Lem Barney, HOFer, says football will be done in 10-20 years

[bbb]

I heard Schopp and the Bulldog talk about this, and now I see it on the front page of espn.com.

 

I do have to wonder what is going to happen with this lawsuit and also with insurance companies insuring high school and little league teams, etc.

 

It's going to be something big financially that might bring the decline of football.

 

I'd like to what others think:

 

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9387994/lem-barney-says-sees-end-football-10-20-years

[KollegeStudnet]

It will be interesting.

 

But, if you have/will play the game of football...you understand it is a pyshical sport and things happen.

 

It is how it's been and always will be.

 

[SF Bills Fan]

What do the the PC police want? The Pattycake Bowl? Talk like this reinforces that this country is going down the tubes rapidly.

[Niagara Bill]

What do the the PC police want? The Pattycake Bowl? Talk like this reinforces that this country is going down the tubes rapidly.

This will not be about the PC police..it will be the lawyers and the courts that will be the death of football. I question the step that has the NFL involved in little leagues across the country. That is the direct link the trial lawyers would be looking for. Follow the $$$$$$$.

[eball]

Well, gosh darn golly gee, if Lem freaking Barney says it, it must be so.

 

Note to self: add calendar reminder to cancel Bills season tickets in 2023.

[Kemp]

What do the the PC police want? The Pattycake Bowl? Talk like this reinforces that this country is going down the tubes rapidly.

 

PC Police? Always love when this phrase gets tossed out by anyone who yearns for a past that never was.

 

Making the game safer is the only chance it has of surviving. It's one thing for adults to decide to bash each other's brains in. It's a whole different matter for kids. Considering that all of the recent research points definitively to the main problem with longterm concussion problems happens to kids in high school and younger, it might be a smart idea to try and figure out a way to help prevent that.

 

None of this is about eliminating football. I love it as much as anyone and for longer than most.

[SACTOBILLSFAN]

 

 

PC Police? Always love when this phrase gets tossed out by anyone who yearns for a past that never was.

 

Making the game safer is the only chance it has of surviving. It's one thing for adults to decide to bash each other's brains in. It's a whole different matter for kids. Considering that all of the recent research points definitively to the main problem with longterm concussion problems happens to kids in high school and younger, it might be a smart idea to try and figure out a way to help prevent that.

 

None of this is about eliminating football. I love it as much as anyone and for longer than most.

 

It's more about a Nanny State than the PC Police. This is about legislators and lawyers trying to eliminate all risk in people's lives and get rich whilest doing so. People currently make the choice to play a dangerous sport and if they are talented and dedicated enough they get rewarded handsomely for that talent and dedication. Eventually the Nanny State politicians and the get rich quick lawyers will sue and legislate the game out of existence. Not everything is safe and it's not your job or anyone else's job to eliminate choice and restrict the market that has such a demand for the sport of football. This sport will be gone or unrecognizable in the near future. You want proof? Look at proposed laws in states looking to BAN THE SPORT.

[GaryPinC]

Just because it's changing doesn't mean it's going to die. It'll be interesting to see how successful they are with the lawsuit. Here in Ohio, state law says all coaches in any sport now have to be certified in recognizing concussions. Training was a joke but if a kid on your team shows any signs you must remove them, fill out the proper form, and they cannot play the rest of the day and until they get a doctor's note clearing them to play again.

 

My daughter recently had a softball game where a girl got hit just above the eve with a thrown ball. Huge knot, she toughed it out but was a little dizzy and woozy at times during the game. None of the coaches ever considered whether she should be playing. I told the parents they were lucky because if I was coaching she would be out. They listened but didn't care much, all they cared was that their girl was tough, she's also the catcher and took a foul ball off the side of her mask!

 

It's tough to change a mentality, but I don't think the NFL will be as liable as people think. It will come down to when there was enough credible evidence and how did the league handle this?

 

And in a worst case scenario, liability didn't kill the tobacco industry did it?

[eme123]

It's more about a Nanny State than the PC Police. This is about legislators and lawyers trying to eliminate all risk in people's lives and get rich whilest doing so. People currently make the choice to play a dangerous sport and if they are talented and dedicated enough they get rewarded handsomely for that talent and dedication. Eventually the Nanny State politicians and the get rich quick lawyers will sue and legislate the game out of existence. Not everything is safe and it's not your job or anyone else's job to eliminate choice and restrict the market that has such a demand for the sport of football. This sport will be gone or unrecognizable in the near future. You want proof? Look at proposed laws in states looking to BAN THE SPORT.

