Packers tight end Jermichael Finley wrote he lowered his head and shoulders intentionally to protect his knees. I don't blame him with so many players tearing their ACLs and another with a torn LCL. That would seem like a smart idea, but a helmet collision on the play left him partially paralyzed, numb, and struggling to breathe. The NFL's competition committee can make up all the rules they want to, but those hits are still going to happen. Can coaches do anything to reduce the risk of injuries like ligament and tendon tears so players don't feel like they have to put their heads in unsafe positions?

 

http://www.nflevolution.com/article/gree...0000271891

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IMO, I have a hypothesis that one of the biggest contributors of injuries in the leagues of major sports is that all these years the players have been getting bigger, stronger and faster, yet one thing has not increased to accomodate this...

 

and that is the playing surfaces. 

 

I wonder if a bigger field/ court/ ice would help in the injury problems as it would spread the players out more, theoretically. You're never going to eliminate injuries altogether, but more space might = less injuries. 

 

Does the CFL (bigger field) have the same proportion of injuries as the NFL or less? I do not know thats why I am asking. 

 

The problem is, the owners would likely be reluctant to increase the playing surface dimensions because it will drain some of their revenue, i.e. seats. 

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That would not be feasible for an obvious reason: No matter how big the field is, players will always run out of bounds. They have to. Increasing the field size would only make it take longer to get out, which is detrimental for offensives running the two-minute drill with no timeouts left.

 

Player sizes obviously are not going to decrease by much, but as the 3-4 defense becomes more widely used, NFL teams can draft more defensive linemen who weigh less than 300 pounds.

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That would not be feasible for an obvious reason: No matter how big the field is, players will always run out of bounds. They have to. Increasing the field size would only make it take longer to get out, which is detrimental for offensives running the two-minute drill with no timeouts left.


Player sizes obviously are not going to decrease by much, but as the 3-4 defense becomes more widely used, NFL teams can draft more defensive linemen who weigh less than 300 pounds.

Huh? A 3-4 requires bigger defensive lineman so by your logic the lineman should be getting bigger on average.

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Huh? A 3-4 requires bigger defensive lineman so by your logic the lineman should be getting bigger on average.

 

I mean there would be fewer defensive linemen on the field.

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IMO, I have a hypothesis that one of the biggest contributors of injuries in the leagues of major sports is that all these years the players have been getting bigger, stronger and faster, yet one thing has not increased to accomodate this...

 

and that is the playing surfaces. 

 

I wonder if a bigger field/ court/ ice would help in the injury problems as it would spread the players out more, theoretically. You're never going to eliminate injuries altogether, but more space might = less injuries. 

 

Does the CFL (bigger field) have the same proportion of injuries as the NFL or less? I do not know thats why I am asking. 

 

The problem is, the owners would likely be reluctant to increase the playing surface dimensions because it will drain some of their revenue, i.e. seats. 

 

It would seem that the larger fields in the current NFL -- the hashmarks being much closer to midfield -- have contributed to the uptick in "player collision" injuries. It makes sense to me that if the players have to cover more ground, then they have more time to increase their momentum prior to contact. The increased momentum due to higher speeds would then lend itself to more injuries.

 

In the Canadian Football League, while the field is indeed wider -- 65 yards to 53 1/2 yards -- the Hashmarks are essentially the same distance from the sideline, 24 yards to 23 yards, one foot, nine inches. So the field is split into two sections; one being 24 yards wide, the other being 41. In the NFL, the field is split,essentially to 24 and 29, give or take a few. One could theorize that the extra player on the field in the CFL makes up for the larger playing surface and reduces the "momentum increase" I stated above.

 

I have no idea if this is in fact the case, but on the surface it makes sense.

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

Time for weight limits by position like sprint ball. The human body isn't designed to carry the weight that these guys are carrying through such extreme movements. Also need to reduce the infractions on the defense and permit them to play closer to the offensive players. And a narrower field would help by reducing the number of steps before contact.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

All you have to do is slide and everything will be fine. 

 

signed, Brian Hoyer.

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They're gonna have to continue to reinvent the gear. What they use now is head and shoulders better and more protective than the gear they used 20 years ago, but they're gonna have to keep pushing forward with innovations in helmets and padding. It won't completely take out the injury factor since football is a violent sport, but reducing that injury factor is always a concern I imagine..

