I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroyed His Mind

Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by cimi_ on Friday February 02, 2018 @01:53PM (#16293138)

> NFL players are at least well compensated and are adults making decisions for themselves.

One of the arguments in the article is that not even for NFL players, at the highest level, are the consequences made obvious. Here's the last paragraph:

> But when all those big hits happened and the fans cheered, did they cheer in spite of knowing a man just greatly increased his risk for dementia? Was anyone worried about an A.L.S. diagnosis or a C.T.E.-related suicide at 40 after their favorite player suffered repeated blows to the head on the field? No, they cheered and they celebrated because they didn’t know. And neither did we.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by jotm on Friday February 02, 2018 @03:03PM (#16293758)

Uhm, they would cheer even if they knew. Most people know boxers get brain damage, nobody gives a shit.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by acct1771 on Friday February 02, 2018 @03:13PM (#16293832)

Correct. Which is why my argument is, if we're going to keep having blood sports, let them use the drugs to improve their muscle mass to hopefully protect them slightly better from this stuff, improve recovery/rebuild time, and make the game more exciting, surely.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by rgbrenner on Friday February 02, 2018 @03:25PM (#16293919)

But that would also allow them to hit harder.. and there are no muscles around the brain to protect it from impacts or prevent it from moving. I don't see how that would make brain damage less likely.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by smt88 on Friday February 02, 2018 @03:53PM (#16294124)

Adding mass will increase the force. That's the opposite of what would protect the players.

A better solution would be weight limits and stricter controls on doping, not looser.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by banku_brougham on Friday February 02, 2018 @04:00PM (#16294163)

Boxing is not as popular as it was.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by dragonwriter on Friday February 02, 2018 @04:07PM (#16294194)

Yeah, but that has to do with MMA not brain injury.

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by thaumasiotes on Friday February 02, 2018 @04:26PM (#16294311)

How long has boxing been fading? When did MMA begin?

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by pkaye on Friday February 02, 2018 @02:53PM (#16293690)

Well now they know and can make the decision, how many of them have stopped playing?

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Re:I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroye... by watwut on Friday February 02, 2018 @03:35PM (#16293985)

Less and less kids play football and parents dont support it nearly as much as before. It seems that people who did not sacrificed whole life to the game yet are leaving it.

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