 

well said

[Ralph W.]

Lol yea football is getting more popular and he thinks it will be done. Anyone that has this thought is out of their mind.

You shouldn't listen to that show it pollutes your mind which is showing by you being worried about this lol.

Edited June 15, 2013 by EJ3

[papazoid]

'Hold Harmless Clause'

 

A statement in a legal contract stating that an individual or organization is not liable for any injuries or damages caused to the individual signing the contract. An individual may be asked to sign a hold harmless agreement when undertaking an activity that involves risk for which the enabling entity does not want to be legally or financially responsible.

 

For example, a sports league may include a hold harmless clause in its contracts to prevent its players from suing if they are injured in the course of participating in a football game. In this example, the hold harmless clause would ask the participant to accept all risks associated with the activity, including the risks of injury or death.

[hondo in seattle]

Football is too popular, and makes too much money, to be gone in 10-20 years.

 

"Evolve or Die" goes the famous dictum. If faced with those choices, football will evolve.

[ko12010]

PC Police? Always love when this phrase gets tossed out by anyone who yearns for a past that never was.

 

Making the game safer is the only chance it has of surviving. It's one thing for adults to decide to bash each other's brains in. It's a whole different matter for kids. Considering that all of the recent research points definitively to the main problem with longterm concussion problems happens to kids in high school and younger, it might be a smart idea to try and figure out a way to help prevent that.

 

None of this is about eliminating football. I love it as much as anyone and for longer than most.

I just don't get this. There simply is NO way to make this sport significantly safer. I think instead of trying to make it 'safer', the NFL needs to make it clearer that if you CHOOSE to play this sport, you are placing yourself at serious risk of injury. Make the players sign a waiver. Football is as close to the gladiator fights of old that we'll ever get. Make it clear that if you want millions of dollars and potential glory by playing this sport, you do so at your risk. These guys could stay in school, get their degrees, and do something else with their lives.

 

And do the same thing for pee wee, HS, and college football. Make all the players sign waivers. This sport simply can not be made safer, at least in a way that will really decrease risk of serious injuries.

Edited June 15, 2013 by ko12010

[Leelee Phoenix]

10-20 years is probably too soon, but I think Mr. Barney will be correct. The combination of the violence of the game, along with rampant drug usage in sports eventually not being ignored will be hard to overcome.

[Kirby Jackson]

It certainly will be interesting. The game is certainly going to look different as it continues to evolve. The next generation will be schooled by things like the heads up program and the game will probably become less violent, a little safer with people more fundamentally sound. What will be interesting is if the popularity will stay where it is when this starts to happen. If not, we will see how the NFL responds. Will they really be concerned about safety or ratings?

[yungmack]

Just because it's changing doesn't mean it's going to die. It'll be interesting to see how successful they are with the lawsuit. Here in Ohio, state law says all coaches in any sport now have to be certified in recognizing concussions. Training was a joke but if a kid on your team shows any signs you must remove them, fill out the proper form, and they cannot play the rest of the day and until they get a doctor's note clearing them to play again.

 

My daughter recently had a softball game where a girl got hit just above the eve with a thrown ball. Huge knot, she toughed it out but was a little dizzy and woozy at times during the game. None of the coaches ever considered whether she should be playing. I told the parents they were lucky because if I was coaching she would be out. They listened but didn't care much, all they cared was that their girl was tough, she's also the catcher and took a foul ball off the side of her mask!

 

It's tough to change a mentality, but I don't think the NFL will be as liable as people think. It will come down to when there was enough credible evidence and how did the league handle this?

 

And in a worst case scenario, liability didn't kill the tobacco industry did it?

Actually, Sacto, it won't be the (as you call it) "Nanny State" (a term brought to currency by the morbidly obese Rush Limbaugh) that will -- and is already -- killing off football, it will be the parents who end it. Over the last generation or so, large numbers of kids have abandoned the game, their parents preferring soccer. For the kids who want a little tougher action, there's hockey and lacrosse, rough enough without the catastrophic injuries rightly or wrongly associated with football. We've even seen professional football players say they don't want their kids playing the game.

