http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/25/health/cte-nfl-players-brains-study/index.html99 out of 100 deceased NFL players had CTE. Chris Borland's decision makes a lot more sense now.
I had dinner with some Aussie guys the other night, they love NFL football, but of course grew up on Rugby. They said, "When you remove the helmets in American football, you will save the game."
I wouldn't go that far, but I think they are on the right track. You go head first into someone with your head being the tip of a missile without a helmet, you'll never do something that stupid ever again. You won't do it twice.
He said the system down under from 4yrs to 10yrs all they do is teach kids HOW TO TACKLE. They just teach fundamentals about how to tackle and tackling safe at a real real young age. The kids barely learn the actual game, they just line up and tackle each other over and over again. Teaching them not to get their heads smashed.
By middle school they start to learn the game more, but it's still focused on tackling. Then by high school the fundamentals are in place and then they full on get into the game, strategy, skill, etc. So basically some kids might have a 5-10yrs of fundamentals and learning how to safely tackle someone by the time they grew up and get big.
Seriously the NFL game is in danger even though it's the king of sports right now. And I think the solutions are partially there. Start adopting the rugby style of tackling, and you still have plenty of exciting hits, you've added safety legitimately, not some bogus PR move.
The Seahawks already do it. The NFL needs to spread the word throughout the league, and then start implementing it at the little leagues across the country so the next generation can learn how to tackle safely before they enter HS, College, and pros. It will take a generation to clean it up, but they need to start now at EVERY LEVEL. The NFL is sitting on treasures of money they can definitely spend $$$ to implement and educate at all levels to help the sport. They should be making this a big campaign to clean their image, save the next generation, and keep their sport going strong long term.
