Axe kickoffs from American football, expert saysRSS Feed

One expert has spoken out in favour of eliminating kickoffs from American football games in an effort to reduce the incidence of brain and spinal cord injury on the pitch.

Mark Richt, head coach at Georgia, has said that kickoffs are "violent", reports OnlineAthens.

"It is very, very physical. You've got a bunch of guys that can run fast and are strong and they are not afraid, it's kind of a manhood thing. No one's going to back down."

The idea of erasing kick-offs from the game has been put forth by Rutgers' coach Greg Schiano following the severe spinal cord injury suffered by the team's star player Eric LeGrand.

LeGrand was left paralysed from the neck down after a collision when covering a kickoff last season.

This comes after former American football player Brent Boyd said that brain injury"robs your life".

The former National Football League (NFL) was diagnosed with brain injury in 1999, and also suffers with Alzheimer's disease - both of which doctors believe could be a result of his sporting career.

News brought to you by Serious Law specialists in traumatic brain injury

Posted by Timothy Walters
 

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