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Touchy-Feely Football

By on 4.4.12 @ 6:05AM

Once the lame game gets flagged, this is what we’re left with.

So, America is just discovering a truth about its favorite spectator sport — football! NFL football, the professional kind, where a team’s slogan might well be: “We Aim To Lame!”

Semi-documented so far is the habit of paying players bonuses for injuries inflicted on opposing players sufficient to “put them out of the game.” One team is accused of such unsaintly play as to lose its coach and a lot of fine money and several more are suspect if not convicted. Surprise? A “sport” where physical contact is the order of the game actually accomplishes its aim, and thus prevents an opponent from advancing the ball toward a goal? And to observe this action people pay more on an afternoon than many people earn in a week.

There is a mass of veteran players now suing the NFL for assorted ills inflicted during their playing days. Some “veterans” are unable to tell you their names without consulting their wallets. The claim is that their welfare was not properly looked after by the NFL, as witnessed by the current rush to improve the construction of helmets and to restrain some forms of its use in play. “Unnecessary roughness” is becoming a playing crime, whereas it always was but its definition was vague if at all understood. And seldom discovered.

Fortunately, there is a solution. “Touch Football” — the kind played by youngsters in many areas whose parents are mindful of the dangers of “tackle.” Yes, “touch football,” which requires only that a ball carrier be touched below the waist and usually with both hands of the “tackler.” Don’t tell me how much or how little you’d be willing to pay to watch grown men playing “touch,” and do not explore the possibilities of what this form might lead to. Blocking and line play would have to be civilized as well.

Somebody had to forward the solution to the forms the game has adopted. But, did it have to be me?

About the Author

Reid Collins is a former CBS and CNN news correspondent.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (54) |

Darin| 4.4.12 @ 8:00AM

Or just play electric football with those plastic pieces buzzing around. Grow up, folks. Football is a violent sport. People are going to get hurt. You don't like it, don't play. Or go play a sport like rugdy or Australian rules football where you have fewer pads and no helmet.

Manning| 4.4.12 @ 8:36AM

So, Reid, it's OK to offer bounties for deliberately injuring a player? Ask Darrel Stingley about that. He's in a wheelchair due to a vicious hit.

Dave| 4.4.12 @ 11:40AM

Actually, Darryl Stingley passed away on April 5, 2007. Just sayin'....

TrueBlue | 4.4.12 @ 12:43PM

So long as the hit is legal why does it matter if they got paid extra to do it? Blockers are paid entirely for the purpose of stopping the other team, what is the difference?

Slacker| 4.4.12 @ 12:57PM

Actually, it is irrelevant if the act was deliberate. What matters is if the hit is legal. Viscious legal hits and cheap shots are a totally different. I'm not convinced the Saints encouraged illegal play.

Clint| 4.4.12 @ 11:47AM

I Played Both Football And Rugby And Have Seen Serious Injuries In Both Sports.

Ya Know The Risks & Accept Them.

Doctor Right| 4.4.12 @ 5:38PM

We're not talking about X-BOX games, genius...

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 10:23PM

Heh,

Clint,

Ice down those thumbs after a Madden 2012 marathon.

Ted R.| 4.4.12 @ 8:19AM

Well, somebody has to have the courage to plainly acknowledge what's coming. Tackle football is on the cusp of coming to an end. When an ordinary hard hit in today's game is the equivalent of driving 20mph into a BRICK WALL (no seat belt!), the human body cannot bear up under that kind of punishment. We are only beginning to see the tip of the iceberg of the human wreckage caused by this game.

The future of football is in the hands of suburban mothers. They are the choke point; when a sufficient threshold is crossed - say, 15% of mothers telling Johnny, "No way you're doing that - you're playing basketball, instead" - all the other mothers will be 'exposed' as not caring if their sons' brains turn to mush... so more families will opt out of football, in an ever-growing cascade. First high school, then college programs will die on the vine.

Without experienced players in the professional leagues, the quality of play will fall, as will advertising revenues and player salaries. Before long, the game will not be able to support heavy investments required in equipment, training and facilities. Watching grown men, mostly amateurs, having a go at giving each other chronic brain damage will become vaguely disreputable. Eventually the market will collapse and all that will be left of football will be the highlight reels. And in the future, all people will think when they see those bone-crunching tackles, is how most of those men ended their lives with dementia.

