…and stop screwing with the game !

The ProCap has been used and the nfl found out, it worked !

Yet Roger Goodell refuses to mandate the use of the ProCap in the NFL.

The ProCap is a layer of foam, that is fitted over the outside of existing helmets. It creates a shock absorbing layer on the “outside” of the helmet and was used for years by the Bills, Mark Kelso and the 49ers, Steve Wallace in the 1980s.

Both players extended their careers by years…careers that had been threatened by frequent concussions.

The very first player to use cushioning on the outside of his helmet, in the modern era, was Hall of Fame LB, Willie Lanier, back in 1967.

Lanier suffered a life threatening concussion in his rookie season. A KC Chiefs trainer got the idea of fitting Lanier’s helmet with a wide strip of foam padding on the outside of his helmet…and it worked !

Lanier went on to play 11 seasons with that helmet and became known as “Mr Contact”.

Ask Roger Goodell why he won’t mandate the use of padding on the outside of existing helmets, to cut down and virtually eliminate concussions in the NFL ?

It is that easy … really !

Information on the ProCap can be found by typing it into your search engine.

After a team scores a touchdown, they would continue to have the option of kicking or running the ball over the goal line for one or two points. The change that would make the game safer would occur on the ensuing kick where the team that scored would free kick from their own 40. If the ball should travel through the uprights that team would be awarded one additional point and team B would put the ball in play from the 20 yard line. If the attempt is no good, team B would get the ball 1st and 10 at their own 35 yard line.

Here is how the kickoff needs to be changed:
1. You kick the ball out of the endzone, it is a touchback and two points for the receiving team.
2. Any kneeldown or fair catch by the receiving team gives two points to the kicking team.
3. If the league is still worried about injuries, the kicking team has to line up on the line of scrimage instead of 5 yards behind.

BUT…

If the ball lands in the endzone or is kicked over the endzone, the ball is placed at the 35 (just as if it were kicked out of bounds).

This obviously hurst the excitement factor…but it puts more pressure on the kicker. Too long of a kick or too short of a kick = good field position for the receiving team. Exciting…just not as exciting.

Near the end of the game, let’s say a team is down 2 scores. They manage to sustain a long drive that exhausts the other defense and get a score. Now, normally they kick off (or try an onsides kick) and the other offense takes the field.

But NOW, the scoring team has a tired defense in front of them and decides to go for it on 4th & 15…so some questions:

1. If the league is so concerned with “player safety”, how safe is it to play football in a state of extreme exhaustion? If players are that tired, they’re also too tired to adequately protect themselves on each play. Won’t MORE injuries occur in this situation?

2. While this will have the effect of making the ends of games more exciting (and thus increasing ratings and revenue), what will this do to the competitive balance of the league?

3. What will Vegas think of this? (Let’s not fool ourselves, Vegas is a major factor in the NFL’s decision making. While it may feel warm & fuzzy to think that the referee lockout was resolved because of that debacle on MNF, it was really Vegas not being able to “bank” on the impartiality of the officiating.)

1) Its a regular play – NOT like a kick-off with no rush or a free punt after a safety. You snap the ball at your 30 and either run a play to try to reach the 45 and keep the ball or you punt it….on every kick-0ff situation. The defense can blitz, rush the punt, etc. Its a regular 4th down play.

2) Forget player safety, the key is this would make it more possible for a team down 10-20 points to catch up. Its much easier to make a 4th and 15 than recover an onside kick when people know its coming. You keep making 4th and 15′s and you can catch up quickly – the other team can’t get the ball back.

3) Finally, ANYbody who really thinks NFL kick-offs are exciting needs a hobby. 98% of the time its a touch-back or there’s a return and two flags. PAT kicks are more exciting.

1. The NFLPA wouldn’t go for it. Thats taking away 2 jobs, lick specialist and return specialist.

2. The most dangerous play in football is not the kickoff. The most dangerous play in football is the forward pass. Its the play where a man stands like a statue, looking downfield, while 300-lb guys try to sandwich him, and where recievers are “defenseless” against DBs trying to dislodge the football from their grasp.

I bet if someone were to go back and look at every concussion this season, I bet they would find that nearly 75% of them happened on pass plays and not kickoffs. Look we all know the NFL won’t abandon the foward pass. That play is what makes the NFL different from rugby, and its a huge reason the game is as exciting as it is today. I’m just saying that this proposal does nothing but pay lipservice to players’ safety.