Bernard Pollard: Thirty years from now, I don’t think the NFL will be in existence

#1
golfballs

golfballs

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#1
Ravens' safety predicts NFL's downfall in 30 years | The Daily Caller

I agree with him, albeit on a longer time-frame. I think the NFL will go the way of professional boxing.

More and more parents won't let their kids play, talent will eventually dry up, and only those really hard up for money will risk the damage it does to your body. Will that be enough to sustain an organization like the NFL?

It will definitely be interesting to see how this progresses over the next several years.
 
#2
#2
As long as they are paying multi million dollar contracts, the league will be around for a long long time
 
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#3
#3
Nah. The NFL isn't going anywhere in 30 years. I live in florida and last year we had a 2 page waiting list for peewee ball. We ended up having two teams.
 
#4
#4
I don't see it from the fans getting tired of not seeing hitting.

I don't know what will happen to the NFL, but the more and more we are learning about the game the more I feel uncomfortable about it.
 
#7
#7
golfballs said:
We'll see how long those contracts last after the class-action lawsuits come rolling in.
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More than that, look at the new CBA, and what these young players are getting paid. Russel Wilson I hear gets 2.6mil a year, which cannot be touched for several years. I know it is a hell of a lot of money. But reading about what your body goes through to play this game, I would think twice.
 
#10
#10
rocktopper16 said:
Cigarettes are still here. I don't think the NFL will have to pay.
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We'll see. I just think the more evidence that comes out regarding brain injuries and football, the fewer and fewer parents will allow their kids to compete. Instead they start playing baseball and basketball. At the very least, I see the NFL relinquishing it's spot as the nations most popular sport.
 
#11
#11
Foosball is da devil
 

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#12
#12
San Diego Vol said:
For what? Voluntarily choosing to play a violent sport? It's called assumption of risk
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Grownups playing for money can sign a waiver and do what they want. What about minors playing for free? In a few years, somebody's going to develop an MRI-type scanner that will identify head trauma in living patients. At that point, liability's going to cause high school and college football as we know it to wither up and die. How can pro football as we know it exist without high school and college?
 
#13
#13
I understand what you guys are saying, but football is not going anywhere
 
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#14
vercingetorix said:
grownups playing for money can sign a waiver and do what they want. What about minors playing for free? In a few years, somebody's going to develop an mri-type scanner that will identify head trauma in living patients. At that point, liability's going to cause high school and college football as we know it to wither up and die. How can pro football as we know it exist without high school and college?
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obamacare!
 
#15
#15
Vercingetorix said:
Grownups playing for money can sign a waiver and do what they want. What about minors playing for free? In a few years, somebody's going to develop an MRI-type scanner that will identify head trauma in living patients. At that point, liability's going to cause high school and college football as we know it to wither up and die. How can pro football as we know it exist without high school and college?
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Yeah, huge point that I forgot about.

Insurance costs. They will become un-affordable.
 
#16
#16
rocktopper16 said:
obamacare!
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If anything, that will precipitate change even faster. If everyone has a stake in the costs, will the benefit be of the public good? Not a chance. Government healthcare won't cover it. And individual coverage will cost way too much for the majority of people to afford
 
#17
#17
golfballs said:
Yeah, huge point that I forgot about.

Insurance costs. They will become un-affordable.
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What's going to happen to liability insurance when Johnny can stick his head in a machine on Monday morning and there's a big black spot on his brain that wasn't there on Friday? It's going to change everything.

If I were the NFL, I would already be talking about theoretical ways in which we could run our own development league, taking 18-year-olds who've played flag football and soccer and turning them into football players. The whole structure of American football is likely to change in the next decade or so.
 
#20
#20
It's my opinion that football can be played safely if players care about safety. But they don't. They care about the big hit, or getting the penalty, or whatever. For instance, take Pollard's hit on Wayne that might have brought this on. Here is his quote about it:

"Reggie lowered his head," Pollard told The Baltimore Sun. "We, as defensive players, we're locked in. We're going full-speed. So, it will be interesting to see what they do. That's hard for us as defensive players to try to manage where we're going. It was my helmet that grazed his facemask. It was incidental. He lowered his helmet. It was nothing intentional."
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I agree with him. Reggie lowered his head. I'm not saying it was intentional, but if I was Reggie Wayne, and if I didn't care as much about future brain damage as a crucial first down, I would lower my head there and get the 15 yards.

Brain damage isn't an issue if you don't lower your helmet leading with the area around the crown. I think there could still be concussions from just big hits causing whiplash, but I think the long term issues would subside if they just looked out for their own safety.
 
#21
#21
I think Pollard might be correct in regards to the helmet. If they remove the helmet it might actually make football safer (albeit only slightly) from brain injury. Nobody is going to run full speed and spear a ball carrier or lead with their head sans helmet. You might get broken jaws, broken noses, etc (like in rugby), but I don't think you'd see as many concussions (which seems preferable to me).
 
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#22
#22
You guys are missing his point.

Basically, he's just trying to ***** about the new safety rules.
 
#24
#24
golfballs said:
Of course he is. But despite his intentions, he brings up a good point.
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Sure. There are some fans who won't watch football because it's becoming a "pussified" shell of itself.

There's also going to be some fans who won't watch football because it's akin to watching gladitors.
 
#25
#25
zjcvols said:
Sure. There are some fans who won't watch football because it's becoming a "pussified" shell of itself.

There's also going to be some fans who won't watch football because it's akin to watching gladitors.
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I could be wrong, but it seems like it might mirror a problem that baseball has been experiencing. Fewer kids play it as they did years ago, so when they grow up - having not played it - they don't have as much interest in watching it.
 
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