Former GB and super bowl champion CB Sam Shields now says he regrets NFL career

[Red Squirrel]

8 hours ago, Big Turk said:

He looks terrible to be honest...like one of the drug addicts you'd see on the corner in a bad neighborhood. Looks like he's 50 and he is only 34.

 

Said his head feels like mush and concussions had a lot to do with it, and that he would not do it all over again if he had the chance...

 

Wonder how many players playing now are going to be in the same boat? This can't be good for the NFL and it's long term participation rates.

 

More content parents are going to read and add to the reasons why little Jimmy will be playing soccer instead of football.

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/11/03/former-packers-db-sam-shields-says-he-regrets-nfl-career

He doesn't look anywhere near as bad as the way you described him.

[H2o]

15 hours ago, iccrewman112 said:

I can’t find the stat, but high school football participation has been down year over year for many years running now.

Yeah, my son actually quit playing. I didn't think that would happen. I know he had at least one concussion, possibly two, by the time he was 13. I told him it was completely up to him if he wanted to keep playing and he has chosen not to. He was good, a really good LB especially. But I'd rather him not suffer like some of the people you see now days, so I was actually kind of relieved when he hung up the cleats. That was two years ago. I will support him if he changes his mind at any point and wants to go back though. 

[Big Turk]

4 minutes ago, H2o said:

Yeah, my son actually quit playing. I didn't think that would happen. I know he had at least one concussion, possibly two, by the time he was 13. I told him it was completely up to him if he wanted to keep playing and he has chosen not to. He was good, a really good LB especially. But I'd rather him not suffer like some of the people you see now days, so I was actually kind of relieved when he hung up the cleats. That was two years ago. I will support him if he changes his mind at any point and wants to go back though. 

 

Did he take up another sport?

[H2o]

8 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Did he take up another sport?

Nah, he actually got into Culinary Arts and does his Gordon Ramsay thing now.  He's actually really good. Been cheffing up all kinds of stuff at the house since he was 13. 

[Bill from NYC]

15 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Well, if one looks at American football objectively, one quickly realizes this is a modern day gladiator sport, players purposefully hit each other hard enough to injure each other on every play,  a high percentage of players have life long health issues due to playing the game, the money made does little if one can not enjoy its fruit. It is a brutal game, and the fans revel in the big hits, and care little how much damage is done to the players, at most it’s a thoughts and prayers deal, in other words, oh well….  It’s no wonder a player would have such thoughts in hind sight. 

I wish that I could come up with a way to argue with the above but I cannot.

[Big Turk]

8 minutes ago, H2o said:

Nah, he actually got into Culinary Arts and does his Gordon Ramsay thing now.  He's actually really good. Been cheffing up all kinds of stuff at the house since he was 13. 

 

That's awesome!  Gordon Ramsey was a professional soccer player before getting into it so there is definitely precedent for athletes becoming good chefs...that mindset definitely transitions over to the kitchen.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Big Turk

[Bill from NYC]

13 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

California is a huge recruiting hotbed as well.  I could easily see youth contact sports being banned here at some time in the not too distant future.  Tackle football, like so many things these days, is likely to become a red state/blue state issue.

This post makes a ton of sense.

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

This post makes a ton of sense.

 

Anything that a political party thinks they can use to their advantage by taking "a side" and thereby making the other party immediately take "the other side" by doing it first, they will do.

 

They care far more about the votes from taking that side than the issue itself tho, lets not get it twisted.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Big Turk

[boyst]

14 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

California is a huge recruiting hotbed as well.  I could easily see youth contact sports being banned here at some time in the not too distant future.  Tackle football, like so many things these days, is likely to become a red state/blue state issue.

yet cheerleading is still just fine. and dudes playing against chicks is encouraged.

 

🤐

[Bill from NYC]

5 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Anything that a political party thinks they can use to their advantage by taking "a side" and thereby making the other party immediately take "the other side" by doing it first, they will do.

I agree.

I do however think that neither party is willing to seriousy take on the NFL due to the injuries, at least not right now. That said, I can picture some local school boards around the country trying to eliminate football programs. 

The sport/talent pool could be considerably weakened at some point but as others have said, it will take some time.

Football is king in SEC country.

