Comments on: Ten takeaways from Goodell’s Harvard speech

By: footballer4ever

footballer4ever — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 03:43:25 +0000

Best solution is : eliminate the overated sport in its entirety.

By: giablommi

giablommi — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:07:10 +0000

“The NFL will be unwatchable in 10 years”
^^^^^
10 years? I’d say we’re just about there already. Touchbacks on most kickoffs, flags on nearly any hit on a QB or over the middle, the inevitable “are you kidding me?!” groan from the crowd when the flags fly, a new wave of rule changes every single year watering down the game we remember.

Not to mention that the NFL has severely watered down the quality of the games by overexposing the product with games every Thursday night. Used to be that I would never miss a game or let the wife watch her shows while football is on. Now? Meh, don’t really care about missing a game so much when the NFL’s on 3 nights every week and it’s not what it used to be anyway.

By: purplengold

purplengold — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 21:01:01 +0000

@wfmulder

eliminate cut blocks

By: granadafan

granadafan — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:54:45 +0000

Roger is the one catching all the well-deserved flack for the new rules and fines. However, it’s the lawyers who, once again ruined this game. They are the ones filing lawsuits on behalf of ex-players. They are the ones advising Roger to reduce future liablity by making these seemingly absurd rules now. They can go to court later and show that they “tried” to implement these so-called safety rules and actually punished players for violating said rules.

The name of the game is liability. This is what is bringing down the NFL, not Roger.

By: ncfloyd

ncfloyd — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:14:58 +0000

As for #9 having sensors in pads to register the impact, it can be a new measurement to rank players that I’m sure they wouldn’t abuse it to try and out do each other. Who’s the biggest hitter? let’s go to the shoulder pad hit meter. It can be a fantasy stat.
How about going back to the 50′s when you had to hold the guy down for a count, that will bring back tackling and end the launching.

By: ldfontenot

ldfontenot — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:20:36 +0000

He and the NFL have no choice; they have to do this. He did however have a choice about how to help get his message out there, and he didn’t have to destroy Fujita and Vilma’s reputation to do it which is what he did. That is strictly on him, when every legit sportswriter and outsider, including the conservatvie 3 member panel said he overreached and overpunished. I will say once again that those two would never be listed in anyone’s top 200 of dirty players.

By: 8drinkminimum

8drinkminimum — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:06:42 +0000

I am nit in favor of dropping kickoffs.

If it has to be though why not do a punt from the 35 to start the game, 3rd Q and after any score. Punting after a safety would remain intact.

You have to maintain 7 guys on the line each and can’t rush the punter and the punting team can’t run a fake. That will engage peopple immediately and the wedge would not exist.

More refinement would still be needed but you get the idea.

By: geektriumvirate

geektriumvirate — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:01:28 +0000

Can Rodger remove himself from the game instead?

By: wfmulder

wfmulder — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:48:26 +0000

jelliot1978 says:
Nov 16, 2012 11:06 AM
There are better designs in helmets but because of the cosmetic factor they are not used. Also, only a helmet is required not an advanced one. They will have a hard time eliminating concussions but they can still reduce them.

Take a layered design to the helmet and it will help reduce damage. An outer layer that is foam based, a secondary harder shell and then the inner padding. This will cause the helmet to be less likely to injury during a collision with another helmet as the padding will disperse the impact zone.

————————————————–

Great, now can you share with us your ideas on how to remove devastating ALC injuries that END careers? So much focus on the head, yet over 90% of all football players careers are ended with serious ligament injuries. Knees, ankles, etc. Why is everyone so focused on just fixing the gear around the head?

People need to start realizing a hard cold fact, you change any aspect of the VIOLENCE of the game, you change the game itself. You cant have both. So people need to start choosing what they want, a watered down, nicer version or the ferocious of the battle.

Oh, and we have Thursday night game now 17 weeks out of the year instead of the final 8 weeks. When I was growing up the only time they played on a Thursday was Thanksgiving. That can’t be the best way to “protect” player safety, but it can be the best way to “inflate the owners profit margin.” People are funny, they cry about one thing yet accept another.

By: Tankhammers

Tankhammers — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:42:57 +0000

I’d really hate to see the violent nature of football eliminated, but how about less padding? I’m not talking leather helmets, but maybe more along the lines of lacrosse helmets. Sounds a bit radical but with less padding players might be less likely to use equipment as a weapon. It might make tackling more technique oriented and less collision oriented. The game will still be fast and violent, but safer. Just a thought.

By: crappygovernment

crappygovernment — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:42:11 +0000

Roger Goodell makes the NFL worse every day. He should quit and do something else.

By: ibottpsgoldpants

ibottpsgoldpants — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:28:38 +0000

How about expanding the 53 man roster so teams can afford to sit players suspected to have concussions? Oh yeah, that’s right, owners don’t want to pay more people. What a joke. Teams should be allowed to have players ready for play when players go down. Maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to rush a someone back on the field if they could sustain the loss.

By: fmwarner

fmwarner — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:26:07 +0000

Weight limits are a good idea, but not just for kickoffs. There should be weight limits by position for any NFL player. It’s the only way to reduce risk and keep the same game we love. When players weigh less, the impact will be less. Not to mention the side benefit that players won’t have to ‘roid up to keep a job.

By: louisianafootballfan

louisianafootballfan — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:16:58 +0000

Did Roger happen to mention playing Thursday night games each and every week as part of his player safety plan? I’m sure those short weeks are great for the health of the players. Roger sure does care about these players, doesn’t he?

By: icanspeel

icanspeel — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:16:01 +0000

I’m all for player safety, but removing kickoffs is the stupidest idea. It would change the dynamic of the game too much from returning a kick to help get your team back into the game to on side kicks.

By: mviglianco

mviglianco — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:05:03 +0000

How many “biggest challenge”s does the NFL face?

By: purplengold

purplengold — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:04:14 +0000

I saw South Park’s “Sarcastiball” the other evening, it addresses some of these concerns. Worth the watch.

By: cliverush

cliverush — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:55:56 +0000

Is the NCAA going to be in on the need to approach the vicious hitting around the head? How about the late hits in college?

By: bigdingyguy

bigdingyguy — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:21:16 +0000

Anybody else remember Jacked Up? Early 2000′s…. That was great. I miss that.

By: jelliot1978

jelliot1978 — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:06:26 +0000

There are better designs in helmets but because of the cosmetic factor they are not used. Also, only a helmet is required not an advanced one. They will have a hard time eliminating concussions but they can still reduce them.

By: sfm073

sfm073 — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:02:33 +0000

The NFL will be unwatchable in 10 years

By: jikkle49

jikkle49 — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:35:11 +0000

I’m for making the game safer but at a certain point you’ve got to say either play the game knowing the risks that come with it or don’t. Nobody is forcing you to play it.

As far as #10 goes it’s something that will likely never change. The warrior mentality is what drives these athletes to push themselves and be great and why they are able to push themselves ahead of their peers. You’re also not going to change the fact that guys aren’t going to let their team or teammates down by not battling with them.

By: gronkspike802

gronkspike802 — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:34:18 +0000

Are you kidding me? He seriously talked about removing kickoffs or setting weight limits??? The world really is coming to an end.

By: baloneyjohn

baloneyjohn — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:28:42 +0000

Roger the dodger, is a bureaucrat of mediocre ability. An owners shill and a fraud.