Apparently, Cam Newton has never heard of John Urschel.
Major changes in the contact rules of college and pro football continue. The NCAA has outlawed two-a-days during training camps. The Ivy League has implemented a rule that there will be zero contact in practice the week before games.
The NFL begrudgingly admits that the CTE diagnosed in the brains of more than 100 deceased players is a problem but insists the sample size is misleading. Trouble is, that sample size consists only of players who had symptoms of brain damage before they died. No one else seems to be donating their brains to medical research.
There is now a move to ban contact in the sport for all ages prior to high school. More and more parents are steering kids away from the game, but collisions and concussions occur in almost all sports. In fact, there have been more concussions recorded in cycling than in football.
The Panthers’ Cam Newton is saying “no” to the team’s plan for him to run less this season. Newton, who is recovering from shoulder and ankle injuries, arrived at training camp slimmer and ready to run once he is deemed healthy. But the team may have a point if it wants Newton as its franchise quarterback forever.
Look at the stats: in Newton’s six seasons, he has been sacked or hit 922 times, which is 300 more than any other quarterback is playing in that time span. And when you see some of the hits No. 1 has endured, it is indeed scary. He doesn’t shy away from contact, takes hits on the run and refuses to go down when other QBs collapse to the ground and accept the sack.
Newton may think he is immune because he is a quarterback and doesn’t take as many impact hits as wide receivers, running backs and linemen, but there are studies refuting almost every theory out there. John Urschel walked out of the Ravens training camp at age 26 to finish his PhD in math at MIT while he still can remember the numbers. After a concussion last season, he says he recalled only fuzzy math.
Most players want to know the documented risks before making the decision to continue. Newton isn’t one of them.
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