Players Dropping like Flies

[roscoeword]

So many injuries, major and minor, occuring in the NFL. It's preseason, and the casualties are mounting. I wonder if it makes guys hesitant to go all out on every play. I wonder if it has a psychological effect on guys - maybe it was in Dee Milliner's head, and it's a psychological reason for him not playing too hard last game.   Maybe it's always been this way, but somehow it seems the NFL gets more brutal every year.

[JoeKlecko]

Bunch of wussies!  Seriously, I think it will get worse as athletes get more and more pampered, have less practice time in pads, no more two-a-days, etc. They don't get toughened up.  Also, as people get bigger, faster, stronger.  There are limits to the human body.  Unless they start cross breeding football players with apes, or allowing HGH and roids, I think the ceiling will be reached in the not too distant future.

[dbatesman]

Bunch of wussies! Seriously, I think it will get worse as athletes get more and more pampered, have less practice time in pads, no more two-a-days, etc. They don't get toughened up.

When you were a kid, how many miles did you have to walk through the snow to get to school?

[JoeKlecko]

When you were a kid, how many miles did you have to walk through the snow to get to school?

 

10 miles uphill both ways...and barefoot

[#27TheDominator]

Bunch of wussies!  Seriously, I think it will get worse as athletes get more and more pampered, have less practice time in pads, no more two-a-days, etc. They don't get toughened up.  Also, as people get bigger, faster, stronger.  There are limits to the human body.  Unless they start cross breeding football players with apes, or allowing HGH and roids, I think the ceiling will be reached in the not too distant future.

 

The NFL does.

[bitonti]

honestly... the Jets are getting off light this preseason. look around the league, ACL's are popping like popcorn. alot of key players are already injured... or like Gronk still injured. for the Jets the worst news is Quinton Coples, who should play this year, that sucks but it's not so bad.

[JoeKlecko]

honestly... the Jets are getting off light this preseason. look around the league, ACL's are popping like popcorn. alot of key players are already injured... or like Gronk still injured. for the Jets the worst news is Quinton Coples, who should play this year, that sucks but it's not so bad.

 

Yes, it could always be worse

[Greenseed4]

I think it was flgreen who brought it up.

 

An article he read postured that the increase in injuries (especially lower extremities) might be attributed to an increase in elliptical cardio exercise machines. The elliptical motion is less demanding on joints, which is why they're popular.  However, the trade off is a decrease in developing tolerance for the pounding your knees and ankles take when running on a traditional treadmill, or actual ground.  

 

Your body needs to practice tolerating the "wear n' tear", to survive the "wear n' tear".  Seems kinda backwards, but it makes sense.  

[Matt39]

You get rid of players playing football outside the games, this is what happens.

 

You need two-a-days. You need players not thinking twice about how to tackle. It's football....you cant do it half assed then turn the light switch on on Sundays. 

[Greenseed4]

You get rid of players playing football outside the games, 

 

uh.  What? 

[Matt39]

uh.  What? 

 

They practice in full pads, what twice a week? You cant not hit during the week and then go full tilt on gamedays...

[Greenseed4]

They practice in full pads, what twice a week? You cant not hit during the week and then go full tilt on gamedays...

That makes sense, on first read it sounded strange.

 

I agree to an extent; with the new zoning laws for legal tackles you would think they could find a way to practice hitting--that would have a positive carryover on Sundays.  But, then you draw the risk of having teammates blowing out each others knee caps and all sorts of badness.  If only there was a way to have full-speed tackling dummies. Perhaps the league could increase the team's practice/scout defense roster number. I'm sure a ton of arena/cfl guys wouldn't mind taking full speed tackles for an NFL paycheck.

 

Hell, I'd sign up for 20 weeks of brutal tackles for $200-300K per year. I'd also wear a lot heavier pads than the "lighter/stronger/faster" stuff they have now on game days.

[flgreen]

LIBERATE SAL

[bitonti]

one theory is that the reduction in offseason requirements (new CBA) has lead to more injuries. The players were in better shape. 

[Smashmouth]

each team should be able to handle the players the way they see fit , I'm not a big fan of the new pussified NFL at all. If they are supposed to be world class athletes then they should have no problem handling a tough month of training camp. Compared to some other athletes and how hard they train I think the CBA rules are total bullsh*t.

[Greenseed4]

Lex Hilliard, out for the season. 

 

At least Idzik isn't going to have a lot of roster trimming farewell talks this year.  Should keep him sharp for General Managing other stuff. 

[sourceworx]

one theory is that the reduction in offseason requirements (new CBA) has lead to more injuries. The players were in better shape. 

 

I absolutely believe that.

 

The players screwed themselves with the new CBA.  These reduced offseason requirements are going to shorten players' careers.

[Jared]

Certain types of injury are lessened with more practice, but ultimately I think a lot of this is just the "bigger, stronger, faster". Also different types of plays and minor rule changes result in different types of injuries.

If every team always played ground and pound, you would rarely get defensive backs diving at the side of a receivers legs. If QBs were all running the wishbone constantly, you would never see the type of injury Brady and Palmer had.

But yes, at some point we will reach the theoretical limit on the amount of abuse joints can take.

[pedro55]

one theory is that the reduction in offseason requirements (new CBA) has lead to more injuries. The players were in better shape. 

 

  Yeah but years ago players had other jobs and drank/ate did whatever.  The preseason was a time to get in shape and you didn't seem to have the injury issues you have now. It's also a drug problem.   Most players and in general, people, are on some kind of drug.   But drugs just mask the pain.   So maybe you get injured, take some drugs, gets some quick non-evasive surgery, and back on the field.  Not really healed, but with all the millions at stake, you play, your team makes you play, and you get drugged up and don't feel any pain.    Except your body isn't exactly healthy.  

 

 It goes back to PEDs, steroids and everything else.  Just because you take certain drugs that make you heal quicker, makes your body recover faster, doesn't actually mean it's a good thing in the long run.   And so you start to get more injuries due to the fact that you were far more injured then you imagined.    In the past you might have to play through pain and once that pain became too much, obviously you couldn't play anymore.   Now you get shot up with whatever and it's almost like you aren't injured. Until the next day.     

 

 Look at a lot of older NFL players.  They can barely walk, some die young. Some have brain issues.   But in general the drugs were either more hardcore or not as good as they are now. And not as prevalent. Oh they existed, but now you could get shot up in two seconds and feel brand new.  It's Amazing how fast and well many of these drugs  work to mask pain.   But there is a reason people feel pain.  Keep masking the injuries and eventually something will just snap.  ANd people will be shocked.  

 

The reality is we've become a nation addicted to pain killers and everything else and then wonder why normal things happen that should happen.  It's a violent sport. People will get injured.  Masking the pain so they can play another game, another quarter, eventually just leads to a lot of people not ever really recovering. And this starts long before the NFL.