Just thinking about this after the disturbing Tua injuries. First off - yes football is a violent game played by violent people who mostly understand what they're getting into. But if we want the game to survive with its physicality in tact, there has to be some evolution on player safety. So far that has mostly been with rule changes about targeting and protecting QBs and all of that which has favored offenses and turned the game into the wide open pass-happy sport we usually see nowadays.
My question is whether SOME of the focus should be on equipment? At what point do football leagues just say "screw it, sorry players but we have these crazy-looking helmets that are heavier but absorb impact 10x better, everybody is going to wear bigger pads, everybody is going to wear a mouthpiece every play, everybody is going to wear hip pads and knee pads again, etc." I'm sure there are plenty of cutting edge additions I am forgetting or don't even know about.
Players' bodies have changed so much with all the advancement in strength and conditioning so they are now gigantic speed machines compared to players of the past, and yet they all wear the smallest pads and least amount of bodily protection as possible so that they can retain their speed. Does football need to enforce more equipment safety measures, which would slow down the heat seeking missiles all over the field and protect players' bodies better when the inevitable violent collisions happen?
My question is whether SOME of the focus should be on equipment? At what point do football leagues just say "screw it, sorry players but we have these crazy-looking helmets that are heavier but absorb impact 10x better, everybody is going to wear bigger pads, everybody is going to wear a mouthpiece every play, everybody is going to wear hip pads and knee pads again, etc." I'm sure there are plenty of cutting edge additions I am forgetting or don't even know about.
Players' bodies have changed so much with all the advancement in strength and conditioning so they are now gigantic speed machines compared to players of the past, and yet they all wear the smallest pads and least amount of bodily protection as possible so that they can retain their speed. Does football need to enforce more equipment safety measures, which would slow down the heat seeking missiles all over the field and protect players' bodies better when the inevitable violent collisions happen?
