[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

The league and the NCAA's wealth is threatened by CTE lawsuits.

I have no faith that the owners' won't settle at being the Kings of America. They seem to me to have Rockefeller-levels of greed that isn't suited to choosing sustainability over the risk of astronomical levels of wealth if consequence is failure of the league.

And this is why I stress a high profile player death as being the harbinger of football's end: rule changes that turn the game into flag football will probably not be well-received if they're brought in on the heels of a tragedy. I'd put money on the fact that tackling will be legislated out of the game within the next quarter century but I'm guessing that point the NFL, NCAA/NFHS will have made such gradual changes over this coming decade that only the most die-hard fans of football as a sport will complain and therefore turn away from the product.

However, if a player like Drew Brees is killed on Sunday Night Football with millions watching it will be impossible to play the game under current (and already compromised, in my opinion) rules and the rule-making bodies will have to accelerate this shift in the game without the same level of acceptance in fans.

People haven massively blown this out of proportion. The NFL has taken reasonable steps to improve the equipment and the game to head off future lawsuits, but they do not suffer an existential threat from parents.

It has recently become fashionable to read these NFL concussion stories and the over-the-top conclusions not with skepticism, but by thoughtfully scratching your beard and nodding gravely. Not as many people are stepping back, looking at the situation realistically, and calling BS on that whole thesis, or at least not as often as they should. The basic fundamentals are still true: parents are still going to let their kids play on Fridays, the best are still going to take advantage of scholarships, people like to watch football, and there's nothing better to do on Sunday evenings in the winter. We're not going to morph into a nation who plays and watches freaking soccer.

And this:

I'd put money on the fact that tackling will be legislated out of the game within the next quarter century

Is utterly absurd.