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

[SirAndrew]

41 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

It will when those many millions of folk in suburbs and cities from DC to Maine  & Washington state to the Mexican boarder aren’t buying tickets to the games, or jerseys etc, or watching the games on their TVs, and advertising revenue declines, yes all of this over time will reduce the games overall draw, it will indeed hurt the game, in fifty or so years, when almost everyone who is currently on this and most other team forums are dead, who’s taking our places?  Change is the only constant. 

Valid points, I completely understand where you’re coming from, but I see it from a slightly different prospective. I don’t see a direct correlation between playing football and watching football these days. I think that was the case in previous eras, but that’s changed. A significant number of pro football fans are people who never played the game, especially among younger generations. The NFL has done a great job promoting the game as entertainment/drama, and gambling helps as well. 
 

Upstate NY is fully immersed in the Bills this season. This is also a very weak football region. Western NY gathers to watch a bunch of guys from Texas and Florida compete. It isn’t remotely hurting interest in the game. As long as a decent talent pool exists somewhere, the game will roll on. I think the demise will happen eventually, but other issues will hurt the game before lack of participation. 

[Shaw66]

17 minutes ago, Beast said:

Sometimes dying is better than ending up like Darryl Stingley, and then dying anyway.

Did you see my post in thread about Ray Guy?  Not about injury, but talk about a football life that sucked.

 

Quote

Steve Little had an unbelievably horrible life story.   All state QB in high school in Kansas.   Went to Arkansas to replace Joe Ferguson.  Turned into a punter-placekicker when he couldn't cut it at QB.   Was outstanding in college, drafted in the first round.  In the NFL he was horrible - one bad season punting and two bad seasons placekicking.  Hours after his release after three seasons, he was in a one-car accident, became a paraplegic, and died in hospice care at age 43.   Tragic.   

 

[BillsShredder83]

22 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

My dad was a pro soccer player in the UK for a few years and then played at the top level of semi-pro for another half decade after that. He was a central defender who headed thousands of balls and probably hundred of opponents' heads in the process. He was diagnosed with early onset dementia at 59. He told me then that if you took him back and told him that was a risk at 16 he would not have done anything any different. They, to him, were the best years of his life. Now for everyone like my dad there is a Sam Shields who regrets it. 

 

The question is how long are people going to continue to take the risk? I think the answer is for a while yet.

I think the people like your dad will always exist! The bigger issue is the parents and rightfully so. I have a 7yr old daughter, light of my freaking life, if she was a boy I certainly would not be pushing playing football as an idea.

 

I'd encourage her at other sports as I think sports are a great life lesson.  I'm not sure at what age, likely not before 10, if "my son" came begging me, I'd eventually give the green light. But it would have to come from them just about begging.  Surprisingly I feel the same about soccer (highest concussion rate in HS sports)

 

I'd steer them towards really anything but those two. Sad to even have to consider.

[Einstein]

22 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

My dad was a pro soccer player in the UK for a few years and then played at the top level of semi-pro for another half decade after that. He was a central defender who headed thousands of balls and probably hundred of opponents' heads in the process. He was diagnosed with early onset dementia at 59. He told me then that if you took him back and told him that was a risk at 16 he would not have done anything any different. They, to him, were the best years of his life. Now for everyone like my dad there is a Sam Shields who regrets it. 

 

The question is how long are people going to continue to take the risk? I think the answer is for a while yet.

 

Thank you for sharing your dads story.

 

I know traumatic brain injuries increase dementia risk, but I didn’t realize minor impacts like heading a soccer ball would do the same.

[Augie]

10 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Thank you for sharing your dads story.

 

I know traumatic brain injuries increase dementia risk, but I didn’t realize minor impacts like heading a soccer ball would do the same.

 

I think you are underestimating the violent brain trauma that can be associated with soccer. Our youngest son played many years at a pretty high level, and could have played for a small college. The ball is hard, covers great distances and you use your head to attack it. Every time our son would head a long ball like that my wife would say “there goes another 10 points off his SAT’s!” 

 

Aside from heading the ball, there are frequent head collisions among guys fighting to head it. This is where a lot of the concussions come from, head to head contact. Think about people practicing and playing for decades. That is a LOT of BANGING on your head and jostling of the brain. 

