The lack of respeck that Penix Jr has gotten from the national media is dumbfounding.
Dude was clearly the MVP of College Football this year. 4-8 to 11-2 with a Top 10 final ranking? Did any other program in America have close to the turnaround?
A transfer from Washington, Latu was one of the surprise players in the Pac-12 this season, leading UCLA with 11 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. His 0.79 sacks per game ranked No. 11 nationally and helped land him first-time All-Pac-12 honors.
I knew he would be fine. So fucking stupid he had to transfer.
Que up the “next big hit could leave him paralyzed or dead.” Chances are still very slim to none just like every other football player.
Same thing happened with Austin Joyner
Yep and he continued chasing the dream in the CFL. I can’t stand the people that always harp on CTE and really think a top football athlete would rather live a boring “healthy” life instead of play in the NFL. 95% of them would probably chose the NFL.
Latu didn’t go to some shitty school to continue playing, he went to UCLA which is more academically prestigious than UW. UCLA also medically retired Jalen Phillips. He played a year at Miami and was a first round pick by the Dolphins. Latu will play in the NFL and he should be at UW now, teaming with Trice and being a part of a legitimate top 3-5 DL.
Very few that actually played anything at a high level are the ones saying it. The players are aware of the risk. It’s good that the NFL has concussion monitors that sometimes take it out of the players choice because most aren’t coming out and some caution should be shown, but it’s dorky nonsense. Grown men can assess the risks of playing football and make their own choice. Doctors aren’t always right.
But in this case they are. It's just proven fact at this point that these brains are being turned into pudding.
The question remaining is whether that's okay or not, personal responsibility, ethics, yadda yadda yadda. That's on the NFL/NCAA/high school and pee wee (which they're saying is even more dangerous because of the still-developing brain), and an argument can be made either way depending on how highly you value watching/playing football (I did for eight years and have no regrets). That's not on the doctors; they're just doing their jobs.
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The question remaining is whether that's okay or not, personal responsibility, ethics, yadda yadda yadda. That's on the NFL/NCAA/high school and pee wee (which they're saying is even more dangerous because of the still-developing brain), and an argument can be made either way depending on how highly you value watching/playing football (I did for eight years and have no regrets). That's not on the doctors; they're just doing their jobs.