Thread: You be the Commish

I wonder how much focus is being put into the technology of creating safer helmets and pads.

Carbon fiber helmets w/htr gel extended to a neck protector free swivel version of Hans device.

First of all, I would be more subjective in what penalties needed to be divvied out if I were the league office, Benji. There are some instances that a helmet on helmet collision cannot be helped, and in that case, the league should show some degree of leniency on players who, by accident, accidentally strike an opposing player on their helmet in what would amount to an unavoidable collision.

Second, with that being said, there are those players out there who are out-and-out headhunters, and as such, should be punished when they hit someone. The league knows who these players are, and it's apparent what these players' intentions are strictly by the way they approach a given situation on the field of play. No two players in the league are worse about this than James Harrison and Brandon Meriweather. These players need to be punished for playing with fire because sometimes, playing with matches can burn all parties involved in more ways than one.

Yeah, they need to focus on improving the protective gear. The technology is out there they just need to apply it. Mo is correct when he says that they need to accept the risks of their chosen profession but that doesn't mean that every effort shouldn't be made to provide as much protection against injury as possible.

I see a real battleground developing depending on how lawsuits like the one Dave Duerson's family has instigated go. Now there may be a similar issue with Junior Seau. I hope it does lead to better gear for the players. I think they have a right to expect that where the technology exists to provide it. But I also believe there should be a limit to NFL liability in this as well.

Any NASCAR or Indy driver knows and accepts the risks he or she takes and there is only so much you can do to protect a driver against injury when a stock car hits a wall at 180 mph or more. For open wheel Indy Racers the problem is even greater. There are inherent risks in these sports and the participants have to accept a certain amount of that themselves. That's the choice they make when they make it their profession.

Until they figure out a way to keep their brains from slamming against the inside of their skulls, improving gear will only do so much. There is no way to simultaneously make the game safer for the players while keeping fans happy with a certain level of violence.