Trebuchet| 4.4.12 @ 9:07AM

The future of football is in the hands of suburban mothers. They are the choke point; when a sufficient threshold is crossed - say, 15% of mothers telling Johnny, "No way you're doing that - you're playing basketball, instead"

And you know what little Johnny and his pals will do on the weekends when mommies not around? The same thing my pals and I did when all they would let us play was flag football at school. We got together on the weekend and played tackle, no pads either. Mommies will do what they always do make little Johnny rebel at being turned into a namby pamby.

Ted R.| 4.4.12 @ 9:36AM

Sure, and why not, that's what kids do. The stakes are nowhere as high for contact sports among kids who are not teenagers yet, for starters - just like in a regular fight, not too much damage will be done.

Besides, when kids are playing, without padding, they instinctively know not to go all out in hitting each other; but those instincts get suspended when you put a bunch of padding on them. Of course, I doubt that kids are going to "sneak off" and play football in full gear...

Are young men considered "namby pampys" (how quaint!) today, since they don't hold amateur boxing matches, like they did just a few generations back? Hardly. Face it - standards for being a "manly man" change. To a Medieval Viking, you would be a pathetically soft man. Football, alas, is going to go the way of the horned helmets, I'm betting...

Tebuchet| 4.4.12 @ 5:08PM

1.You never played football with me and my friends and we did this well into our 20's, 2. Amatuer boxing has become the UFC and, 3. I am a Medieval Celt which is worse than a Viking, just ask the Romans. But if anything replaces Football it will most likely be Full Contact Jousting.

Mender| 4.4.12 @ 10:14PM

"If anything replaces Football it will most likely be Full Contact Jousting"

I think you mean live-action Angry Birds. Players, to the catapults!

Bruce| 4.4.12 @ 9:25AM

Are these the same mommies who are forming and joining the women's football leagues?

Cromulent| 4.4.12 @ 10:19AM

Suburban mothers? Suburban fathers have a say too.

I played the organized game for a year when I was maybe 11 or 12. Loved every minute. Well, the practices anyway. Games I didn't enjoy as much.

But when my 9-year old wanted to start playing a couple years ago I said nyet. My job is to get him to adulthood in one piece. I came to the conclusion that letting him play a sport that commonly features concussions as a consequence would be a bad idea.

Sure he can get concussions elsewhere. He prefers baseball. Concussions can happen there too, but they aren't commonly a byproduct of good play.

I love football. I make a little side income writing about it. But I won't let my kid go near it.

BTims| 4.4.12 @ 8:22AM

Once the wimpy lib-tards get into the NFL, like they have gotten into the Armed Forces, we'll have 95 lb women, homosexuals, cross-dressers and the like featured on the game of the week.

Appleby| 4.4.12 @ 8:23AM

Hockey is in the process of becoming "Ringette", a sissy girls game that nobody I have ever met will admit to having played, because some of the game's best players have suffered severe head injuries that probably have ended their careers...due to the sissy-baby "instigator" rule that saved the lives of such as Wayne Gretzky and Guy LaFleur by appointing a bodyguard (called an Enforcer) who Loomed over the goons of Philadelphia should their shadow fall on the money players of the team.

Later attempts to armor plate the players and have the enforcers arrested has resulted in a generation or two who think that their equipment makes them invincible and that the laws of physics can now be ignored -- that if you are wearing a helmet, it won't hurt to slam your opponent into the ice at 40 mph.

And the predictable outcome of this is the screaming of parents and "in loco parentis" to make hockey a game where nobody touches anybody.

I predict the whole game will be played via Nintendo Wii some day, and nobody will watch.

Mender| 4.4.12 @ 10:04PM

Nah, it's time to make it a real man's game not some kind of gladiator contest.

Take away the helmets. Completely.

