Chris Borland retires and what this will do to youth fotball

IMHO, get the example from rugby. They don't tackle with the same intensity, of course, but they don't use any kind of protection too, and still almost don't have concussion issues.
I seriously believe that the problem is with the techinque of tackle. I can't believe in a technique that puts your head in the middle of the hit!
My point is, the next step to safety of players is teaching the rubgy tackle.

coachhuey.com/thread/68140/opinions-seahawks-tackling-rugby-style?page=1&scrollTo=695965

Right on agap. I guess some people are more sensitive to concussions too. MMA figthers get hit way more in the head (knees and elbows to the head make huge damage) and don't have all this concussions. Boxing in other way are a lot more dangerous, because they get hit 10x more, because the gloves absorbs the superficial hits, but not the inside shake of the brain.

But all of this is crap. Every sport in the world has its dangerous parts. 

I have seen it happen in soccer before, Goalkeepers hitting the head in the goal post, players head to head, etc. Have seen it in handball (european), Elbows to the head, fists to the head, etc.

Man, even in tennis!!! A ball going that fast to the head is a obviously concussion probability.

And this could go on and on....

Think more like Bobby Wagner? Explain, please.

I'm all for young guys getting out of the NFL early. Play some football, make some money, then get on with your life. That's what supposed to happen. 

Bobby Wagner just said he's going to keep playing because he loves the game too much, or something like that. I read his tweet last night so I don't remember exactly what he said, but it's close to that.

Just one more punch in the gut for our Sport.

If a Parent has to ask any of us about safety...we most likely have already lost them.

Football is under siege...at every level.

Honestly, and it will be a highly unpopular opinion, I would like it if pre HS football were to go away.

NFL |= Youth Football.

The sheer physics behind the impact of a 6'3'' 260 pound linebacker that moves at 22 mph versus the impact of a 5'10'' 185 pound linebacker that moves at 18 mph...I mean the numbers aren't even in the same ballpark. But in this helicopter parenting society we have going on right now, you can't begin to get that through their skulls.

If you know what you're doing, an AR-15 is way safer than creatine.

ha

True story.

I'd be willing to bet that creatine has done more harm to causal users than an AR-15 has done in the hands of a trained, knowledgeable user.

I would take that bet. The safety of creatine has been established for some time now. No offense, but that is an uninformed statement. It is even being touted for its health benefits now. The safety of creatine has been long established as safe. Off topic for this discussion though. 

Don't forget that he thought it WAS worth the risk to get a free education and to earn a very large sum of money (by most people's standards) before he turned 24 years old...

Because he doesn't think the rest of his career is worth it shouldn't shock anyone or have an impact on youth football if parents have a brain in their heads... If a parent doesn't want their kid to play football and rather than having him spend the time and energy going to practices, games, lifting, etc... from age 8 to 18 and instead makes them work just as hard at reading, math, science, history, etc... they will be receiving "full-ride" in academics instead. Football is a means to an end for some people... for others it is not.

I am sure the lessons learned in his time as a football player will positively impact his life from here on out in a way that you cannot directly link to money. The attack football is under from the physical aspect, completely ignores all of the other positive things you learn from the experience. What will be the excuse when all of these kids are being kept in their basements their entire lives and never have to "risk" any physical damage by participating in sports?

A hell of a lot more people in this country are dying from lack of physical activity than from CTE and concussion-related issues, but its okay for their kids to eat fast foods and play video games for 13 hours a day when that is just as dangerous for little Johnny's long-term health as the slight possibility your kid will suffer the right sequence of events to have serious long-term issues from football.

My little brother had to give up football from number of concussions he received in high school. Sat out his SR year and the last 8 games his JR year... every single day he wishes he could have continued playing, but the correct decision was to hang it up. It was not football's fault... just bad luck for him in a sequence of events that nobody could have seen coming before they happened.

And if I am a parent making an informed decision, I would point out that I can probably provide just as many anecdotal examples as you are.  This isn't a very good counter point, in my opinion, to answer a parents concerns.  

I still contend that at some point the research needs to be done that lays out what position players get the most head injuries, when they happen and during what activity.  For instance, if we know that most concussions happen to LBrs, during practice, during inside run, now we have something to address and lessen the chance of injury.  I really tried to research this a year or so ago and could find no such information. 

So take this a step further, a parent comes to me and says what are you doing about my sons safety.  I can answer with, well we have found that most brain injuries occur doing _______, and they happen at _____ time.  So we have taken steps to alleviate that high risk.  Now there will always be a risk/reward decision to be made, but why not have hard numbers at our disposal to use to make our argument FOR football and everyhting great that goes with it, as well as making things safer as we go.