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All you have to do is slide and everything will be fine. 

 

signed, Brian Hoyer.

 

Brian Hoyer is far from the only quarterback who knows sliding is rarely as safe as it should be. I will never understand why few players are flagged for hitting a sliding quarterback.

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They're gonna have to continue to reinvent the gear. What they use now is head and shoulders better and more protective than the gear they used 20 years ago, but they're gonna have to keep pushing forward with innovations in helmets and padding. It won't completely take out the injury factor since football is a violent sport, but reducing that injury factor is always a concern I imagine..

 

Ironically, there have been talks about reducing concussions by going back to old leather helmets or even practicing without helmets. That is because hard plastic makes players think it is safer than it is to hit opponents in the head.

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Flag football is coming, people.

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Realistically, is there anything teams can do to reduce the number of injuries that put players on PUP and IR? Maybe it is just me, but it seems like there are more torn ACLs this season than in years past.

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Realistically, is there anything teams can do to reduce the number of injuries that put players on PUP and IR? Maybe it is just me, but it seems like there are more torn ACLs this season than in years past.

 

Seems this way to me too.  Don't know if it's true.

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Seems this way to me too. Don't know if it's true.

 

I remember these players tore them:

 

Dustin Keller (multiple ligaments)

Brian Hoyer

Sam Bradford

Reggie Wayne

Sidney Rice

Geno Atkins

 

Also, Brian Cushing tore his LCL.

 

Turns out we are right about the number of ACL injuries skyrocketing. This article explains why Brandon Meriweather, who was suspended one game after appealing two games for mulitple helmet collisions Sunday, said this week, "You have to tear people's ACLs." Coaches and players agree with his general message and understand the statement was just a poor choice of words, not what he really thinks defenders should do. That said, people are tearing more ACLs this year.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000...rs-coaches

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Time for weight limits by position like sprint ball. The human body isn't designed to carry the weight that these guys are carrying through such extreme movements. Also need to reduce the infractions on the defense and permit them to play closer to the offensive players. And a narrower field would help by reducing the number of steps before contact.

 

That idea makes me think there should be fewer injuries in the AFL, where games are played in the same rooms that are used by hockey and basketball teams, than the NFL. I watched a few of them, but not enough to think just because there were no injury timeouts, the AFL is safer than the NFL.

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Realistically, is there anything teams can do to reduce the number of injuries that put players on PUP and IR? Maybe it is just me, but it seems like there are more torn ACLs this season than in years past.

I heard the Doctor/Surgeon on 10/10xl one morning saying he thinks the artificial turf has a lot to do with the ACL's and Lisfrancs because the there is just no give when the player plants his foot as opposed to grass gives a little. There is tons of torque on the ligaments due to the surfaces and the fact that players are bigger/faster these days also.  I would tend to agree with his theory. We all know it's not the sole cause because injuries happen on grass too but it's more than likely a big cause.

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I heard the Doctor/Surgeon on 10/10xl one morning saying he thinks the artificial turf has a lot to do with the ACL's and Lisfrancs because the there is just no give when the player plants his foot as opposed to grass gives a little. There is tons of torque on the ligaments due to the surfaces and the fact that players are bigger/faster these days also. I would tend to agree with his theory. We all know it's not the sole cause because injuries happen on grass too but it's more than likely a big cause.

 

I read every year players rank fields and the winner is always one with real grass. However, it must be noted even with real grass, different things are used as the base under the sod, so not all grass fields are equal.

 

Field Turf was invented because Astroturf was essentially green carpet on concrete. That caused a lot more injuries than Field Turf does.

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This article is sort of like what I was thinking earlier, except the whole scheme, not just the specific plays, can affect a player's ACL:

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000...-more-zone

 

Does this mean zone defense is safer for knee ligaments than MTM defense?

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That idea makes me think there should be fewer injuries in the AFL, where games are played in the same rooms that are used by hockey and basketball teams, than the NFL. I watched a few of them, but not enough to think just because there were no injury timeouts, the AFL is safer than the NFL.

 

Tough to compare NFL and AFL because player size and player capabilities are much different.

 

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato