If he was a committed player, he would have had the surgery before and tried to return for this season. He’s no worse than the guy living on disability but playing golf every day.

a) This is not Jr High. These guys are 300 pounds plus. BIIIIIG difference.

b) These are real athletes, not weenie little kids like 99.9% of anyone on this board probably were in school.

c) IT’S STILL STUPID. Haven’t you been following the news? Head injuries are not necessary in football, and should be a avoided. Coaches now know this drill is dangerous…SO STOP. The last thing any team needs is to lose a player in practice!

Sheesh.

This is indicative of how Singletary ran the team. Coaches that win don’t burn their players out in July and August. Walsh rarely made the boys pad up during practice after training camp and when he did it was for conditioning, not killing each other.

Singletary flat out didn’t know sh@t about X’s & O’s, so he over compensated for it on the practice field and it showed on game day. It is that simple.

Its football, its a physical sport. Nutcracker drill makes players tougher. It is a perfectly acceptable drill. We did this all the time in HIGHSCHOOL football practices, I didnt see any problems with it then and I dont see any wrongdoing by Singletary.

lol. Big difference between a bunch of high school kids, most of whom are 160 to 180 and slow as molasses and professional football players who are bigger and stronger in virtually every way but, unfortunately, don’t have have stronger disks or bones…

It’s well-known that the kickoff is the most dangerous play in football; why run a similar drill that is likely to cause injuries and serves no instructional purpose? You might as well strap players onto JUGS machines and hurl them together at 30mph.

The force an NFL athlete generates between muscle and sheer size is significantly higher than that generated by a high school or even college athlete.

And a neck is only so strong, no matter how muscular someone is.

Come on PFT. Im in no way the PC police and I know ‘hobartbaker’ considers himself the designated PFT comedian, but if you are going to let racial crap slide then let it ALL slide. The ‘cracker’ reference isnt about effing saltines…

I think you forgot to add “you darn kids get off my lawn,” and “when’s Matlock on?”

Not only did Heitmann suffer what could be a career ending injury with this stupid caveman drill, but Patrick Willis also suffered a leg injury as I recall participating in the drill.

Think it makes sense to lose one of the best players in the NFL just to prove how tough you can be?

I feel sorry for the Vikings having this fool “coach” them. Hope he never gets another head coaching job at any level of foootball.

The REAL PROBLEM here is not singletary’s practice drills, coachs not listening to whining players, or hard practice drills. The problem is since the mid 80′s early 90′s, the definition of the word “tackle” has been greatly manipulated. Head to head contact is/should never be tolerated in the game if possible. I played safety in Jr. High, high school. I was warned a few times by officals then that leading with head is spearing and not a legal hit.

The problem with the NFL these days is most tackles are done this way. Proper tackling technique is not taught this way in pee wee or jr high & should not be allowed in NFL at all and should definetely be corrected in any type of practice setting. But you now have the James Harrisons & Bob Sanders of the NFL in which this is the only way they tackle and most other players have followed suit cause it creates a harder collison and more likely a tackle for opposing player. Any smart player would NEVER tackle this way to begin with but go the Antoine Winfield route of always getting lower than your opponent and wrapping up with your arms then your neck & head are never in jeopardy in the tackling process.

This is a long overdue policy enforcement issue for the NFL, but i believe if each player used proper technique from pee wee to NFL level, it would not be a problem anyway. No one has ever taught the human missle tackle drill in football i am sure.

As far as a lawsuit, won’t happen…UNLESS Heitmann’s career is over, as a result. Players get hurt during practice all the time, simply because football, both in games and in practice, is inherently dangerous. The fact that a specific drill has caused several injuries might be cause for examination, but it is hardly grounds for a lawsuit, unless it can be proven that A) the coaching staff was factually aware of the higher-than-normal potential for injury from the specific drill, and B) the injured player can prove that he lost MONEY as a result of being required to perform this proven, dangerous drill, and was injured as a result of it.

I’m sure Heitmann is unhappy about this, but unless he is released without an “injury settlement”, which is basically a payoff from the team in return for his agreement not to seek damages, he’s pretty much dust bunnies. Otherwise, he has surgery, heals up, gets paid while he does, and life goes on.

But people will remember Singletary’s involvement in this, and it’s a nasty strike to his hopes for another head coaching job, for sure.

Of course, there’s always the Bears…

It’s a violent sport
Played by men who enjoy violence
People can and do get hurt, some seriously
Practice violence is intended to simulate game violence, and it still falls short

If exercising maximum, legal violence between the sidelines, or on a practice field is a problem, find a new sport.

Check with Ray Lewis, Lamar Woodley or James Harrision…It’s FOOTBALL!!

In high school they were not prime athletes weighing more than 300 lbs and moving very fast with a lot of power. Athletes get paid to much money to do something that will get them hurt in a practice. There are other things to do to get ready to play football.