Mender| 4.4.12 @ 10:05PM

(that's for football, not hockey, obviously)

Maddox| 4.4.12 @ 8:27AM

And yet, there are thousands of young men clamoring to have the opportunity to play in the NFL and rake in the millions of dollars it pays. This is unlike those who risk their lives everyday in armed service to our country, on high rise construction, suspension bridge work, and others. They do this to earn only a living wage. Life is a risk and so far we live in a country where you are free to choose your profession. So please don't cry me a river for those who love the sport and are handsomely paid for their choice to play.

TrueBlue | 4.4.12 @ 12:51PM

Seriously. It always makes me laugh when retired professional sports "stars" whine about how the league doesn't take care of them after they leave the gave. If they didn't waste their money on frivolous toys and actually invested it correctly they wouldn't be broke a few years out of the game.

The old-school stars like Gretzky, Jordan, Montana, etc all understood this. That's why they're still sitting pretty while the newer guys are broke before they even leave the leagues.

They all get paid hundreds of thousands a year (or more, depending on their star status) TO PLAY A GAME FOR A LIVING!

scotchieguy| 4.4.12 @ 1:16PM

True, but the problem with concussions is not a game. No one wants to see all of these concussions. The fact is the players are bigger, faster and stronger. Unfortunately, the field is the same size (or rink in hockey). Yes, the players volunteer to play a game, but the knowledge of concussions will change everything despite what you say. Dementia isn't a "game." If you want to educate yourself, google Derek Boogaard (NHL) in the NYTimes very lengthy 3 part article. He overdosed at age 28 last summer from drugs (oxy) taken to combat his numerous concussions.

Stormzeye| 4.4.12 @ 9:07AM

Football injuries have rendered it a gladiatorial sport. I advocate getting rid of the face mask.
This will lessen the desire of tacklers to hurl themselves as plastic-encased missiles against other players.
I've played football and am not a wimp my any measure.

cuban pete| 4.4.12 @ 10:01AM

Years ago,George Connor, the Notre Dame All American and Bears great, said the face mask was the worst idea in football because it encouraged players to put their head where it no business going.

Gr0w1er601| 4.4.12 @ 10:09AM

Good point, Stormzeye. If one goes back and examines archival NFL films predating the face mask those players tackled very differently. No leading with the head, or launching one's body like a missile toward the ball carrier. It was mostly sound tackling technique: shoulder contact first, then wrap the arms around the ball carrier, and bring him down. The cage-masked helmet changed all of that.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 10:15AM

But look at today's football uniform compared to one say 25 years ago.

Fewer and fewer pads.

Gone are the hip pads, the large knee pads, and linebacker neck rolls. The shoulder pads have become much, much smaller. Heck, I can remember some players wearing elbow pads! Try playing with those and not be laughed off the field.

Today's uniform consists of nothing more than a tight spandex-type material, helmet, and small shoulder pads. And players like it that way because their mobility and speed are unrestricted, however, this does not prevent them from making the same bone-jarring hits and tackles as before.

the same argument could be made with helmet. One with no face mask and less protection would not necessarily prevent them using their head to stop an opposing player.

Football players - or wanna be players - groove on the gladiator/warrior-type aspects of the sport and are fully aware of the consequences. It's a tradeoff they are willing to make to achieve the temporary pot of gold and subsequent supply of nookie.

These guys are looking at that 15 year window of opportunity and nothing else matters.

MikeBee| 4.4.12 @ 11:31AM

Stormzeye,
You are right! Even Lou Holtz argued for the return of the leather "helmet," only about a year ago. Return to this, and slow the players down a bit with more padding, like they used to have, and targeting a player for injury will be much harder to do, without killing yourself, also.

Slowing the players down with padding will change the game. Today, football is a passing game, almost completely, due to the speed at which players can move. Yesterday, running the ball was a larger part of the game, because all players were slower, with more padding. Quarterbacks who could also rush, like Tim Tebow, were more common. With the running game as common as the passing game, the game was more interesting, too.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 9:20AM

What are you guys talking about?

The NFL and NCAA are exponentially more profitable than they've ever been. Short of a staggering lawsuit against one of these organizations there will be no changes to how the game is played.

Personally, I'm becoming more disinterested in the game because of (A) the prevailing thuggish mentality that poisons the environment, which is akin to extreme fighting and other sub culture-type sports and (B) the utter exploitation of 18-21 year olds in the NCAA. The image of a kid layed out on a field unconscious or severely injured - and uncompensated for the effort - while a 5 million dollar a year coach looks on is too much to bear.