[HardyBoy]

22 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

That's a very interesting take Buftex.  You very well maybe right about younger kids not being overly excited about the sport of football.  But I think you can take it a little bit further then that on a bigger scale.  I am in my mid 50's.  When my generation grew up in the 70's and 80's, life was just so much rougher.  We scrapped in middle school and high school all the time.  I grew up in suburban Buffalo in a middle class area.  And you had better be able to stand up for yourself, otherwise life was not going to be easy.  I have 3 young adult children between the age of 19 and 25.  There wasn't near the fighting when they went to school as in my day.  That's not bad.  Its just what it is.  Basically the world has become super soft.  And I think that translates over to sports as well.  Look at how professional hockey and football are played today versus 30-40 years ago.  Very different.  The machismo that was so ingrained in sports like hockey and football from the violence and brutality of it, (and in males in general) just does not exist in the game or in society in general anymore.  Not saying its good or bad, just saying that's how life has evolved.  (Heck, when my son was playing pee wee football in the mid 2000's they were doing the Oklahoma drill with a bunch of 7 year olds.  And the parents loved it)  And with that young boys and their parents probably don't feel that playing football is a sign of their machismo and manliness, if the younger generation even knows what that means.  

 

My older son started playing football at 6 years old in suburban Atlanta.  He is 23 and a 6th year senior in his last year of college football.  He has loved every minute of playing.  And hopes to have a shot of playing in the NFL.  He has suffered injuries that required surgery.  But he is extremely driven and focused about the game.  But that life is not for everyone.  I am just glad that there are enough young men who love playing the game still.  Because I still love watching it.  But nothing lasts forever.  Is the NFL going to be around in the next millenium?  That's quite a question to ponder.

 

I think there's also the fact that people have pushed back against societal norms that earlier generations just simply accepted.

 

My father in law, when my now five year old was twoish pulled me aside and asked me to please not turn him into some marching band baton twirler. My guess is he didn't like the fact that my son saw a pink dance outfit at a garage sale and asked for it and would wear it and rock out to live music on YouTube. 

 

My kid can do whatever he wants and if he wanted to dance around to Phish or the Grateful Dead or whatever in a pink full body frilly dance costume party on kid. 

 

He's super into football now for what it's worth, but people get way too hung up on what should be, and don't think about according to who. It's so often the same people pounding the drum for personal freedom that most often give up that personal freedom by conforming most strongly to arbitrary social norms, ironically established to sell plastic crap (see blue vs pink being boy and girl because of marketing).

 

Plus, football is boring. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by HardyBoy

[Beck Water]

22 hours ago, SirAndrew said:

Great post with good information. I’d just be curious to know why. I can’t imagine it’s due to parents not allowing their children to play. Football is cultural ingrained in many parts of this country. The game is extremely important to so many people, and the opportunities it presents are large. That type of stuff always wins over negative possibilities in life. 

 

It's almost certainly not because of Texas parents not allowing their kids to play football.  I would say, demographics, parent interest, and student interest.

 

First, while overall school enrollment is up, I think there are fewer kids in a lot of the small towns.  So schools able to mount a football program are fewer.

Second, in Texas Hispanic enrollment in public schools has bloomed, from 1.7M to 2.3M to 2.8M over the last decades.  A lot of those parents grew up screaming at soccer matches, not football games, so they want their kids to play soccer not football.  Then, kids get hooked on playing video games at a young age, and that's what they want to do.

[Paup 1995MVP]

On 11/5/2022 at 11:16 AM, HardyBoy said:

 

I think there's also the fact that people have pushed back against societal norms that earlier generations just simply accepted.

 

My father in law, when my now five year old was twoish pulled me aside and asked me to please not turn him into some marching band baton twirler. My guess is he didn't like the fact that my son saw a pink dance outfit at a garage sale and asked for it and would wear it and rock out to live music on YouTube. 

 

My kid can do whatever he wants and if he wanted to dance around to Phish or the Grateful Dead or whatever in a pink full body frilly dance costume party on kid. 

 

He's super into football now for what it's worth, but people get way too hung up on what should be, and don't think about according to who. It's so often the same people pounding the drum for personal freedom that most often give up that personal freedom by conforming most strongly to arbitrary social norms, ironically established to sell plastic crap (see blue vs pink being boy and girl because of marketing).

 

Plus, football is boring. 

That's an interesting take HardyBoy.  (I read those books as a kid.  LOL)  And what your father in law said cracks me up.   Not sure I am in total agreement with your thoughts.  But I can respect where you are coming from my friend.

[cba fan]

If NFL goes away due to CTE and concussions, then boxing, hockey, baseball(catchers and umps), Ultimate fighting, even professional wrestling, soccer due to headers (although they can just ban that play), all go away too........