It was rough watching his mother, kind of wish they hadn't shown her, felt too invasive watching it.

Sad news though.

Any football fan should read this article:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...k-end-football

Interesting read. Especially after another incident like Junior taking his life.

There was good news. Eric LeGrand the Rutgers player who broke his neck was signed by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.

Agree about the footage of his mother. There are times to back off and that was one of them. (The fact friggin' TMZ rushed to be the first to break the story taints things even further as she had to be informed at church before getting 'ambushed'.)

Regarding some of the discussion going around about "injuries to the brain" affecting the atheletes, while it may be good to know, those saying "If it wasn't for the NFL, he wouldn't have been screwed up." well...who's to say his life would have also been so great at its' peak if he didn't have the NFL. The blessings and curses swing both ways.

Sure. But the reason you are seeing such harsh penalties for the Saints stuff, and new rules being enforced for hits, is because more and more research keeps coming out of the lasting affects of playing football. The NFL has a higher than average rate of suicide. I'm not saying the NFL is going to die, or that the article I posted will happen any time soon, the article isn't even saying that. But the reason you are seeing things changing, and the NFL being really harsh about injuries and all that, is because the one thing that will bring it down is lawsuits. Google NFL ex-player lawsuits.

I remember when I was kid the NFL wasn't that big, baseball was. Baseball ruled similar to NFL. To say it's not possible for the NFL to fall from where it is (not become obselete but right now it's a GIANT) is just denial.

So about the Eric LeGrand signing by the Bucs, Im very proud that they would extend that gesture to a guy that could be considered a true hero. I have always been a Cowboys fan all my life but I will definatly be supporting the Bucs this year in addition to my Boys.
I have contacted the Bucs to see if they will consider doing a special edition Eric LeGrand Jersey and have the proceeds go to Spinal Injury Research. I would gladly buy and wear that Jersey.
The Bucs and their new coach, who was coaching at Rutgers at the time of LeGrand's injury, are truly classy and reminds me that the NFL is not all business all the time. Sometimes its truly about people and doing whats right.

As a Panthers fan, I can't condone statements like "supporting the Bucs(or Falcons and Saints). That was a good story though.

Haven't seen it. Don't want to.

Man. I hate summertime as far as sports go. Unless u like baseball or NASCAR, you're SoL. Is it September yet?

I know right. All the other men in my family LOVE NASCAR. I despise it with a passion.

I enjoy NASCAR, mainly because I grew up in a racing family. My dad raced locally for over 30 years before he passed away. Racing is just a part of me.

Now, I have grown to love the NFL a lot more. But NASCAR fills my competitive side for a while. Plus here in Columbus, we have the MLS Columbus Crew, Triple A Columbus Clippers, a couple local short tracks, two horse racing tracks, and a hockey team or one that pretends to be one.

Now my son is the age where I'm coaching his baseball and soccer teams. And my daughter is in a dance squad. So I'm able to keep busy for a bit. Come August, I will be going crazy for football though.

Use this time to do research for fantasy football lol. Just reading a bunch of football related article

Been tracking the Panthers's free agent signings. They are beefing up the offensive line.

Panthers need some defense. I was so jealous when they drafted luke kuechly

There are hundreds of semi pro teams around the country. ( I play for one) thesew games are usually very competitive and fun to watch. Try to see if some are in your area.