no more nfl within 30 years?

Weight restrictions -

Interior line no more than 260lbs. Skill players no more than 195 lbs

 

Interesting idea.

It is amazing when you look at the size of players --- especially linemen --- today compared to just 15-20 years ago. It seems like 300 pounds is the MINIMUM to be an NFL lineman today.

 

I think Boom's trolling me a little bit, because weight restrictions are ridiculous, but there is no natural explanation for the increased size AND speed of players at every position in the last 30 years. Have a rigorous and true testing program in place and see what happens.

 

I'm not sure weight restrictions are an issue at the pro level, because there are plenty of players suffering dementia because of hits they took in the days when 225-pound or 250-pound linemen were common.

 

Not trolling at all. Trying to think outside the box. Better helmets won't stop concussions which is more about impact and force.

Put in weight restrictions and see how fast the PED problem goes away. Also a better overall health message for kids. More weight has not made the game better.

 

The biggest problem the NFL faces is a drying up of its employee supply.

More and more moms are telling their sons, "hell, no!" when it comes to playing youth football...and kids not playing youth football = kids not playing college football a decade later...and, unlike hoops and baseball, the NFL can't look overseas to supplement its labor pool.

The fewer boys who grow up playing football, the fewer who feel kinship to the sport and want to watch it at all cost. So not only could the NFL scare away a vast talent pool in the next couple of decades, it runs the risk of also scaring away its base viewership.

 

As said earlier the NFL will end up with a talent pool that is regional and minority based.

 

If you want to reduce the size of football players, recriminalizing offensive holding by making it illegal for blockers to extend their arms again would be effective. The sumo wrestling style breeds the sumo wrestling physique.
I think people are misinterpreting Obama's remarks. There's very little a President can do to influence the NFL. But the U.S. government has considerable power over universities and colleges, so his remarks about the NCAA were the real story here.

 

Well now that Barry Obama has chimed in, it is over - NFL is going the way of guns, low taxes, freedom, liberty, capitalism.......

 

Good article in the NYT on the weight evolution of the NFL and it's health implications.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/sports/football/29weight.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Some interesting stats:
- top weight for a player on 1966 Green Bay team 260 lBS
- Jerry Kramer weighed 250 lbs
- 1970 only 1 player in the NFL weighed 300 lbs
- by 2010 there were 500 players over 300 lbs.

 

Smaller players / bigger field won't help. What was the rate of CTE/dementia among players of Kramer's vintage? To say nothing of all the other health problems it creates. Jim Otto's knees should have been enough to get the game outlawed.

Football is a sport of violent collision. It can only be made so safe for human beings.

In 30 years it will be played in movie theaters as a big money professional computer simulation.

 

If you're going to use a last name when referring to him as "Barry" shouldn't it be Soetoro?