CTE seems to be caused by both the occasional concussion over time and the steady diet of lesser hits to the head. The helmet in American football was designed and introduced decades ago mainly to prevent skull fractures. It is now so big and heavy, it's often used as a weapon. Probably now it does help somewhat with concussion, but because offensive linemen are taught "put your hat on them" and "three points of contact," there are probably a lot more of the lesser blows to the head which aren't good for anyone.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.
There has been some talk of going back to leather helmets or football without helmets. But because this would open the door to the occasional catastrophic injury, I don't think such a change would be all that realistic, even in different timelines.
Plus, there has been an arms race with athletes esp. on the offensive line bulking up in size. For example, my local University of Houston Cougars, well, we're a solid Division 1 team, although not a mega-power, and there was a recent newspaper article that the average size among offensive linemen for next year was just over 300 pounds. This is quite a bit heavier than Mike Webster was during his playing days, even though admittedly centers are often smaller than other offensive linemen.
* so, what I'm saying that if Mike could time-warp forward in time, he might not even make a mid-tier college team! and he was a guy who spend a lot of time in the weight room
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