Vikings Message Board.Com

Sad, but honestly, at this point it seems like just another story about ex-NFLers.

Not sure what can be done about it, short of disbanding the league.

Full contact sports, of any kind, is fun when man is young, but many pay for it severely when the door opens up to "The 40s"!

...wisdom

Many of these Guys simply need to retire earlier than they do. This isn't the 60s and 70s NFL. Players are bigger and quicker every year. 90% of players need to retire at age 32 or expect serious complications. A NFl heritage that lives forever isn't worth a pain filled life after age 40. The hits add up. Very few are built like favre and can play past 32 without serious risk. Eventually, every player past 30 will have to have a career injury review by NFL doctors every offseason to see of they are healthy enough to continue on another season. Soon we'll be a flag football League. it's coming

Laserman wrote:Many of these Guys simply need to retire earlier than they do. This isn't the 60s and 70s NFL. Players are bigger and quicker every year. 90% of players need to retire at age 32 or expect serious complications. A NFl heritage that lives forever isn't worth a pain filled life after age 40. The hits add up. Very few are built like favre and can play past 32 without serious risk. Eventually, every player past 30 will have to have a career injury review by NFL doctors every offseason to see of they are healthy enough to continue on another season. Soon we'll be a flag football League. it's coming

That's a great observation. Advances in medicine, nutrition and training mean that many QBs are playing 5 to 8 years longer than their counterparts 40 or 50 years ago. It's too early to say that Favre won't have medical issues later in life. He took a real beating many years. How about someone like Ray Lewis?

Eli wrote:Sad, but honestly, at this point it seems like just another story about ex-NFLers.

Not sure what can be done about it, short of disbanding the league.

bitter old men that should have signed up for a different sport

Eli wrote:It's too early to say that Favre won't have medical issues later in life. He took a real beating many years.

I am reminded that in Favre's last play as an NFL QB, he was sacked and got a concussion on that frozen TCF Bank Stadium turf. I hope I'm wrong but I think he's going to have big problems as he gets older. The guy absorbed more hits than a lot of running backs.

Laserman wrote:Many of these Guys simply need to retire earlier than they do.

I see where you're coming from, but that's easier said then done. Not only is this how they make their salary, but it's also a game they all absolutely love to play. It would be so hard to walk away from something like that so young. Not too many have the wherewithal and the forward thinking to achieve all they need to in only 8-10 years in the League.

So many kids go pro and start going nutso with their money and by the time their body starts to breakdown, they realize they don't have too much to show for it so they push through more years to recoup some semblance of a retirement account.

I don't know. Just another angle to take into account, but I agree. The Robert Smith's and Barry Sanders' of the world are a rare breed.

I find it interesting that now that they have all this data and info about the long term effects of all these injuries, you still don't see anyone walking away from the game. When Seau blew a hole in his chest, nobody retired. In fact even when the league implements new rules in an effort to protect players, the union and the players are the first to complain. Then how many of them try to beat the concussion tests? And I just have 1 question for all the old time players who are now complaining, if they had known, would they have done anything different? I doubt it.

Ask rookies on signing day if they're aware of all the risks and still want to play in this league. If they say yes and sign their contract, then tough ####. "No sue for you" -- Soup ####