How much does entitlement and brain damage contribute to where some football players

[donttread]

I watched ID's special about Aaron Hernandez the other night. He was a perfect storm waiting to happen. With potential elements of entitled celebrity, closet gay with gay hating father and serious brain damage thrown in. The brain damage was documented and very real.
Anyway according to the story Urban Meyer talked Aaron into leaving HS early so he could play football for him in Florida. Then made sure no charges were filed when Aaron broke a bartenders ear drum in a fight.
Meyer was not mentioned in the more serious incident where Aaron was ID'ed in a shooting while still in Gainsville and questioned but never charged.
After Hernandez was convicted of killing his friend he was found not-guilty , despite serious evidence against him, of a double murder which was supposedly over having a drink spilled on him.
God knows what trouble he might have gotten out of due to his talents even after becoming a pro.
Entitlement , you betcha! But severe brain damage from hits to the head as well. Cumulative concussions . As if that's not enough he was rumored to be bi-sexual with a father so anti-gay it makes you wonder if HE might have been gay.

I only played sandlot football, but a lot of it and we didn't have helmets. Nobody ever lead with their head. I don't even the think the leather helmet bad asses did. So that tendency could be unlearned by the game if the NFL was serious about it. If not, how long can we ask these guys to sacrifice their brains for our entertainment? Sure we all give a lot to earn a living including emotional and physical pain and even damage. But this. This is their brains.
The look the other way thing seems so much stronger in sports than even say music or academics, business. It probably starts in middle school with a little help with the grades. That doesn't really help them either. That may be how we wound up with the likes of Antonio Brown and so many others? Granted football is taking more of a stand lately. But mostly in the pros. by then....

Thoughts? Are big time football's days numbered?

[Peter1469]

I think so. Some pros have said publicly that they would not want their sons playing high school football.

[carolina73]

It might if they make the game no longer interesting with too many rules and the refs determining who wins.

Okay. He can touch him with the left hand if his small finger is folded under the thumb but not if his left foot is in the air and they are beyond the line of scrimmage, unless they are inside the 20.

[Lummy]

Thoughts? Are big time football's days numbered?

Yes.

[Lummy]

Compare to ...




The zenith of pro football -- the 50's and 60's -- did not have anywhere near the dilution that it does today.

[Lummy]

It is the sport of exploiters and their lawyers feeding at the money trough.

[donttread]

I think so. Some pros have said publicly that they would not want their sons playing high school football.

I think Fran Tarkington said something similar to that decades ago in fact.

[donttread]

It is the sport of exploiters and their lawyers feeding at the money trough.

How do you mean? These brain scans are real. Granted the player is part of the problem because I'm sure he is not always the one leading with his head. It's doubly sad because it really isn't the right way , much less a necessary way, to tackle

[carolina73]

I watched ID's special about Aaron Hernandez the other night. He was a perfect storm waiting to happen. With potential elements of entitled celebrity, closet gay with gay hating father and serious brain damage thrown in. The brain damage was documented and very real.
Anyway according to the story Urban Meyer talked Aaron into leaving HS early so he could play football for him in Florida. Then made sure no charges were filed when Aaron broke a bartenders ear drum in a fight.
Meyer was not mentioned in the more serious incident where Aaron was ID'ed in a shooting while still in Gainsville and questioned but never charged.
After Hernandez was convicted of killing his friend he was found not-guilty , despite serious evidence against him, of a double murder which was supposedly over having a drink spilled on him.
God knows what trouble he might have gotten out of due to his talents even after becoming a pro.
Entitlement , you betcha! But severe brain damage from hits to the head as well. Cumulative concussions . As if that's not enough he was rumored to be bi-sexual with a father so anti-gay it makes you wonder if HE might have been gay.

I only played sandlot football, but a lot of it and we didn't have helmets. Nobody ever lead with their head. I don't even the think the leather helmet bad asses did. So that tendency could be unlearned by the game if the NFL was serious about it. If not, how long can we ask these guys to sacrifice their brains for our entertainment? Sure we all give a lot to earn a living including emotional and physical pain and even damage. But this. This is their brains.
The look the other way thing seems so much stronger in sports than even say music or academics, business. It probably starts in middle school with a little help with the grades. That doesn't really help them either. That may be how we wound up with the likes of Antonio Brown and so many others? Granted football is taking more of a stand lately. But mostly in the pros. by then....
Thoughts? Are big time football's days numbered?

Aaron Hernandez was screwed up long before he strapped on a helmet. He was forced to perform oral sex on a guy when he was just 6 years old. Hi father was abusive, both parents were criminals and they were poor. His father died when he was 16. He became a member of the Bloods gang and was constantly in fights and always stoned.

He was a lost kid before Football but being a spectacular athlete got him through school(s). I grew up with plenty of kids just like him. They dropped out of HS as soon as they turned 16 and they just disappeared. Criminal environments usually raise criminals. Parents that don't treat their kids right usually raise cold hearted children.

All Football did to Hernandez is give him a free ride to passing school so he could play Football. I am sure they drug tested him and I'm sure that they wondered why his urine was cold, when they got the sample.

[carolina73]

In terms of injuries in pro football; the players on the front line and the defensive line are about 15% larger in size than they were in 1970. The other positions have not increased at the same rate. Also, superior padding that makes them more confident that they will survive the hit themselves and more likely to take risk.