NFL and Head Injuries, what about Rugby, Lacrosse, and boxing?

Rugby has been working on the head trauma issue FOR YEARS now. Some unions require a player with a concussion to sit out for a month before returning. That's been the policy for more than a decade; I first heard about it when I was still playing in NOLA.

Plus, without helmets, you don't get as many head shots.

The Laws of the Game exist and are worded with two things in mind: Player Safety and the keep the flow of the game.

So the main difference, at least from the sport I'm most familiar with on your list, is that rugby acknowledged the existence of head trauma years ago and has taken steps to prevent it.

If the NFL wants to reduce head trauma, it needs to get rid of helmets IMO. Sounds counter-intuitive, but rugby/aussey rules football don't have anywhere near the number of long term issues as american football, or so I am told.

However, this is a free country. If men are willing to do this for a handsome living and are aware of the risks, then let them. All know they can die, be permanently injured...it is an assumption of risk at that point...just like smoking, skydiving, etc.

I think that's all accurate, and I think one of the biggest ironies (which may be hard to appreciate until someone has played) is that the lack of a helmet helps the safety situation a lot.

You just can't engage in helmet-to-helmet style hits in rugby because you'd break your own damn skull in the process. I think the same goes for the lack of shoulder pads. When I was playing, I wanted to hit as hard as I could, but at the same time I never tried to use my body as a battering ram (like I see football guys doing) because I didn't want to destroy my shoulder.

Incidentally, should the NFL and football leagues in general begin to consider drastic step to increase safety, I think a rule saying a defender must attempt to wrap up a ball carrier when tackling would make the game way safer without turning it into flag football (if this isn't a rugby law, which I think it is, it was certainly a rule my union enforced). Not sure what you would do with blocking, but I think that would be a better step than the piecemeal shite I see Goodell doing in the name of safety.

Soccer if pretty rough. Lots of concussions happen there than most sports IMO

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However, this is a free country. If men are willing to do this for a handsome living and are aware of the risks, then let them. All know they can die, be permanently injured...it is an assumption of risk at that point...just like smoking, skydiving, etc.

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Poor argument and here's why. Remember the mine collapses of a few years ago? Should the injured/killed miners and their families receive nothing when it's shown that there was negligence on the part of the mining companies? Those miners "assumed risk" when they chose to go into that field...

Even with high school, I know kids who played with concussions. Of course things have changed a lot in recent years but it still does happen.

NFL is multi-billion dollar business and people now see a way to get paid. Plus seems some older individuals are jealous of the money people get paid today and looking for extra. I do think NFL needs to do more for those who retired from game with a minimum service time. Yet they do get paid well, can afford a life many cannot, and common sense tells you it is a violent sport and there is a chance of injury. Just like those who go into boxing, you know there is a chance of brain injury, fractures, etc.

Wrapping up is a lost art, watch any level of football and people try for knockout blow, either lowering shoulder or coming in head first.

Just IMO boxing is just as violent and has shown a history of medical conditions for those who have retired from sport.

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I've advocated that rule change in football for years now.

And yes, wrapping (or at least attempting to wrap) is an IRB law.

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Especially at the Pee Wee and HS level. Fundamental tackling is a skill that a lot of college players don't have.

When I played in college the best tacklers on our team were former wrestlers because we knew how to wrap up.

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Should the injured/killed miners and their families receive nothing when it's shown that there was negligence on the part of the mining companies? Those miners "assumed risk" when they chose to go into that field...

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Nice strawman way of comparing apples and oranges.

To answer your question though, if a mine collapses and the company did not know or could not have known there was a reasonable likelihood of collapse such that the company breached acceptable safety standards, then no...this was an assumption of risk and the miners (or their families) should have no legal recourse outside of that which is typically available to injured workers while in the course and scope of employment (i.e., workers comp if they lived).

The NFL is more closely akin to mining for coal with a fracking operation next door. They are fully aware of the risks and take them because of the pay.

The Mets Catcher is the 1st under MLB new policy to be forced on the DL with concussion yesterday