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Comment by Trill-I-Am | Hacker News Reader

What could they do to alleviate head trauma without essentially neutering the game?

Get rid of most of the padding and headgear so the players don't feel like they have the ability to take such hard hits--because as far as their brains go, they don't have that ability.

I wonder what the game would look like if these changes were made. Would it become more like rugby, but with forward passing?

Head trauma is also becoming a big deal in rugby union now. It won't be long, in my opinion, before wearing of the padded scull cap headgear becomes mandatory.

I played the game in a serious social manner (every weekend during the season at a reasonably good amateur level) for 15-20 years (had a few seasons off to do other things) since I was 15. I've had an ACL reconstruction and one shoulder is a painful mess. Fortunately no obvious head issues so far.

I love the game and watch a lot of it, but when the time comes I'm not really sure I want my boy playing.

wearing of the padded scull cap headgear becomes mandatory.

Thanks for the personal perspective. Do you think this would lead to the same situation the NFL finds itself in now? People hitting harder in part because of the protection provided by the pads?

I don't follow NFL, but from what I do know the games are quite different which may result in different injury ratios.

In rugby, only the ball carrier may be tackled and there are rules against deliberate head high hits. Yet, with the speed, size and athleticism of moden players, the amount of head injuries are on the rise.

I think wearing the padded scull caps would make a big difference to accidental head trauma in rugby. Many of the top players already do.

Just convert over to sevens. It's more interesting per play, and if the matchup is a dud, golly you've just lost maybe 20 minutes.

3-4 hours for NFL? Ick. Only the best, most interesting games maybe approach that sort of time and commercial (aggravation) commitment. And that's setting aside head injuries.

IDK, can someone comment on how helmets have evolved recently?

I used to compete in and still watch a lot of downhill skiing. The technological advancements in helmets over the past ten years has been incredible, now we have MIPS foam and kevlar and carbon and in general stuff that's been engineered and crash tested to perfection. Not to mention helmets are now discarded after a single impact. How is it with NFL helmets?

It isn't the helmet that's the problem. As their ability to absorb shock has increased, the players hitting harder has gone up with it. And although a helmet can absorb a lot of shock, the twisting/turning of the head on impact is not something they can dampen, and those are the motions that cause brain trauma.

Keep in mind that the interior base of the braincase is a catastrophe of sharp bone, and that you're scraping something with the durability of jello across it every time there's an impact that has any lateral component, which is all of them.

Arm the quarterbacks with a 2 shot .22 derringer.

You get the strategy of knowing how many shots the QB has taken in the game, all sorts of new statistics can be compiled for the fans who like that, and you're more or less guaranteed to have one to four serious injuries per game.

The QB now has to figure out defensive and offensive aiming as well as ball management. Tackles and backers need to factor in taking a shot versus possible possession.

Not to mention that QBs get arrested during most games. There's going to be a lot more substitution.

Really, if you're going to talk about "neutering" the game by making it less dangerous to the players, then obviously it makes the game much more manly if you up the stakes this way.

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=1488

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