Football Violence
Recently there has been much said about violence in the game of football. Much of the discussion is about changing the rules. In fact, some significant rule changes have been made for the current season. Just tonight in the Texas-Kansas State game Texas was penalized. The offending Texas player was removed from the game and sent to the locker room. The TV and replay cameras confirmed the offense of "spearing" which is leading with the head to hit a defenseless player such as a quarterback passing the ball, or a receiver catching a pass.
The game of football over the years has evolved from a rowdy sport to a violent sport because of changes in equipment thus resulting in changes to the rules. I played high school football and briefly played in college in 1949-1951. I loved the game. We had leather helmets with no face guards. We were careful where we put our heads though we did get bloody noses, scraped chins, and chipped teeth. To protect players the helmets today are hardened plastic with padding and massive face guards. This gives players more confidence of protection from injury.
When I played football there were no mass substitutions of player specialists. Substitutions could only be made during official time outs, and then only two at a time. This meant that when there was a turnover due to a fumble or pass interception the offensive players became defensive players and vice versa. Players not only had to know how to play both ways but often had to play other positions. Often the out come of games was not dependent so much on speed or skill, but rather stamina. After 45 minutes of play we didn't have the strength to make ourselves into a flying projectile with a hardened head piece to ram into an opposing player's head.
Over the years as football became more and more of a monied sport the training, equipment, and rules evolved toward making it much more a spectator sport and thus more violent to rake in more money. The training of high school players today far exceeds anything I experienced in college. I watch the local high school football games today and the play is at a level that exceeds what I played at in college at a major university. The head football coaches make much more salary than the high school superintendents and college presidents.
So, football being what it is today will be constantly scrutinized because of the violence factor, and rules and more rules will be made until it becomes a game of rules where more time is spent ruling on the rules and enforcing the rules so it is no longer just a rowdy fun sport to play.
The game of football over the years has evolved from a rowdy sport to a violent sport because of changes in equipment thus resulting in changes to the rules. I played high school football and briefly played in college in 1949-1951. I loved the game. We had leather helmets with no face guards. We were careful where we put our heads though we did get bloody noses, scraped chins, and chipped teeth. To protect players the helmets today are hardened plastic with padding and massive face guards. This gives players more confidence of protection from injury.
When I played football there were no mass substitutions of player specialists. Substitutions could only be made during official time outs, and then only two at a time. This meant that when there was a turnover due to a fumble or pass interception the offensive players became defensive players and vice versa. Players not only had to know how to play both ways but often had to play other positions. Often the out come of games was not dependent so much on speed or skill, but rather stamina. After 45 minutes of play we didn't have the strength to make ourselves into a flying projectile with a hardened head piece to ram into an opposing player's head.
Over the years as football became more and more of a monied sport the training, equipment, and rules evolved toward making it much more a spectator sport and thus more violent to rake in more money. The training of high school players today far exceeds anything I experienced in college. I watch the local high school football games today and the play is at a level that exceeds what I played at in college at a major university. The head football coaches make much more salary than the high school superintendents and college presidents.
So, football being what it is today will be constantly scrutinized because of the violence factor, and rules and more rules will be made until it becomes a game of rules where more time is spent ruling on the rules and enforcing the rules so it is no longer just a rowdy fun sport to play.
posted by Donald G Davidson at 12:59 AM
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