If I had to predict I would say a massive lawsuit by former NCAA football players would spell the beginning of the end for the NCAA and eventually the NFL.

Mike C.| 4.4.12 @ 10:07AM

In that case, as a Ph.D. student I should demand a cut of the millions of dollars my university rakes in from grants, rather than settle for the pittance I earn as a graduate assistant. I feel exploited and want my slice of the pie, too. Or maybe I accept that this is the price I pay for potentially greater rewards in the future.

These kids receive a quality education, often gratis. Whether they choose to take full advantage of that opportunity is their choice, and they get to live with the consequences if their athletic careers are cut short.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 10:31AM

I once shared your view on this but the thought of a kid whose only compensation is a scholarship suffering a career-ending injury and having that scholarship taken away or reduced, while the NCAA enjoys hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue with practically no tax liability, is wrong.

These kids are used and tossed to the curb all for some bizarre enjoyment for ex-alumni and students.

It's a gigantic protection racket where the player has to pay rent to the mob boss - the NCAA.

Mike C.| 4.4.12 @ 10:55AM

As with any system you can find anecdotes of abuse and cite hypotheticals. Whether the abuse is systemic or even statistically significant is an entirely different matter. If a school did this on a regular basis, the program would be blacklisted and the head coach out of a job in short order since recruiting would nosedive. I can't speak for how other universities do things, but LSU almost always honors scholarships for kids who suffer catastrophic injuries, as it should. Exceptions are extremely rare, and are typically related to off-the-field issues.

The general public also has this notion that players are just innocent babes in the woods who have no idea how the system works. The reality is that players coming out of high school, their parents, their high school coaches, and the shady "handlers" who often deal with them are more savvy about college athletics than ever. And they are perfectly capable of gaming the system, as well. When coaches grayshirt or oversign players, it makes the lead story on SportsCenter and they become despicable villains. When players decommit from a school at the last possible second on a whim without informing any of the coaches that they are doing so, and in the process screwing them out of recruiting other kids, there's no righteous indignation to be found. Exploitation is a two-way street.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 11:37AM

Let me get this out of the way. I believe athletic programs should be separate entities from the college. We all know most of the people going through these athletic departments have no business being in college. Period.

It's a joke that Kentucky Basketball recruits stud high school players for the privilege of having them throw a ball through a hoop in a Wildcat uniform for one year, two years at best.

The coaches, students, ex-alumni, and media pretend they are watching student-athletes win one for the program but this is all smoke and mirrors. A mirage. They are un-paid guns for hire. Some benefit, most don't.

The major college programs are simply tax-payer subsidized weed-out systems (minor leagues) for professional sports leagues.

All I"m asking for is a little honesty about why these kids are at these universities and perhaps a little more compensation thrown their way. Take away their scholarship which in effect prevents real students from attending college and just pay these people.

This is the rare exception that I agree with obama when he argues that we need to "spread the wealth around".

Bob| 4.4.12 @ 12:53PM

If you really do agree with Obama you are horribly misguided. Don't base your arguments on emotions. That is the game of the progressives. Base your arguments on facts. The fact is, why do you have to worry about college athletes when there are many, many college athletes who know the risks but go in there anyway? There's no one forcing them to play college sports. The "honesty" is that they're there because they want to be there, either because they really want an education or because they felt their value out of high school was not high enough to get them an early draft pick so they're trying to boost their value in college.

That said, the only joke here with respect to Kentucky is how their fans conduct themselves even after their team wins it all. They probably learned from the best: college professors who have been taught that riots are an effective means to their ultimate end.

scotchieguy| 4.4.12 @ 1:29PM

Excellent points. I agree with you 100%. I rarely watch college football anymore, and am getting really tired of the NFL. The worst thing about the NFL isn't the vicious hits. It is the clowns doing the pre-game shows. I swear they get bonuses for laughing. CBS and FOX are the worst. BOOMER: "Did you see that hit on Brown?? Wow!! ha ha ha!!" COWER: "ha ha ha!!! Man, what a hit!!! He is still down, but I tell you, he is one tough customer. Let's see that hit again, James!! Ha ha ha!~"

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 7:17PM

Indeed!

