[googlopharm]

I'll expound on Rotary's post, because the thought intrigued me.

I went and watched a Dick Butkus highlight reel. And then Ray Nitschke. And Jack Lambert.

One thing you don't see these guys do but RARELY is lead in with their shoulder or helmet with their hands under their chests. They're always going in *vertical*, wrapping up as they get to their target, with both arms around the ball carrier.

They were known as the meanest, most vicious sons-a-bitches in the history of the game, but the videos you watch show that their gameplay was much more geared towards making effective tackles than physically punishing a player.

Make no mistake, the game was still *violent*, and yes, plenty of people got injured, and often badly.

But I think the point is that 270 pound guys who can run 4.5 40's who are wearing composite body armor that's 5 times better than the *pads* they wore in the 50's and earlier are going to cause more, and worse, injuries. As they make the helmet better at protecting the head, they also make it a more effective weapon on the field of play.

I'm not saying there's some huge change that needs to be made, it's just a matter of fact when you have bigger, faster, stronger athletes, and couple that with the fact that the way the game is played has changed. *TACKLING* is a lost art, in my opinion.

It would be interesting to do a comparison study from say, 1950 to like 2009, and see what percentage of players suffered injuries that ended their season or caused them to miss significant playing time to see if any of my theories hold up.