BleedGopher
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per ESPN:
North Carolina coach Larry Fedora drew heat for doubting a link between football and CTE at Wednesday's ACC Kickoff event, saying he believed there were people using the data in hopes of destroying the game.
Fedora was asked about changes to the kickoff rule in college football, and he offered an extended oratory disputing the relationship between football and CTE and suggested that softening the game could be part of a larger concern.
"Our game is under attack," Fedora told reporters. "I fear the game will be pushed so far from what we know that we won't recognize it in 10 years. And if it does, our country will go down, too."
Fedora said he had talked to military personnel who had suggested the success of the U.S. military was due, in part, to the number of football players who went on to join the armed forces.
Fedora also questioned the evidence tying CTE and football, later backtracking slightly by saying football simply was not alone in dealing with head injuries, and arguing that the game is currently safer than ever before.
"I'm not sure that anything is proven that football, itself, causes [CTE]," Fedora said. "My understanding is repeated blows to the head cause it, so I'm assuming that every sport, football included, could be a problem with that if you've got any kind of contact. That doesn't diminish the fact that the game is still safer than it's ever been because we continue to tweak the game to try to make it safer for our players."
Fedora said people -- he declined to say specifically who -- routinely used data on CTE to suggest the risk of playing football was too high. In turn, he said, participation rates in youth football have declined nationally, putting the game at risk.
"If you're involved in the game of football, you have to worry about that," Fedora said.
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...th-carolina-larry-fedora-says-football-attack
Go Gophers!!
North Carolina coach Larry Fedora drew heat for doubting a link between football and CTE at Wednesday's ACC Kickoff event, saying he believed there were people using the data in hopes of destroying the game.
Fedora was asked about changes to the kickoff rule in college football, and he offered an extended oratory disputing the relationship between football and CTE and suggested that softening the game could be part of a larger concern.
"Our game is under attack," Fedora told reporters. "I fear the game will be pushed so far from what we know that we won't recognize it in 10 years. And if it does, our country will go down, too."
Fedora said he had talked to military personnel who had suggested the success of the U.S. military was due, in part, to the number of football players who went on to join the armed forces.
Fedora also questioned the evidence tying CTE and football, later backtracking slightly by saying football simply was not alone in dealing with head injuries, and arguing that the game is currently safer than ever before.
"I'm not sure that anything is proven that football, itself, causes [CTE]," Fedora said. "My understanding is repeated blows to the head cause it, so I'm assuming that every sport, football included, could be a problem with that if you've got any kind of contact. That doesn't diminish the fact that the game is still safer than it's ever been because we continue to tweak the game to try to make it safer for our players."
Fedora said people -- he declined to say specifically who -- routinely used data on CTE to suggest the risk of playing football was too high. In turn, he said, participation rates in youth football have declined nationally, putting the game at risk.
"If you're involved in the game of football, you have to worry about that," Fedora said.
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...th-carolina-larry-fedora-says-football-attack
Go Gophers!!