Nothing more boring and irritating than ex-jocks donning $5000 big and tall men's suits and neatly-trimmed Van Dykes, talking and acting like they are still in high school. As a view I wonder how I'm supposed to react to such antics?

I'm always left bewildered why a network would pay for such a stupid and lame product.

And no, putting pens in these meat heads hands won't make them any more analytical looking.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 7:18PM

above addressed to scotchieguy.

Maddox| 4.4.12 @ 5:23PM

The young men who play are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and tutoring. They also receive a stipend. They are not slaves, they are free to play or leave at any time. They are chasing their dreams with an opportunity few get.
As for scholarships being taken away after injury, that is another misconception. They are given medical hardship (grey shirt) scholarships.
The change I would like to see is stronger guidelines for academic achievement. Still, there is a fine line in giving an opportunity which might help someone with borderline scores and dooming him to a job at McDonalds for life. It is not a perfect system but there is more good than bad, the bad just sells in the press.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 6:56PM

Go check with city newspapers in towns with football factories and read the stories.

The bottom line is if you are a typical football/basketball player with typical average/below average grades and you suffer a career-ending injury, unless you turn it around (i.e. GPA) quickly, your scholarship dries up in no time.

I'm just saying to be honest about what it is: a minor league system for professional leagues under the guise of "college athletics" so they can operate as a non profit in order to avoid paying taxes.

Watch how coaches, people in Athletic Departments, and the media over use the term "student-athlete" to keep the ruse going.

Just make it a separate entity where these minor league organizations can pay the colleges to use their facilities and team image.

Gone are the days of Ralph Sansom, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Herschel Walker, Bill Walton, or Peyton Manning who are loyal to their institution, and act and sound like real student athletes and can speak the English language.

The athlete is a different breed today, and too many vested interests concerned about the bottom line. You can blame television and Phil Knight (the evil one) for that.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 6:56PM

...The above was addressed to Maddox.

Maddox| 4.5.12 @ 4:28PM

Thanks for the discuss, Bob.
I wonder how the young man's life would be different if he suffered a participation injury than if he never had a football scholarship.
I am aware college sports serve as minor leagues for the pros, but I believe the decision belongs to those who participate. They have the same facts available to them that you and I do. If they sign and realize the situation is not what they expected, they are free to quit at any time with no penalty.
Insisting those who profit from the games make payments to athletes who have agreed to participate for scholarships and opportunity is another form of socialism. I agree they could probably use more allowance for expenses, but because of Title IX, this is not affordable at all schools.

Clint| 4.4.12 @ 9:36AM

The Chickification Of America.

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 11:49AM

And Rondelle Paul is going to man up all of us?

Clint| 4.4.12 @ 5:09PM

Dr. Ron Paul was a Superior Athlete.

" Excelling in track and field, he graduated from Dormont High School in 1953 with honors. He had a best mark in the 100-yard dash of 9.7 seconds at a time when the national high school record for that event was 9.4 seconds; He was the 220-yard dash state champion, and was also on the wrestling team, played football and baseball, and was student council president.
Although he had knee surjery, a major university offered Paul a prestigious full scholarship in track, chancing he could regain his prior speed; he declined, refusing to endorse the risk. Rather, he paid for his first year at Gettysburg College with saved newspaper-delivery, lemonade-sale, and lawn-mowing money; he later received a small academic scholarship. He delivered mail and laundry in Gettysburg; managed the college coffee shop ("The Bullet Hole"); and joined the swim team. By his senior year, he was running track again; he set the third-best marks in college history in the 100-yard dash (9.9 seconds) and 220-yard dash."

Ron Paul,
Dr.Ron Paul,
" I’ve offered to ride a bicycle for 20 miles in Houston when the temperature is 100° and the humidity is 100% and I will go 20 miles with them and then we’ll decide who’s the youngest."

