Is it still football?

[Saltheart]

With all the new rules to protect the QB and increase scoring , it has to be difficult for the players to even play anymore. They grow up since 11 years old with a neighborhood HS hero telling them to hit him hard , reckless abandon , stick that helmet in there. they work their way up to High School where they are taught , first guy stick your helmet into his chest to stand him up so the rest of the guys can get a good shot at him. "Hit the other guy as hard as you can!" etc , etc

Anyway , now suddenly the instinct they developed and muscle or more appropriate whole body training that come natural is illegal now. I can't believe some of the penalties they call for what used to be considered a good clean hit.

What I see is big offensive numbers that will slant the record books so far out of kilter that new records will become meaningless to compare to old. I also see a lot of guys getting hurt trying to avoid a rule breaking hit. If you have -played football , one thing you know is that shying away from a hit is the singkle best way to get yourself nailed. you need to get position , get your body ready and then match your umph to theirs. try a glancing blow or an arm tackle and you get wrecked.

Anyway , curious as to what people think about these rules to protect the QB and increase scoring and how they effect the game as a whole and in particular , how so much much subjective decision making on the part of the officials can really change who wins and who loses the games.

[ProfessorM]

I am not a big fan of it. It is a violent game with intimidation as a part of it. I don't want to see anyone killed or maimed but the intimidation factor has to be there and I think these rules are slowly taking that out of the game. Personally I like the violence of the game and I guess my opinion is if you are not willing to put your career on the line for the game then don't play. Intent to injure and intimidation are such a fine line though. I think they have gone too far on some of the hits that I have seen so far.

[boot man]

It's still football to me. If a coach is teaching kids to lead with their heads, he should be fired. Protecting QBs from the neck up and the knees down isnt a bad thing to me. I wouldnt want to pay the current price of tickets to watch Brian Hoyer lead the offensive charge. Or Mark Brunell, etc...(Did you see the poor kid that came in for Favre?)
The NFL is an entertainment business

Most players play within the rules. It's always the same guys who aim for heads with their own head.

Just my opinion...

[Raven]

avoidance of concussions has become a necessity
in football based on new evidence showing that
even mild concussions cause damage and are accumulative.

the synaptic pathways that allow for good neural transmission
of information enters into a damaged state over time
(read multiple hard hits)
imitating several age related diseases of senility or far worse.

while i agree there should be eagerness for playing the
game as it has always be played there is also playing in such
a way as to not sacrifice your later life in the process.