ah, the glory days of the fifties and before, when safety in sports was just an afterthought.
when you weren’t a MAN if you wore protection or couldn’t play if you were hurt……
interestingly, the same philosophy was in place for the race drivers of the same period, when they wore t shirts and flimsy helmets and no protection on the cars from getting their head crushed when the cars got upside down. It’s almost as if human life and limb had less value back then
I know the idea is counter-intuitive… but a return to “leather” (soft) helmets would eliminate using the head as a weapon. Plenty of padding to protect the head from blows, but without the hard outside shell that turns a player’s head into a “bowling ball”…
aircraft-engineer: “funny that we almost never hear of severe injuries in RUGBY or AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL”
Exactly the point Ol_Goaler was making. With the helmets and padding, there’s no motivation to hold anything back. NFL players routinely throw their bodies around in ways that would result in far MORE injuries, were they playing in shorts and wooly jumpers. Also, in the NFL there’s a premium on being HUGE that’s absent in Rugby; hit hard and hit fast, and you don’t need to worry so much about sustained action. With the padding, you’re looking at 350 lbs of sprinter, using his spinal column as a battering ram. (And I’m talking about the backfield, not the linemen.)
Rugby players end up bloody and bruised, but more or less mobile. American football players end up with deep-tissue damage and shredded cartilege. It’s similar to the difference between boxing with bare knuckles and boxing with modern gloves. Fewer cuts, but more force behind every blow.
pschearer Premium Member about 14 years ago
He’s obviously confused. It’s BOXING where the goal is to give the opponent a concussion.
Nighthawks Premium Member about 14 years ago
ah, the glory days of the fifties and before, when safety in sports was just an afterthought. when you weren’t a MAN if you wore protection or couldn’t play if you were hurt…… interestingly, the same philosophy was in place for the race drivers of the same period, when they wore t shirts and flimsy helmets and no protection on the cars from getting their head crushed when the cars got upside down. It’s almost as if human life and limb had less value back then
The_Ol_Goaler about 14 years ago
I know the idea is counter-intuitive… but a return to “leather” (soft) helmets would eliminate using the head as a weapon. Plenty of padding to protect the head from blows, but without the hard outside shell that turns a player’s head into a “bowling ball”…
gofinsc about 14 years ago
Great benefit to the defenseless player who is hit that way. Offender gets penalty, maybe fined; victim gets hospital stay and rehab.
fritzoid Premium Member about 14 years ago
aircraft-engineer: “funny that we almost never hear of severe injuries in RUGBY or AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL”
Exactly the point Ol_Goaler was making. With the helmets and padding, there’s no motivation to hold anything back. NFL players routinely throw their bodies around in ways that would result in far MORE injuries, were they playing in shorts and wooly jumpers. Also, in the NFL there’s a premium on being HUGE that’s absent in Rugby; hit hard and hit fast, and you don’t need to worry so much about sustained action. With the padding, you’re looking at 350 lbs of sprinter, using his spinal column as a battering ram. (And I’m talking about the backfield, not the linemen.)
Rugby players end up bloody and bruised, but more or less mobile. American football players end up with deep-tissue damage and shredded cartilege. It’s similar to the difference between boxing with bare knuckles and boxing with modern gloves. Fewer cuts, but more force behind every blow.