John Mara, looking out for Tynes.

[BlueInCanada]

Wants to get rid of kickoffs all together.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82850481/article/new-york-giants-owner-john-mara-envisions-end-to-kickoffs?module=HP11_headline_stack

 

 

 

New York Giants owner John Mara, a member of the NFL's Competition Committee, says he can see a day in which kickoffs will be eliminated from football.

“We had a lot of discussions about whether we should eliminate it and if we did, what we could do in its place,” Mara told Giants.com. “There’s no consensus on it right now, but I could see the day in the future where that play could be taken out of the game. You see it evolving toward that.”

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Last year, the league moved kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35 as a safety measure, which Mara says is the committee’s top priority. He adds that the increase in touchbacks last year coincided with a decrease in concussions. Although there is little interest in eliminating kickoffs at this point, Mara pointed out that "There was no support for moving the kickoff back to the 30 yard-line."

Mara says the NFL won’t eliminate the kickoff until it has the right plan for how to get rid of it, but he seems to think the play is fundamentally unsafe.

“Nobody would go that far now, but we talk about different blocks that we can outlaw,” Mara said. “The problem is that the concussions come from everywhere -- from the wedge, from the crossing blocks where a guy goes from one side of the field to another, from a full speed collision between a return guy and a tackler. So there’s no one thing that you can do. It’s something that we'll continue to watch as closely as possible.”

[gmenroc]

Let's just take the ST out of the game entirely, remove all the defenders, and just let's just see whose offense can score the quickest....sounds like a fantastic way to RUIN football

 

How about doing more research into the helmets, experimenting with different materials, etc. How about enforcing the players to actually wear ALL the pads that many of them take out...thinking the thigh/knee pads in particular?

 

Changing some of the rules on blocks would be fine and moving the kickoff from 35 to 30 would be fine...but making such drastic changes to the game could make it unwatchable.

[Nas]

Let's just take the ST out of the game entirely, remove all the defenders, and just let's just see whose offense can score the quickest....sounds like a fantastic way to RUIN football

 

How about doing more research into the helmets, experimenting with different materials, etc. How about enforcing the players to actually wear ALL the pads that many of them take out...thinking the thigh/knee pads in particular?

 

Changing some of the rules on blocks would be fine and moving the kickoff from 35 to 30 would be fine...but making such drastic changes to the game could make it unwatchable.

 

Helmets give a false sense of security. It's the impact on your skull/neck that does the damage... huge impacts make your brain move inside the skull causing concussions... Having said that, I don't envision football without kickoffs.

[gmenroc]

Helmets give a false sense of security. It's the impact on your skull/neck that does the damage... huge impacts make your brain move inside the skull causing concussions... Having said that, I don't envision football without kickoffs.

 

Yeah, I know the cause of the concussion, but if the materials of the helmet absorbed more of the impact, there'd be less brain-sloshing. Again, I'm not saying there's an answer out there that's not being used, but shoveling some of the billions of dollars into the equipment/field surfaces/etc would be preferrable to changing the game as drastically as they have/plan

[Storm]

Yeah, I know the cause of the concussion, but if the materials of the helmet absorbed more of the impact, there'd be less brain-sloshing. Again, I'm not saying there's an answer out there that's not being used, but shoveling some of the billions of dollars into the equipment/field surfaces/etc would be preferrable to changing the game as drastically as they have/plan

 

I'm not sure it would, concussions are more a velocity thing....your head is going one speed and then slams on the brakes....you would need padding on the INSIDE of your skull, hehe

 

I think that's why you're seeing them starting to seriously consider getting rid of the kickoff.

 

Who the heck here cares, anyway? When was the last time we had a kickoff return for a TD? One by Hixon? Ron Dixon? Tynes never hits it in the end zone and we often get kicks returned up to the 40 on us (or worse, score), regardless of the new kickoff position.

[Nas]

Yeah, I know the cause of the concussion, but if the materials of the helmet absorbed more of the impact, there'd be less brain-sloshing. Again, I'm not saying there's an answer out there that's not being used, but shoveling some of the billions of dollars into the equipment/field surfaces/etc would be preferrable to changing the game as drastically as they have/plan

 

I don't think you can find a material that would significantly help. I saw a CNN speical by Sanjay Gupta where basically expert thought it maybe safer to play without a helmet (not advocating it I'm sure.. they were trying to make a point).. because players will be far less inclined to use their heads. But we know not all contacts are head to head... god knows in 2006 I missed my face/jaw getting smashed by a flying knee as I was being dragged (horse collar style).. as I was falling back a safety flew at me to "finish" me off and as he missed me I saw his knew flashing by my face.. that's where a face mask wouldda been helpful.

[gmenroc]

Well, R&D in general then...perhaps not the helmet itself. But again, I think that changing the game itself on such a large scale should be the last resort.

[BronxRik]

I don't think you can find a material that would significantly help. I saw a CNN speical by Sanjay Gupta where basically expert thought it maybe safer to play without a helmet (not advocating it I'm sure.. they were trying to make a point).. because players will be far less inclined to use their heads. But we know not all contacts are head to head... god knows in 2006 I missed my face/jaw getting smashed by a flying knee as I was being dragged (horse collar style).. as I was falling back a safety flew at me to "finish" me off and as he missed me I saw his knew flashing by my face.. that's where a face mask wouldda been helpful.

 

Oh stop whining. It's a well established fact you enjoy grown men finishing you off.

[Nas]

Oh stop whining. It's a well established fact you enjoy grown men finishing you off.

 

Are you projecting your own feelings, Rik .. hey now

[Clarence the Blue Puppet]

What about memory foam inside the helmet, or a floating helmet, almost like a hard hat, which doesn't touch your head, it just kind of floats there.

[Storm]

What about memory foam inside the helmet, or a floating helmet, almost like a hard hat, which doesn't touch your head, it just kind of floats there.

 

I'm sure it would certainly help, and it couldn't hurt. You can't change the way the guys are going to approach the game, that's football. And they have to stop fucking with the sacredness of the game. So the only real option is equipment improvements.

 

It's just that as long as you have fully grown men running 20 MPH at each other, you're always going to have concussions....but what's next, eliminating punt returns? Where does it end?

[fringe]

I'm sure it would certainly help, and it couldn't hurt. You can't change the way the guys are going to approach the game, that's football. And they have to stop fucking with the sacredness of the game. So the only real option is equipment improvements.

 

It's just that as long as you have fully grown men running 20 MPH at each other, you're always going to have concussions....but what's next, eliminating punt returns? Where does it end?

it ends the day the first successful lawsuit against the NFL is rendered.

[Storm]

it ends the day the first successful lawsuit against the NFL is rendered.

 

A lawsuit by the players?

[fringe]

A lawsuit by the players?

ex-players

[RandolphScott]

Helmets give a false sense of security. It's the impact on your skull/neck that does the damage... huge impacts make your brain move inside the skull causing concussions... Having said that, I don't envision football without kickoffs.

 

I've seen more guys get concussions because there heads snap back on the turf at such a speed.

 

You telling me that the FieldTurf has nothing to do with that? Atleast grass is softer.

[gmenroc]

I've seen more guys get concussions because there heads snap back on the turf at such a speed.

 

You telling me that the FieldTurf has nothing to do with that? Atleast grass is softer.

 

I don't know about that....I've walked on the field at Giants Stadium and it was all but spongy. When they have the field turf, with the rubber bits under it, it seemed far more giving than grass...especially after that grass/ground started getting cold in November/December.

 

I agree that a lot of the concussions happen when the head hits the ground or when someone catches a random knee in their earhole.

[UK-Giantsfan]

lets stop those nasty DE's and LB's from sacking poor defenceless quarterbacks too .........then we can all stop watching the NFL ...and play some tennis