On Saturday, February 20, 2016 at 8:15:33 AM UTC-8, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per sms:
I would contend that, if the NFL banned helmets and body armor, brain
injuries would drop dramatically.

Probably you are wrong. There would likely be no change in concussion rates.

I based that contention on a discussion I heard by several older
world-class former welterweight contenders.

Their consensus was that brain injuries in boxing were almost unknown
back in the bare-knuckle days. i.e. old boxers did not turn up
punch-drunk.

The reason: fighters could not afford to trade punches and therefore
their brains did not get rattled around. Boxing was essentially an
endurance contest: circling, feinting, trying to get in that first
punch. Once the first punch was landed, the fight was soon to be over
because a person can't take that much in the way of bare-knuckle
punches.

I extrapolated that to football because no padding or helmets would make
it impractical for players to use their bodies as weapons.

OTOH, it wouldn't be football anymore... more like a USA version of
rugby.
--
Pete Cresswell

Well, I know a Phd biomechanic who taught at MIT and Harvard (not kidding) who says that boxing helmets increase rotational injuries because they increase the head target area, and they are "sticky" to leather gloves. Gloves catch the helmet and whip the head around. This same guy had issues with football helmets being used as weapons and being under-protective. He was strongly in favor of bicycle helmets. I doubt he was for MHLs (if we start going that direction).

-- Jay Beattie.