[mrags]

16 hours ago, Beck Water said:

Sam Shields Players Tribune article

 

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/sam-shields-rams

 

In that article (during a year when he was out of football and it was unclear he'd come back) he describes his mama as coming instantly to his side, with a middle-of-the-night phone call.

 

 

Normally when a guy goes from having family who will throw on their clothes and rush to his side in the middle of the night, to writing about:

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, maybe having football be over is not the reason they're over with him.  That's not to say that post-concussion behavior changes weren't at the root of it, but sometimes they also drive behavior that drives people away - outbursts of anger, addictions, etc - and one wonders if he's gotten help the 2nd time as he described he did the first.

 

Frankly, after months like he describes in his Players Tribune article and extensive brain training to "get normal", he really shouldn't have come back in 2018.  "Know When to Say When".

I didn’t read the article/watch the clip. But after reading the headline, and reading your post, this sticks out to me.
I have these arguments with friends all the time about football/concussions/etc. maybe, just maybe, some of these people were never normal to begin with. Even before they played football. Even before they had their bodies destroyed by collisions. Even before they had concussions. I think it’s comical really that they all blame it on CTE. It’s an excuse and nothing but a way for them to try and get in on a lawsuit. To try and make people feel bad for them. For every player that claims to have CTE and issues from concussions, there’s hundreds or thousands that live perfectly normal lives after football. Or at least don’t hold onto blaming other people or things for their problems. Maybe CTE is in all is us, and those that have mental issues altogether are the ones that can’t cope with life. Where as many normal people understand that you just get back on your feet and dust yourself off when your down and rise up to overcome obstacles in life instead of blaming monsters. 

[cd1]

16 hours ago, iccrewman112 said:

here are some participation stats from 18-19 school year. Pre-COvID.
 

But the NFHS numbers on boys in 11-player tackle football show some trends that football’s supporters shouldn’t ignore:

 

Participation is at its lowest level since 1999-2000 (1,002,734).

 

At this rate, participation could fall below 1 million next year. 1998-99 (983,625) was the last year that happened.

 

About 22% of boys in high school sports participation in 11-player tackle football. In the 1998-2000 period I reference in the first two items, that participation rate was more than 26% — meaning where once one in four boys played, now we’re moving toward one in five.

 

The average number of boys per school in 11-player football in 2018-19 was 70.6. At the sport’s participation peak in 2008-09, that average was 79. (That includes all levels — varsity, junior varsity and freshman.)

 

Data shows there definitely has been a drop off in participation. 

 

The explanation for the drop off is conjecture. Surely there are some kids that don't participate due to parental objection.

 

Another explanation could be that in recent years children's activities have been more sedentary. Where older generations grew up playing outdoors (year round), nowadays kids play indoors and mostly computer type games. 

 

I would speculate that a large percentage of the drop off is that a lot of kids just aren't interested in making the effort.  

 

IMO - YMMV

[thenorthremembers]

16 hours ago, Beast said:

High school players have been getting killed every year for decades.

 

Pro, college and high school players paralyzed as well.

 

Terrible injuries. Legs snapped in half. 
 

People have been wondering about the future of the sport for as long back as I can remember.

 

Yet, here we are.

 

Football is king.

 

 

On average 2 out every 10 million high school sports participants die every year.    Basketball is responsible for the most deaths by more than 20% over football but you dont hear about basketball because it's not as headline grabbing.   Baseball and football are responsible for the same percentage of deaths but you dont hear about baseball, why?  Soccer, only 3% less than football..

 

Rugby, Hockey, and Soccer all have higher or comparable concussion rates to Football, but we are still only talking about football.  What about the future of those sports?

 

Any activity where you put stress on our body, including your heart which is why basketball deaths happen, comes with some sort of inherent risk.    So does driving a car, but I don't think we will be debating the future of driving anytime soon.  

 

The guy in this interview could have quit at any point in his career, why he chose not to I dont know, but I am going to go out on a limb  and guess that the fame and $34 million dollars he made during his career had something to do wit it.   I feel bad he has lingering effects from his career but he was an adult who made the decision to play football. 

[ddaryl]

13 hours ago, Motor26 said:

 

Basketball is a sport that can only be played by people 6 foot and above AT MINIMUM. And the average height in the NBA is 6-6, but the average height of a US male is only 5-9. As long as money is involved, people will still play in the NFL for hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Yes this is true, big money is involved so there will always be someone willing to play,  but the talent pool will diminish over the years as more kids play less dangerous sports.

