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

. . . Does the medical threat scare African-American players into different sports or are the financial incentives enough to die for Caesar?
I hope no one dies for Caesar. Now, people do risk their lives for all kinds of causes, good, bad, and in-between. And whether it’s smoking, driving distracted, etc, people generally convince themselves it won’t happen to them.
 
Knowledge of football and concussions being bad for one's long term health goes back pretty far. I read the other day that Roger Staubach retired after the 1979 season (and turned down a two year contract extension) because he was concerned about concussion related health risks.
 




This is Ottis Anderson who had 1,605 yards rushing for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979. Unfortunately, the Cardinals went 5-11 that year. But having less players overall in the league is another way of providing a re-shuffle. So, maybe in alternate universe, the Cardinals do much better.

In the mid-'80s, Ottis was traded to the NY Giants and was an contributing member of the team which won the Superbowl on Jan. 27, 1991.
 
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. . The bad news is that rosters for rugby teams are generally smaller than those from football teams at all levels. .
In time, other sports may largely but not completely take football's place. There will probably be a couple of years transition in which there are less scholarships for college athletes.

And hopefully, at least a couple of schools will try to make this up with academic scholarships. I can go with 30% idealism ;) , but probably no higher.
 
Knowledge of football and concussions being bad for one's long term health goes back pretty far. I read the other day that Roger Staubach retired after the 1979 season (and turned down a two year contract extension) because he was concerned about concussion related health risks.
Old school, they only thought it was a concussion if you lost consciousness. Now there look at symptoms such as mental fuzziness (and loss of normal balance is kind of a recent area of focus)

Plus, the researchers are now pretty clear that a bunch of sub-concussive blows are a major contributing factor of CTE.
 
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(this is an editorial opinion) . . . perhaps more lower socioeconomic HS graduates who don't go because in spite of academic ability . . . (end editorial)
I like your editorial! :)

My dream list would be to really open it up and generally make education multi-path rather than single-path. For example, as a signature case perhaps, if we make education friendly and open to students on the autism spectrum, who might be good in some areas but not others, we'd pretty much open it up for all students.

Another example, I understand medical schools look at science GPA and non-science GPA, but I don't think they look at science first two years, last two years. And yet, we can easily imagine a student from a crappy high school who struggled with science his or her first year or two, and then did Aces across the board the last two years and would probably make an excellent doctor. And I don't think the medical school would be taking that much of a risk at all.
 
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Lynn Swann did really well in the Superstars obstacle course. That was the most popular event and almost almost anticipated American Ninja Warrior.
 
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1974+Freedoms.jpg


' . . . The league began on May 6, 1974, in a huge event at Philadelphia’s massive sports arena, the Spectrum, as the Philadelphia Freedoms initiated the league into action against the Pittsburgh Triangles. That match made history: WTT was the first professional sports league to be created since the National Basketball Association came to fruition on November 1, 1946. . . '
That last part is clearly wrong. There had been other leagues which failed or merged. (an example of survivors bias in statistics?)

Anyway, I do think tennis was bigger in the 1970s as part of a fitness craze.
 
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youtube: Philadelphia Freedom (Remastered)

And in case you're wondering, yes, the Elton John song was written about the team the "Philadelphia Freedom" of World Team Tennis.
 
I hope no one dies for Caesar. Now, people do risk their lives for all kinds of causes, good, bad, and in-between. And whether it’s smoking, driving distracted, etc, people generally convince themselves it won’t happen to them.
People do it for lesser sports, so if there money will be drive.
 
You might see football try to preserve itself by mandating frequent substitutions. The two-platoon system was evolving at that time, so the leaders might make it mandatory as a,way of limiting each player's snaps.

You'd also see an earlier ban on head slaps and other dangerous tactics.
 
There are lots of dangerous occupations out there, right now one of the most dangerous in the USA is being a Fisherman in the Bering Sea. People do these sorts of things because of family tradition, love of the work, or lack of other options or some combination (think coal mining families and not much else locally to do for decent wages). OTL until recently the "downside" of starting in Pop Warner football and trying to progress to a professional career was the risk of various orthopedic injuries. In this scenario, where CTE has been shown to be a high risk, and in fact the younger you are when you start getting bonked the greater the risk, you just won't see as many parents willing to let kids play or even push it. If there are no youth leagues, or HS or college football programs, by the time folks might be ready for the pros the pool will be small. Look at US soccer (European football). While the US is beginning to field decent teams for international competition, it took years because there was almost zero youth programs. Once youth soccer began to grow, you saw the adult quality/talent pool grow, and it was women first because there was no competition for talent from football...
 
The risk of TBI is greater per incident for younger folks than older. Once TBI/CTE from the hits to your head playing football is well established as a medical "fact", any group or institution that has football for minors will leave itself open for massive lawsuits - even if mom/dad sign a waiver, that does not mean the child can't take action when they reach majority. You'll see tons of lawsuits, not just the obvious ones but folks claiming "my son had bad grades in HS and did not get in to Harvard because he played football, had head hits - he had straight A's through 9th grade..." If a school district loses just one lawsuit, say goodbye to the football program there, and a bunch of surrounding districts.

Now for those over 18, college and pros caveat emptor and they will be signing waivers the size of a small book.
 
You might see football try to preserve itself by mandating frequent substitutions. The two-platoon system was evolving at that time, so the leaders might make it mandatory as a,way of limiting each player's snaps.

You'd also see an earlier ban on head slaps and other dangerous tactics.
Maybe just shorten the game, nobody would notice, the commercials would just expand to fill the gap.
 
Maybe just shorten the game, nobody would notice, the commercials would just expand to fill the gap.

That would be another good way to preserve the game. Could do a radical change like a fixed number of possessions per team, or more subtle changes like always starting the clock when the ball is spotted.
 
You might see football try to preserve itself by mandating frequent substitutions. The two-platoon system was evolving at that time, so the leaders might make it mandatory as a,way of limiting each player's snaps.

You'd also see an earlier ban on head slaps and other dangerous tactics.
Much like a pitch count in baseball. And probably also really limiting the amount of full contact in work outs.

Actually, I’ve been really impressed with the referees in UFC. Sometimes as soon as a fighter slumps and can’t protect himself or herself, the ref rushes in before the other fighter can get in even one more punch. Or, sometimes it’s one or two quick punches, but that’s it, the referee has stopped the fight.

So, I can easily see football becoming smarter and safer in some obvious ways at the same times moves are afoot to make it 18 and over only.
 
I ask people knew the risk but decided to play it anyway would pressure allow even senior only league at HS?
I can see high schools first trying to de-emphasize football so that it’s not the social be-all and end-all at the beginning of the new school year. And then, decide they just can’t be part of it anymore.

Will there be a short period in which schools keep it for seniors who have already turned 18? That could be a colorful phase in the occasional community, but I don’t see it being that common.
 
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