On Sat, 20 Feb 2016 11:15:28 -0500, "(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 think that in bare knuckle days boxers were not as likely to hit
someone on the head as in modern day boxing as hitting someone on the
head with the bare hand poses a very real danger of breaking a hand
and single handed boxers don't win very often.

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.
--
cheers,

John B.