re: Ken Stabler's brain

quote:

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I don't think heading is nearly as bad. You head through the ball

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I agree.

Soccer players don't work on heading everyday in practice and when they do it usually SOFTLY lobbed balls. I could only really see the impact of the ball itself coming into play when someone puts some actual force behind the kick and you play it off the head, but that is somewhat rare although it'll make you see stars.

The real danger is when players go up for a header. That is where you get a lot of head to head contact that can be violent at game speed. I've seen teeth knocked out, large gashes opened up, noses busted/broke and of course bad concussions.