Doctors hold line, earlier knowledge of CTE, what if American football becomes 18+ in late 1960s?

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
What I have in mind is that a number of U.S. states are passing laws making tackle football 18+ right around the time of the first Superbowl between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 15, 1967.

* This first game was officially called the "AFL-NFL World Championship Game." The Kansas City Star called it the "Super Bowl" from the very beginning. And by the time of the third game (Colts vs. Jets), the leagues used the name Super Bowl on the programs.
 
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GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
In the 1970s, plenty of big-name players were already in the league or the college pipeline. For example, Roger Staubach graduated from the Naval Academy in 1965, and Terry Bradshaw graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1970.

However, by the '80s, things are diverging. For example, maybe Joe Montana goes into baseball?
 
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GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
We Know Football Is Dangerous. So Why Are We Still Letting Our Sons Play It?

Men's Health, Andrew Lawrence, July 10, 2018.

https://www.menshealth.com/health/a21346159/should-kids-play-football/

' . . . In the 1950s, the American Academy of Pediatrics drew a line in the sand between its patients and contact sports, including football and boxing. It said they “have no place in programs for children” 12 and younger. In the 1960s, though, the AAP’s stance softened. It made exceptions for the majority of contact sports. (Stay away “unless a school or community can provide exemplary supervision.”) . . . '
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And of course, the vague standard of "exemplary supervision" can almost always be met. So . . .

POD 1: The child docs hold line!
 
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GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'


Dr. Bennet Omalu gets a lot of credit for courage and heart and staying the course.

And as a Nigerian physician, frankly, I think the fact that he was from a different culture helped him to see things in a fresh light.

But . . .
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
At the end of the day, it's just basic staining and microscopy. So . . .

POD 2: All this is found out in the mid-'50s and plays out over the next decade or so into the late '60s.
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
And yes, the issues and criticism that we are making American males wimps most definitely plays out. Even more so since this is during some controversial times of the Vietnam War.
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
joe-montana-junior-basetball.png


So, if Joe Montana had played baseball professionally . . .
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
. . . the AFC Championship played on Jan. 10, 1982, might be much better remembered.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cincinnati.com/amp/21466689?source=images

Also known as the "Freezer Bowl"

Played in Cincinnati, Ohio, this game had a temperature of -9 F and a windchill of -59 F (yes, that's minus 59 degrees Fahrenheit!) making it the coldest game in NFL history. The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Chargers 27-7 and advanced to the Superbowl.

However, under the new wind chill system adopted November 2001, the wind chill temp was a balmy -38 F ! ! !
https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/old-wind-chill-new-wind-chill-20140106

—————————————-

See also . . https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/remember-when-32-years-ago-bengals-triumph-in-freezer-bowl/
 
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Nivek

GeographyDude said:
With Joe Montana playing baseball, the Cincinnati Bengals probably win that Superbowl. Entering the league in 1971, for some seasons Anderson was among the most accurate of quarterbacks.
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Yeah and the bengals hurry up offense is now the standard, forgot defense set the rhythm, is the offense, football would evolve in quick offense, with bengals hurry up and later on bills K-gun.
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
Nivek said:
. . . west coast offense...
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Bill Walsh was originally offensive coordinator at Cincy!

Owner Paul Brown probably treated him unfairly, promised him the head coaching post by a certain year, took it back, justified this probably even to himself by saying Walsh was a bad coach.
 
creighton

creighton

Nivek said:
No 49ers dynasty and west coast offense...that is a brutal butterfly
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Eh, Bill Walsh still got some good seasons out of Greg Cook, Kenny Anderson, and Steve Young. He’d find a guy to run the WCO, and probably get some Super Bowls out. At the start of the west coast offense, he was a bit moneyballish in that he wasn’t looking for super strong armed guys, so he was evaluating QBs slightly differently than his peers.
 
creighton

creighton

GeographyDude said:
Bill Walsh was originally offensive coordinator at Cincy!

Owner Paul Brown probably treated him unfairly, promised him the head coaching post by a certain year, took it back, justified this probably even to himself by saying Walsh was a bad coach.
Click to expand...

Brown was so insecure about Walsh that he would have Walsh call up a play, give it to him in the headset, and then he’d call it on to the field.

He later grew to think Walsh was too soft — which may have been momentarily confirmed. In Loel Cohen’s book, Rough Magic, he writes of Walsh coming to confront Brown after he chose Tiger Johnson, but Walsh couldn’t summon the right words and started tearing up. Brown blackballed him The whole time he was at Cinncy, and put it into overdrive afterward because he thought Walsh would stay on as OC. However, the staff in San Diego wasn’t especially high on Paul Brown, so they extended him the OC gig.
 

sloreck

Early in the 20th century there was a movement to eliminate college football as the injusries being suffered were pretty bad, including fatalities. TR was against doing this, as it would hurt American "manliness". Having said that if football is banned for under 18, it will die out - without HS football, colleges won't be able to give scholarships for football and this will dry up the pool for the pro sport. A huge chunk of college players, especially in Division I, would not get in to those schools on the basis of their academic record (not as bad as basketball but...)
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
creighton said:
Eh, Bill Walsh still got some good seasons out of Greg Cook, Kenny Anderson, and Steve Young. . .
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At San Fran, probably with Steve DeBerg as quarterback, I can see him making some deep playoff runs, but maybe not a championship.

Bill Walsh might be remembered much as Don Coryell, as an innovative coach who added much to the game but who didn’t quite make it all the way to the top of the mountain. And then, he just might be remembered less.
 
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