But Chidi said the new kickoff point wouldn't have that much impact on kick returns.
http://www.steelersuniverse.com/foru...ght=touchbacks
Already admitted how wrong I was. Nice try. You guys should apply that to something, anything about Goodell.
http://www.steelersuniverse.com/foru...ns-vs-Steelers
I have data on 63 kickoffs this year which is just under the number we actually had for the year (I only missed a few kicks in one game).
At the beginning of the year, I predicted a 20% touchback rate. I was way wrong.
Since the knocked-out-cold concussions from violent collisions are really so rare that they're not an issue, and the barely-felt headbutt-half-concussion-but-keep-playing among linemen IS the issue ... better helmets for linemen, maybe certain RBs and LBs if they want them. That's it. 95% of your problem solved.
They have dozens upon dozens of scientifically tested prototypes, some of which are used in college and especially high school. Yet standardization and exclusive-rights equipment contracts are more important in the pros.
See you Space Cowboy ...
Again, helmet testing is a long process. You want to make sure you have all information gathered and accurate before you implement any major changes.
Most players are concussed don't get knocked out. I get your point about the lineman but you're exaggerating a bit too much.
The NFL does not have an exclusive rights deal. Players are welcome to wear any helmet that passes government safety standards and there is a variety worn by players. Yes, the NFL does favor Riddell but it is not forced on the players.
I'm sorry, but I played football. I knew it was a violent dangerous sport before I started and REALLY learned the first time I had a defender fly off his feet and blindside me while I was running down the sideline. Players know the risks. They play the game. They know it's violent. MUCH of this is just another example of people being unwilling to accept the consequences of their own behavior...there always needs to be an "other" to blame. Or an "other" to sue.
Fire Goodell
If they deliberately lied, that's not cool. But as long as football is football (and it's headed towards not being recognizable as such), there is nothing that can ever be done to make it perfectly safe.
Boxers, and to a certain degree, MMA fighters know the inherent risks of their sports, and football should be the same.
Fire Goodell
...but not at the expense of the integrity of the game. I think some of the recent decisions have gone too far. When a game that people have been playing for over 100 years stops resembling what it originally was all about, that's going too far IMO...
Fire Goodell
In this case it is. As I've stated before, the rules changes to try and eliminate head trauma have gone way past the point of diminishing returns, IMO. The possibility of head trauma is an occupational hazard in the NFL, period. It's a risk of playing (tackle) football at any level, period. It's one of the reasons the players are remunerated as handsomely as they are. And as steelreserve has pointed out multiple times, the rules changes that have taken place don't even address the positions (linemen being one example) that the vast majority of head trauma cases affects. And how many times have you seen Roethlisberger out on the return teams?
When I see Ryan Clark make a potentially game-changing hit on a WR that jars the ball loose, EXACTLY AS THE GAME WAS INTENDED TO BE PLAYED, and then have a flag thrown against him, it literally makes me want to vomit. Him getting fined after the fact only makes it worse.
That's not football. I don't know what it is, but it ain't football.
Fire Goodell
I'm going to trust the team of medical experts Goodell has around him about how far is too far.
Lineman is a tough position to change. Much tougher than a skill position.
I was just using Ben as an example. The rules apply to any player. I don't want to see them go through anything guys like Mackey and Webster went through.
What went down in the last two examples have nothing to do with medical experts. One was an example of a call that should have never been made, and the other an example of a call that, if we HAVE to have all these new rules, should HAVE been made. Player safety was never an issue in the former, and was ignored in the latter.
Fire Goodell
But look at those two examples. In the first, a perfectly clean shot was delivered perfectly. It caused the receiver to drop the ball. There was no head trauma. It was a good, clean, effective play. The result was a flag and instead of a drive being killed, the Steelers were penalized 15 yards for a non-penalty.
The second was a penalty (by the new standard) but MOST IMPORTANTLY it was a perfect example of ostensibly why the new rule was instituted: A WR runs across the middle, is defenseless, and is clocked in the head by a LB. The result: No flag.
We are better off without the dumb rules that ruin the game and are counterintuitive as well as counterproductive.
Fire Goodell