andydomoradzki-blog - Tumblr blog

[andydomoradzki-blog]

American football has changed very drastically over the course of 100 years. In the two older videos, one from 1901 and the other from the 1930′s, you can see that the players are wearing little to no protection, compared to the large pads and helmets you see nowadays. The older videos also show a completely different play style from what it is now. In the older videos, you can see they are playing a more ‘rugby’ type play style where they are wrapping up and not making huge contact hits, whereas the video of modern day football, you can see many of the players doing dangerous things like leading with their heads to make a big hit. From what I’ve seen, the NFL has been trying to protect the players by improving helmets, as well as shoulder pads, but it may be doing more hindrance than help. At this point where we have seen over a hundred of years of development of equipment, and players are getting debilitating injuries that last a lifetime. This begs the question; is it really the equipment at fault, or is the game that is being played?