in September 2008 and the resulting Recession, over the next couple of years, a number of school districts vote to discontinue football.
 
In this timeline, I envisioning high schools de-emphasizing football first and then colleges.

and then something like minor-leagues development leagues unconnected to school. And AH fellow members in parts of Europe or Asia, where popular sports teams are typically unconnected to school, yes, I do welcome your participation. :)
College get too much money(see rosen tweets) to leave it on the table but is possible to make optional sports clubs not linked school, so we will get real students athleets.

Other would be a real developmental league and leave college as a passtime.
 
College get too much money . . .
I agree that money is a huge issue and makes for huge entrenched interests.

I envision attendance at games going down and the next TV contract being negotiated for a lower price. And when an industry is on its way down, it sometimes does abrupt things.
 
I agree that money is a huge issue and makes for huge entrenched interests.

I envision attendance at games going down and the next TV contract being negotiated for a lower price. And when an industry is on its way down, it sometimes does abrupt things.
Were otl or ITTL?
 

Toraach

Banned
Rugby is war worse just have better marketing, Football is higher speed make is more likely, is comparing Boxing with MMA, both will give you CTE, but different
I am not very well versed in this topic. Just rugby and american football seem to be similar for me. And that amfootball has helmets and armors... so I has been thinking that it is more dangerous.
 
Former NFLers call for end to tackle football for kids
By Nadia Kounang, CNN, March 1, 2018

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/18/health/nfl-no-tackle-football-kids/index.html

. . . "I beg of you, all parents to please don't let your children play football until high school," said [Nick] Buoniconti [Patriots and Dolphins], 77 . . .

. . . "I did not play tackle football until high school, I will not allow my grandson to play until 14, as I believe it is not an appropriate sport for young children," [Harry] Carson [New York Giants] said. . .

. . . "At some point, those of us who have had success in this game must speak up to protect both football players and the future of the game, and supporting 'Flag Football Under 14' is our best way to do that," he [Phil Villapiano, Raiders and Bills] said. . .
All three are tough guys who played linebacker. I mean, if I was back in high school and someone was trying to bully me, I wouldn't mind having one of these guys as my friend who could get a quick conversation going with the would-be bully, just to make sure they're engaged and paying attention, and then say, "he's an alright guy, why don't you lay off."

And true, they're talking about not playing tackle football below age 14. In a different timeline, I see people pushing to make tackle 18+ only.
 
. . . or ITTL?
Yes, In This Time Line, where I'm envisioning the fan base eroding for college football.

=================

As it went in real life, because CTE was first discovered in pro athletes, the conversation inevitably went, well, these are highly compensated professional athletes, at a certain level they know what risk they're taking [with a lot of focus on and resentment about the money].

If it had first been discovered in college or high school athletes . . . the conversation may have went differently.
 
Top