The fact there is so much worry about the concussion by players would seem extremely obvious in the Jets lockroom.
The New York Jets are playing touch football. No lie. They get touched and they drop that ball. Nothing else explains it. The game is over. It is just a matter of time. Players will make their money and move on, but, they will be moving on with a lifetime less than they used to. College and especially High School football will wane into never, never land.
The Plutocratic sports chatter ignores the fact players give a damn about themselves even though their owners don't. The day of the bone crushing football season is over.
Anyone for baseball, basketball, volleyball. How about cricket? Soccer, maybe?
When parents finally figure out concussions cannot be stopped by external helmets, the hard hits will stop in High School football and will be treated as penalties. New referee ruling, "Excessive Force - 25 yards."
Caution over concussions is growing (click here)
THE RECORD
Zac Silva suffered a concussion at a football game last year in a head-on collision that left him flattened "like a cartoon character run over by a train," as he puts it.
But there was nothing funny about it: Zac, 11, had headaches and nausea for several days and trouble concentrating in school for a month. "He was sleepy and cranky for about two weeks," his mother said.
Zac is back on the field this year with his sixth-grade team, but his parents aren’t taking any chances: They spent $320 on a custom-fit football helmet rather than relying on the used gear handed out by his team. They also took him to a doctor for a preseason exam that assessed his balance and brain functions.
"I am doing whatever I can to protect him short of rolling him in Bubble Wrap," said his mother, Kathleen Silva, a Paramus resident.
With parents and coaches increasingly concerned about the long-term effects of concussions for young athletes, custom helmets and pre-season tests are becoming common in North Jersey. In fact, last week, the Clifton Junior Football League announced it would require baseline concussion testing for players. The tests can be given again during the season to determine if the athlete has suffered a concussion and if it’s safe to return to the game....