Bob Grant| 4.4.12 @ 7:01PM

You left out his jock size.

gearjammer| 4.4.12 @ 9:40AM

Football is ratings king. It generates huge profits for network. These profits keep network tv news afloat and provide revenue needed to keep their wildly overpaid media stars living large in NEW YORK, NEW YORK ! So indeed it is in our interest to turn the game into something boring that nobody watches thus defunding the Democrats media machine. Conservatives will never do this since they wanna have more fun than a human being should be allowed to have. We are lucky the men at Valley Forge saw things differently.

Mender| 4.4.12 @ 9:57PM

Exactly. I've never understood why otherwise sensible conservatives glorify the bankers when banking is a well-understood method of moving money from Kansas to a democrat banker in New York and his effete interior designer who donates to Obama.

JimH| 4.4.12 @ 10:08AM

Modern helmets designed to better protect the wearer are responsible for many injuries. Players now lead with the head and no longer wrap up correctly when tackling. The helmet provides limited protection from concussions. I understand that in modern football style is as important if not more so than function. It should be possible to make a helmet which looks like today’s helmet out of some material similar to that used for martial artist helmets. This will offer decent protection without being usable as a cannon ball.

Mender| 4.4.12 @ 10:09PM

Australian rules soccer, Rugby union soccer and soccer proper have no helmets at all.

Bob| 4.4.12 @ 11:19AM

Reid, did Aaron Goldstein put you up to this?

Rita Dumais| 4.4.12 @ 12:29PM

Someone should do research about the forms of “bread and circuses” prevalent down through history.

The common folk aren’t “common” for nothing!

In our times, oh so full of free time and overflowing abundance of material stuff, football has emerged as the top form of our circus. And, hey---don’t forget, while at the game or watching it on TV, “bread” is omnipresent: tailgate parties and couch potato munching, as well as TV ads pushing “food” and “soma” known as beer, overflowing 24/7.

Ever wonder why?

Born anew, as soon as we learn to speak, the fresh wonder we ARE---having completely forgotten past life lessons---pummels mommy and daddy with questions. Yes, we are born as true “reporters”, using who, what, where, when, why and how on all others: “I am here, and what the hell is going on?”

Do you think these questions are only put to specific humans, once in a while? Hell no! As soon as we choose to become “me” by separating from the oceanic oneness around the age of two or three, why we are immediately faced with truly INFINITE seemingly distinct “things” and “beings”.

Decide to BE the enclosed-by-skin bodily being with a parental-chosen name, and, of course, by implication, all that is not me must as well be ordered into separated “bodies”, with their own names. We forget the nameless!

Alas---society, over time, in a “surround sound” fashion, turn us into the same closed-minded adults we initially query. And, the 5 W’s and the H are banished from consciousness, for the most part.

Who knows?

Ron| 4.4.12 @ 2:26PM

Geez...What a bunch...So now we need regulations to stop sports injuries too? What happened to just be careful and follow the guidelines already established?

My 16 year old (5' 8" and 122lbs) plays high school football, and he is on his third year...his coaches have admired how well he springs up from a hit by significantly larger players. BTW, he nagged me for years to play Youth Football, but trying to be a good parent, I held him to develop his track and cross-country running skills...Those help him as he is one of the faster players on the field here, but he still bemoans the experience of taking and receiving hits he would have had in Youth Football.

Is he better off for it? Maybe, maybe not. Seeing the rules in place for unpaid high school sports, there reall is little (but still there) for possible injuries...

My point is that paid, professional athletes are earning millions of dollars and there is the risk of getting hurt...As usual money talks...if they do not want that fat paycheck, maybe they should try something safe, like being a firefighter, police officer, soldier, or construction worker...Oh, that's right, in some of those occupations there is a very real chance of being deliberately hurt or killed too...and for less money.

Mender| 4.4.12 @ 9:57PM

"His coaches have admired how well he springs up from a hit by significantly larger players."

Sporting glory is for now, but dementia is forever.

Radioman777| 4.5.12 @ 11:21AM

If you don't like contact sports, don't play them, but don't expect others to kowtow to your sissified outlook on life. Stay inside your air conditioned home, watch useless shows on tv and think of how much better it'd be if everyone looked and acted like Boy George. Just leave everyone else alone.

Radioman777| 4.5.12 @ 11:22AM

I don't like sissified sports, or a sissified society. Football is a rough sport, get used to it.

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