I am a concerned football fan hoping to stimulate some local discourse on an important emerging issue.
Recently, evidence of significant brain damage with long-term sequelae has been associated with traumatic concussion following violent contact (over-enthusiastic hitting) between players on the field.
One suggested remedy being discussed is to improve the protective capacity of helmets. This is simply ignoring the problem. Wearing armor (a helmet) creates a false sense of invulnerability, thus allowing or encouraging players to hit harder, using their bodies as battering rams. We have all observed this.
A better remedy would be to ban helmets altogether, and to penalize players who still are violent on the field. One incident by a player could be the basis for ejection from the game; two incidents in a season could result in forfeiture of an entire season; three such incidents could lead to lifetime suspension.