 

The professional players of today are so much bigger, stronger and faster than even ten or fifteen years ago. Even the fat lineman is becoming a thing of the past, replaced by 6'5", 325 guys who are muscular, even "cut", and fast as all hell. If we project with Barney another 20 years into the future, we have to wonder how the human body will be able to withstand the kind of punishment that's inevitable as the players get even bigger, faster and stronger. The only way I can envision it is through changes in the rules, and those changes will no doubt "sissy-fy" the game to the point where fans lose interest. So the poobahs who oversee the game, from high school through the pros, can either let things get more violent, thus driving even more parents to keep their kids out of the sport, or they can make the game safer (more boring?), thus driving even more fans away. It seems to me, a guy who attended his first professional football game in 1949, who played the game, and who loves the game, that football as we have known it is heading for oblivion, right alongside other once enormously popular "sports" such as bare-knuckle boxing, bullfighting and the gladiator games.

 

A final thought: an even more ominous sign for the NFL is the decline in interest as fans among young people today. I live in Los Angeles, a real hotbed of football. Every high school around me has a long list of guys who've gone on to NFL careers. My grandson and his friends all played Pop Warner and high school ball; some won collegiate scholarships. One of his friends has a shot at the NFL when he graduates. But here's the thing: none of them really follow the NFL. They're not watching the games on Sunday. It's just not that compelling to them. They much more enjoy mountain biking, surfing, rock climbing and the like. And the enthusiasm we have for football they have for technology. Check out the young people you know and I suspect you will find a similar change going on in your world. It's not unlike when I was young and we were all football crazy while the "old folks" like our parents were still crazy for baseball.

[Fan in San Diego]

Actually, Sacto, it won't be the (as you call it) "Nanny State" (a term brought to currency by the morbidly obese Rush Limbaugh) that will -- and is already -- killing off football, it will be the parents who end it. Over the last generation or so, large numbers of kids have abandoned the game, their parents preferring soccer. For the kids who want a little tougher action, there's hockey and lacrosse, rough enough without the catastrophic injuries rightly or wrongly associated with football. We've even seen professional football players say they don't want their kids playing the game.

 

The professional players of today are so much bigger, stronger and faster than even ten or fifteen years ago. Even the fat lineman is becoming a thing of the past, replaced by 6'5", 325 guys who are muscular, even "cut", and fast as all hell. If we project with Barney another 20 years into the future, we have to wonder how the human body will be able to withstand the kind of punishment that's inevitable as the players get even bigger, faster and stronger. The only way I can envision it is through changes in the rules, and those changes will no doubt "sissy-fy" the game to the point where fans lose interest. So the poobahs who oversee the game, from high school through the pros, can either let things get more violent, thus driving even more parents to keep their kids out of the sport, or they can make the game safer (more boring?), thus driving even more fans away. It seems to me, a guy who attended his first professional football game in 1949, who played the game, and who loves the game, that football as we have known it is heading for oblivion, right alongside other once enormously popular "sports" such as bare-knuckle boxing, bullfighting and the gladiator games.

 

A final thought: an even more ominous sign for the NFL is the decline in interest as fans among young people today. I live in Los Angeles, a real hotbed of football. Every high school around me has a long list of guys who've gone on to NFL careers. My grandson and his friends all played Pop Warner and high school ball; some won collegiate scholarships. One of his friends has a shot at the NFL when he graduates. But here's the thing: none of them really follow the NFL. They're not watching the games on Sunday. It's just not that compelling to them. They much more enjoy mountain biking, surfing, rock climbing and the like. And the enthusiasm we have for football they have for technology. Check out the young people you know and I suspect you will find a similar change going on in your world. It's not unlike when I was young and we were all football crazy while the "old folks" like our parents were still crazy for baseball.

 

Lacrosse is becoming huge here in San Diego. Street luging, skateboarding are all eroding the player of pool at the high school level. Eventually it will percolate up to the NFL level. Combine that with the high cost of NFL game attendance and stupid bag rules. I hate Bin Laden for screwing up so many things in a so called free society.

[bbb]

Please God - not soccer!

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Lacrosse is becoming huge here in San Diego. Street luging, skateboarding are all eroding the player of pool at the high school level. Eventually it will percolate up to the NFL level. Combine that with the high cost of NFL game attendance and stupid bag rules. I hate Bin Laden for screwing up so many things in a so called free society.

 

Please God - not soccer!

 

Youth sports is an interesting aspect to this conversation (which we've had numerous times).

 

Is it necessary to have widespread youth participation for a sport to survive?

 

From a socioeconomic standpoint will football survive in its traditional hotbeds?

 

I can foresee a day when the NFL's popularity wanes (like the big 3 sports earlier in the 20th century, boxing, horse racing, baseball) but except in a scenario where there is no youth football anymore, I think the NFL will always survive in this country, even with a limited talent pool.

[Ralph W.]

Yea... And the earth was supposed to end on Dec 21 2012.