The National Institutes of Health will reportedly let its partnership with the NFL expire in August after the NFL previously pledged $30 million to help research the connection between brain disease and football.
According to ESPN's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, the NIH decided not to renew its agreement with the NFL "following a bitter dispute in 2015 in which the NFL backed out of a major study that had been awarded to a researcher who had been critical of the league."
"The NFL's agreement with [the funding arm of the NIH] ends August 31, 2017, and there are no current research plans for the funds remaining from the original $30 million NFL commitment," the NIH said in a statement, per ESPN.
it's gotten so much more boring over the past couple years too.
I'm not a football fan but it's the most popular sport in the country. You really think most Americans care abut whether the NFL does this study with the NIH?
i am from Europe and it is always confusing when you call that sport football :D
Im glad to see many younger players retiring intact and moving on to other things.
At the same time technology might play a role
anrst wrote:it's gotten so much more boring over the past couple years too.
I do think the lost entertainment value is a least partially linked to head trauma... I have heard college coaches describe their game as "basketball on grass." I'd rather just watch basketball if that's the case...
as for pro football, teams are starting to spread it out too - probably to a detriment. The Giants played that (low scoring) spread type of offense, and didn't carry a fullback last year... football used to be about brute strength and sheer will - now it's all about 4,000 or 5,000 yard QBs, and that used to be very, very rare
SupremeCommander wrote:anrst wrote:it's gotten so much more boring over the past couple years too.
I do think the lost entertainment value is a least partially linked to head trauma... I have heard college coaches describe their game as "basketball on grass." I'd rather just watch basketball if that's the case...
as for pro football, teams are starting to spread it out too - probably to a detriment. The Giants played that (low scoring) spread type of offense, and didn't carry a fullback last year... football used to be about brute strength and sheer will - now it's all about 4,000 or 5,000 yard QBs, and that used to be very, very rare
very true. I can see helmet technology measure impact and when a player has recieved too much, he comes out. Like a video game!!!
At the same time deep rosters can matter going forward.
Football beomes like Hockey, different shifts in and out.
College games are wild with high scoring and crazy finishes. Not brute strength but that smash mouth football, like the Parcell's era Giants are a thing of the past.
And yet Terry Bradshaw is still relevant?
they could fix football easily. strip off some of the protective gear and put some weight limits for players/positions - e.g., allow the offensive line to have a total of 1250 lbs of men.
the thing that drove me away was the short shelf life of the players.
you can't get attached or invested in anyone. they've become too disposable.
and its not just b/c of injuries. team's/the league will just shun a veteran into retirement when he still has game and is far and away better than a rookie replacement.
but the rookie is cheap, and that's the cap game.
Those issues that all of you have mentioned aside...CTE might be the biggest deciding factor. The fact that NFL stopped funding it clearly means they feel threatened.
The evidence is damning. Are players now signing waivers going forward to shield from future liability?
the big issue is how the game is played and how kid are taught to tackle. That is a cultural issue with the game, and wont happen at the NFL level. Most who have played organized football have never been in the NFL.
The problem is the product. In 3 hours and 20 minutes you get about 12 minutes of actual football action. I still love the Giants, but I never sit down to watch the start of a game anymore. In fact I purposely do things that force me to watch later. Then I watch the DVR, and FF through the dead periods until I am caught up with real time.
Guess football is going the way of boxing.
Reports of the football's demise are greatly exaggerated IMO. It still represents the two most popular sports in the USA (pro being one and college being 2), still has huge event power, and is still the number one show on every major network. In fact, training camp just opened and NFL teams are getting 17 to 20 thousand people for drills.
The NFL's ratings were down last year, but that happens historically when there's a presidential election and last year's election was the craziest one in my lifetime. This year the league won't be competing against that and ratings will go up.
The CTE issue is there (although it is greatly overstated) and will cause some changes in football (and some really good ones, like changing the way kids tackle at the youth level).
A lot of it is due to changing demographics.
Population getting more Latin (Sucker) and Asian (Cricket, Sucker).
American Football and Baseball are traditional games more that anything.
The way of family entertainment and all...
As the demise of Black-And-white America in on the close horizon the traditions are watering down.
Bbal is becoming World international attraction but Football and Baseball not so much.
When AA will be a rarity and Whites a minority in US this both sports will became mostly local secondary actions.
y2zipper wrote:Reports of the football's demise are greatly exaggerated IMO. It still represents the two most popular sports in the USA (pro being one and college being 2), still has huge event power, and is still the number one show on every major network. In fact, training camp just opened and NFL teams are getting 17 to 20 thousand people for drills. The NFL's ratings were down last year, but that happens historically when there's a presidential election and last year's election was the craziest one in my lifetime. This year the league won't be competing against that and ratings will go up.
The CTE issue is there (although it is greatly overstated) and will cause some changes in football (and some really good ones, like changing the way kids tackle at the youth level).
overstated....there was only one case where CTE was not the cause of death.
Nalod wrote:SupremeCommander wrote:anrst wrote:it's gotten so much more boring over the past couple years too.
I do think the lost entertainment value is a least partially linked to head trauma... I have heard college coaches describe their game as "basketball on grass." I'd rather just watch basketball if that's the case...
as for pro football, teams are starting to spread it out too - probably to a detriment. The Giants played that (low scoring) spread type of offense, and didn't carry a fullback last year... football used to be about brute strength and sheer will - now it's all about 4,000 or 5,000 yard QBs, and that used to be very, very rare
very true. I can see helmet technology measure impact and when a player has recieved too much, he comes out. Like a video game!!!
At the same time deep rosters can matter going forward.
Football beomes like Hockey, different shifts in and out.
Can you imagine how coaching would change to get opposing players out of the game? Slap helmet, punch helmet,(wear steel gloves while doing so) head butt helmet... 15 minute challenge review sessions to see if helmet contact was truly incidental or intentional. HelmetGate! Suddenly, everyone on the opposing teams in New England has super sensitive helmet sensors!
Please don't make anything like hockey. One sport like that is all the world needs.
Cartman718 wrote:y2zipper wrote:Reports of the football's demise are greatly exaggerated IMO. It still represents the two most popular sports in the USA (pro being one and college being 2), still has huge event power, and is still the number one show on every major network. In fact, training camp just opened and NFL teams are getting 17 to 20 thousand people for drills. The NFL's ratings were down last year, but that happens historically when there's a presidential election and last year's election was the craziest one in my lifetime. This year the league won't be competing against that and ratings will go up.
The CTE issue is there (although it is greatly overstated) and will cause some changes in football (and some really good ones, like changing the way kids tackle at the youth level).
overstated....there was only one case where CTE was not the cause of death.
Correction: There was only one case where CTE was not found.
Allanfan20 wrote:Cartman718 wrote:y2zipper wrote:Reports of the football's demise are greatly exaggerated IMO. It still represents the two most popular sports in the USA (pro being one and college being 2), still has huge event power, and is still the number one show on every major network. In fact, training camp just opened and NFL teams are getting 17 to 20 thousand people for drills. The NFL's ratings were down last year, but that happens historically when there's a presidential election and last year's election was the craziest one in my lifetime. This year the league won't be competing against that and ratings will go up.
The CTE issue is there (although it is greatly overstated) and will cause some changes in football (and some really good ones, like changing the way kids tackle at the youth level).
overstated....there was only one case where CTE was not the cause of death.
Correction: There was only one case where CTE was not found.
ok, but damning enough for NFL to say...we are not funding you anymore.
