[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by jchamp

Strangely, it is likely that "saving your energy" is what allows the game to have such a greater long-term hazard than other contact sports. The heavy armor we apply to football players has also had a positive-feedback effect on the danger inherent to the game.

Consider Rugby, or Australian Rules. In those games, there are a few natural breaks in the action, and for the most part play is continuous. Players are constantly struggling. Despite being encouraged to make contact with their bodies, and little armor, they have little opportunity to rest. This means that their collisions are at a lower speed. In American football, players may have 30 seconds or more between every play in which to rest, allowing them to launch their bodies at each other at full-speed. This is even further compounded by platoon substitution, and truly "special" special teams, who are fully rested when their opportunity to crash occurs.

Since players in other football games aren't carrying much, if any, armor, each player has less inertia. The mass their neck is carrying is less without a helmet, meaning their brains aren't being "pulled" along with the extra helmet mass when a collision stops their torso.

All of the above is true and has been widely noted.

The lack of armor means that players will naturally assume a more protective posture when attempting higher-risk plays. This psychological phenomenon has been demonstrated to be valid in traffic-control situations. I find it hard to believe that it would be less valid at most levels of football competition, as well. Unfortunately, I doubt that NFL players would protect themselves as well as amatuer athletes.

One little problem therein: the tendency of people to duck their heads vs. the approach of a body. They may save their teeth or nose at the expense of their neck or brain.

The NFL tends to lead change throughout the football landscape where safety is concerned, so any steps they take, including removal of kickoffs, will eventually propagate to the lower levels. This would be true even if the hazardous condition in the NFL was not present in lower levels, if for no other reason than the irrational fears of parents who would litigate for the change.

Hard to judge tendencies, but I can think of many important ways where the NFL lagged or countered safety changes. One was their restoration of the goals to the goal lines for almost 40 yrs. after NCAA had removed them a decade earlier to the end lines for safety. Another was their failure to adopt the NCAA rule allowing runners to be down without contact with an opponent; it was even a long time before NFL adopted a knock-down provision for downing the runner. They lagged NCAA by a few yrs. in prohibiting BBW after changes in possession. NFL is only just about to make mouth guards mandatory, and they were behind NCAA in mandating helmets IIRC. They haven't adopted NCAA's formation restriction on the free kick team, and they never adopted NCAA's previous formation restriction on the free kick receive team. ISTR NFL lagged NCAA by many years in prohibiting butt blocking. And NFL never adopted numerous provisions that Fed had, and some they still have, that make the ball dead or prevent it from becoming live.