Now we might not notice the talent drain because it will be spread out evenly across the league but you will continue to see increases in Soccer participation IMO and less and less kids playing football... 

Out here in Washington there is already a huge following for Soccer

Here's is info I found, this will translate into more and more young children growing up in Soccer households and more and more kids preferring Soccer. Its also cheap to play, and cheap to go watch a game, so families are more capable of attending.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_attendance

Quote

Major League Soccer is the premier professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. Competition began in 1996 and attendance has grown rapidly since the early 2000s, making it one of the fastest-growing sports leagues in the world.[1] The average attendance of 21,692 in 2016 was a 57% increase over the 13,756 average in 2000. The total attendance of 7,375,144 in 2016 is more than triple the 2,215,019 total of 2002. Similar to Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, attendance is based on the number of tickets distributed.[2]

As of the 2022 regular season, average attendance is 21,033 per match. The league drew 10 million spectators overall during the season, a new record.[3] MLS's all-time average attendance record was 22,106, set in 2017.[3] A crowd of 73,019 spectators watched the inaugural MLS match for Charlotte FC on March 5, 2022, setting a new league record for standalone attendance.[4] Atlanta United FC has the highest average attendance of any MLS team, at 47,116, and is followed by Charlotte FC and Seattle Sounders FC.[3]

 

[In Summary]

Many young men naturally seek opportunities to test their strength and compete in arenas with risk.  Video games and TikTok can't scratch the itch like playing tackle football, joining the Infantry, MMA, etc. It's a gamble to play, but those that do, and get out at the right time are stronger for it. We can certainly care for players while at the same time enjoy their intense play.

[Einstein]

Not sure what drug addicts you’ve seen, but he looks nothing like what i’ve seen.

 

8 hours ago, Red Squirrel said:

He doesn't look anywhere near as bad as the way you described him.

 

Agreed.

 

He looks like a completely normal guy. I hope this isn’t a case of prejudice on OP’s side. 

 

Here is a photo from the article/video.

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Einstein

[Einstein]

17 hours ago, iccrewman112 said:

I can’t find the stat, but high school football participation has been down year over year for many years running now.

 

The high school team I played on had to switch to 8 man football, and so did many of the other high schools in the area. A lot of 8 on 8 now.

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

Anything that a political party thinks they can use to their advantage by taking "a side" and thereby making the other party immediately take "the other side" by doing it first, they will do.

 

They care far more about the votes from taking that side than the issue itself tho, lets not get it twisted.

It is a little more complicated... but in the end there is not a lot of difference between your assertion and reality..

[hondo in seattle]

16 hours ago, Malazan said:

An extremely high percentage of players would do it all over again if you offered them the chance today even knowing what they know. Money is a powerful drug. 

 

Yes, youth football is declining, but I think the health issues are just one part of the puzzle. Twenty years ago the terms 'esports' wasn't a real thing. There's many other draws on a young person's attention now and the social status aspect of Football is no longer what it once was.. 

 

I believe there are other things that will 'kill' football before the concern over post-career health does..

 

I agree money is part of it but it's not the whole story of why these young men play in the NFL.

 

I remember Fran Tarkenton saying once that he would have played for free, and I don't think it was pure hyperbole.  Kids with little/no hope of making the NFL play high school and college ball for free despite the risks.

 

If I had a chance to play for the Bills for free, I would have done it.  Imagine the rush of putting on the uni and stepping out into the stadium on game day.  That rush by itself is worth the risk.  Then there's the joy of the game itself, the competition.  

 

Soldiers join the military often for less money they could make as civilians.   When you love what you do, you accept the risks.  

[North Buffalo]

17 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Not sure what drug addicts you’ve seen, but he looks nothing like what i’ve seen.

 

 

Agreed.

 

He looks like a completely normal guy. I hope this isn’t a case of prejudice on OP’s side. 

 

Here is a photo from the article/video.

 

Aside from Heroin addicts, and full blown alcheys, addicts often hide their internal turmoil very well till near the end... my brother being an example.

Edited November 4, 2022 by North Buffalo