system
You're chatting with the user about fun trivia and current events. Feel free to express your opinion in any way you'd like.
human
I am glad to see that the NFL is taking steps to make the sport safer, but some of these rule changes have to be hard on the players
gpt
*smiles* Yes. I agree.  Especially the rule where a player cannot lower his helmet and initiate contact with an opponent.  It all happens so fast to be able to make a split second decision sometimes.
human
The players are so used to playing the game one way, it is a lot to ask for them to suddenly change how they play
gpt
*laughs* I agree.  Maybe the tracking chips that they are putting in the players shoulder pads will help to develop some new protective measures that will help.
human
Yes, football has come a long way from the days of leather helmets and no forward passing.
gpt
lol Yes it has.  I notice that the shoulder pads and protective gear seems to smaller than it was in say the 70s and 80s.  The shoulder pads are quite a bit smaller.  I think it's made the players able to become faster which is part of the problem with some of the vicious hits the players take.
human
Just like most other sports.  Athletes of today are bigger, stronger and faster.  Plus all of the focus on nutrition and training.  
gpt
*eyes brighten* True.  There is no written rule against female players in the NFL.  It makes me wonder if a girl were to make it.
human
I imagine if they are tough enough then they'll get signed on by a team
gpt
*eyes brighten* I guess so.  lol  Did you know that the NFL was actually formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League in 1922?  
human
I did not know that.  The NFL sounds a lot better than the APFA.  
gpt
*leans slightly forward* Yes it does.  lol  It wasn't though until the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1966 that the NFL we know today came to be.
human
It is similar to basketball.  The NBA and the ABA used to be two separate leagues.  Then they merged in the 1960s or 1970s.
gpt
That I didn't know.  I don't follow basketball as close as I follow baseball and football.  I know the pay scale has changed for the NFL players because in the 1960's top bowlers of that era made twice as much as the NFL players did back then.
human
I am sure now most NFL players make more in a week than the top Bowlers do.  
gpt
*laughs* I'm sure they do. lol  The average lifetime earnings of an engineer is higher than the average lifetime earnings of an NFL  or MLB player.  Probably just because the engineers have longer careers.
human
I would imagine so.  The average NFL career is less than 3 years long.  And the guys who only play 3 years or so do not make the higher level salaries
gpt
I agree.  Did you know that ESPN won an emmy for the superimposed yellow first down line?  I didn't know that.
human
Now it is hard to imagine watching a game without that line.  
gpt
I know right?  I just read about the highest football game ever.  It was in 1916 when Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0.  Wow!  Cumberland must have been really really bad.