Of course, the rest of the world has a football-like sport (rugby--sorry, Australia) which suggests that there's a fair bit of demand for that general type of sport--and not just in the US. Rugby has its own issues with concussions although probably not as much as American football.
In general, I agree with the article that football isn't "too big to fail." I'm not sure lawsuits is so much the path though as kids simply not playing. That doesn't seem to be happening however.
I'm not sure lawsuits is so much the path though as kids simply not playing. That doesn't seem to be happening however.
True, though the broader demographic shift interests me - soccer is increasing in popularity for kids, given its popularity among hispanic populations. Presumably to the detriment of something, and I can believe it would be football.
What's interesting is that in Rugby you wear basically no protective gear, which is probably why it has less injuries. With a helmet and armour you feel much more invulnerable.
It is tackles above the shoulder (not waist) that are forbidden (along with striking an opponent with a stiff-arm whilst tackling, tripping, picking up and dropping a player etc.).
Fouls happen. I don't mean to diminish that, but when the base of the game is to disallow bad tackles then there will be far fewer incidents of bad tackling.
It's also that American football has a lot of downtime between the relatively short plays, whereas Rugby has a more constant style of play. An entire NFL game consists of roughly 11-12 minutes of actual gameplay -- the most recent numbers for rugby I could find put it at ~35 minutes. So, players are less fatigued and can hit harder and faster.
In general, I agree with the article that football isn't "too big to fail." I'm not sure lawsuits is so much the path though as kids simply not playing. That doesn't seem to be happening however.