This is why NFL players wear pads and helmets

Dr. Giganto

Remember a few months ago when we had the argument regarding the toughness of NFL players, and that they cant be THAT tough if they have to wear pads? Well, this is a pretty interesting read for those who argued that NFL players dont hit THAT hard

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playof...reg&id=1718306

The most interesting parts:

"He used to carry his phone number in his wallet because sometimes, even when he was just going to the mailbox, he couldn't always find his way back home. It took him three years to learn to read all over again. "

"a recent Virginia Tech University study that featured helmets with acceleration sensors reported one hit on a linebacker that registered at 124 times the force of gravity. A typical fullback, researchers learned, will suffer 27 hits per game with impacts of 10 G to 111 G. "Yes," said Mike Goforth, Virginia Tech's head athletic trainer, "we were surprised. That's like running your head into a brick wall."

"Toward the end of my career, I had to pick and choose my words very carefully. Words that I'd normally come up with, I'd see them in my head, but I couldn't pronounce them. I'd be searching for the word and go, 'Um, um, um.' It was somewhat embarrassing. I would listen to vocabulary tapes on the way to practice to retrain my brain."

"In those six seasons, there were 787 reported cases of mild traumatic brain injury. This works out to a rate of 0.41 concussions per game. Most came as a result of collisions between 17 and 25 miles per hour and the average impact was 98 G."

That's what happened to Hoge at Chicago's Soldier Field in his final NFL game. When he went down, the trainers ran out onto the field.
"Where are you?" they asked him. Hoge didn't hesitate.
"Tampa Bay," he answered.
The trainers exchanged glances.
"Why?" they asked him.
"Because," Hoge answered confidently, "I can hear the ocean."

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

thats why if i was in the nfl id play defense

Freak

This was probably my favourite hit of 2003...

J-M

rugby is a harder game than that...

no pads either..

Invictus

I played Rugby for three years and well............................not it really isn't. Put me in all the pads you like but if I was on an NFL roster and three big guys come running at me like they do, i'd be hauling ass back to my line and taking a safety.

DMW

That's a nice pic Freak. Best part is that it's a clean hit.