saintfan

I'm telling you people Roger Goodell is smack dab in the middle of the process of ruining the game we love on the professional level. These are sad, sad days my friends. Sad sad days indeed...

Halo

Got some additional news here. The entire NFL ownership and front office knew about the dangers of playing the game ages ago after doing their own study.

The study concluded that brain injuries occur.

How did the NFL owners and the front office handle this?

They tried to sweep it under the rug and hush it up to keep players in the dark, underpaid as much as possible back then, and out of the hands of the public.

What we have today is a GOLIATH, MASSIVE, monopoly of EPIC PROPORTIONS that purports to now OWN the game of American Football.

BAD NEWS IS THIS: THE SHIP MAY SINK!

...now enter the future where the NFL players have their own union and the game has grown to epic proportions. Because the NFL failed to tell players about this years ago, it's coming back to bite them.

Weather the Saints players are suspended.... whether the NFL destroys the Saints organisation, it simply DOES NOT matter.

We may be witness to the END OF THE NFL as we know it.

To save "FOOTBALL" another league, exclusive of the NFL and it's franchises, may be forced to form to save professional football. This league must be:

1. a joint venture between "investor/owners" and its players;
2. Players will KNOW of the dangers of the game and wave their rights to sue
3. Owner-investor who learn of ANY defect the game may place on players will be forced to release that info immediately or be forced to lose their investments.

None of this takes into account the impact at the playground level where fewer and fewer boys will be allowed to play the game because it will be seen as a "dead end".

Anyone like Soccer???

This may be the only way Pro football will survive because THERE'S A WHOPPER LAWSUIT COMING DOWN THE PIPE RIGHT NOW!!!!

Don't think it can happen? Think of BIG TOBACCO going down on a MASSIVE level. The NFL players have a union unlike tobacco smokers, and the NFL may not be protected against endless lawsuits "from the public" unlike the tobacco industry.

Tobacco is only a shadow of what it once was... when I think about this in terms of the NFL, I become sad.

TheOak

The catch..... The NFLPA has just enough money to take this to court but not enough to outlast the league in a courtroom, the depositions alone could run the NFLPA broke.

In regards to big tobacco, there are plenty of lawyers that would give time freely to poor people who couldn't afford it.

A settlement is on the horizon for the players, and in the end they will barely get enough to cover lunch for two years.

If the NFL settles for 100m (class action), and there are 100 plaintifs... 1/3 to lawyers, 1/3 to taxes, 333k/100

Yep... Each player gets 33 thousand dollars.

Danno

Here are some things I can see happening, the durations may be different, but I can see this being employed...

1st concussion - mandatory 2 weeks out
2nd concussion - mandatory 8 weeks out
3rd concussion - mandatory retirement.
Two serious knee injuries - mandatory retirement

Also...
Mandatory career lengths - you only get 8 years to play, after 8 you must retire.

TheOak

The NFLPA will never allow term limits... Some of the biggest contracts are in the twilight years.. Brees, Brady, manning... This would also cause an argument about records for starts, etc... You could almost erase any reference to the years played, games started records...

I can see mandatory retirement happening after the third.

I don't see mandatory weeks out for concussions.... that is going to cause the argument... I do not care what Doc. says, the league said i have to be out 2 weeks and two weeks have passed. This also brings into question roster bonuses, etc... and the players are going to pitch a fit if a Doc clears them two days later but they still have to sit out two more weeks costing them pay.


That being said, maybe if there was an 8 year half life in the NFL some of these players might manage their money as it will no longer be perceived as a career, but rather just a job.

saintfan

I think Halo is on point. I think the NFL is done. Certainly the NFL WE know and love is done. What remains might continue on, but it's hardly the game we love.

"Real" football, professional football, is no longer played in the NFL. Ronnie Lott said they might as well get rid of the safety position because the league won't let the players play it. I agree.

Real football will, as Halo said, have to come from a new league going forward. People the insane fines and suspensions are only just starting. Roger isn't done.

What Roger Goodell has done, essentially, is the equivalent of banning the 'high and tight' pitch in baseball because somebody might get hurt. If a pitcher can't own that part of the plate baseball is done.

Nice going Roger. **** sucker...

C'mon Man...

Danno

Injured players would still get paychecks.

SloMotion

... this may be a little off-topic ... if we are to witness the demise of the NFL, what is to become of Black & Gold? Will it still be run as an "NFL" message board or should we be considering another theme, ie NASCAR, fishing, baseball, basketball, et ... just sayin', might be something to think about ... just in case ... .

SloMotion

"NFL remotely looking at Saints practices"

foreverfan

An obvious implant was reported at Saints practice.