Night Train Lane

Head to head collision

Today is my day for sequels I guess. I just thought that since it's been in the news recently I'd do a quick follow-up on my post about CTE (chronic traumatic encepalopathy). A couple weeks ago there were some really brutal helmet to helmet hits around the NFL. One was in the Atlanta vs. Eagles game and I can't remember the other two but I think one involved the Titans...or the Steelers. Anyway, the commissioner of the NFL, Rodger Goodell, immediately decided that something had to be done. So they (NFL) has sent each team a video breaking down legal and non-legal hits, and has also instituted more sever fine for hits on defenseless receivers. Here is a video from NFL.com that shows the hits, and describes the issue pretty well. (it starts around the 45 second mark). Injuries and impacts on players is a high priority for the NFL decision makers because of the possible severity of the consequences, such as CTE which can result in dementia, depression and suicidal tendencies. But the Comissioner is not the only one who has influenced the NFL in protecting it's players. It might seem odd to thank one of the meanest, roughest SOBs in football history for saving many a young man from the wide range of head injuries that can be sustained on a football field, but it happens to be the truth.

Night Train Lane

I was watching a show about the top 100 NFL players of all time the other night, and one in particular caught my attention. Ranked number 30, "Night Train" Lane was a cornerback for the Lions during the 1950's. From the video (this is actually a different segment, but it shows pretty much the same thing)I saw every hit he made on another player was as brutal as the above mentioned. He didn't just knock you down, he took you out. Back then there weren't as many rules in football, but two were created as a result of Night Train on the football field. The first was no grabbing the face mask of an opposing player (which could whip a guys head around and throw his feet out from under him). The second was no more "Night Train Neckties" or as we would call it nowadays clotheslining of players. In face, the rule became no hitting above the shoulders. So what's my point? 

Combination face mask grab and "Necktie"

You might wonder why I think he was so pivotal. The reason is after thinking about it for a while I realized that the NFL wouldn't have taken hits like the "Necktie" too seriously if they only happened once in a blue moon. Think about it. Guys were getting hit since football began being played. Players were grabbing face masks when they could and clothslining guys whenever the oppertunity arose. So why weren't rules made to protect players before Night Train? I think it has to do with the fact that he was so rough, all the time and on every play, that really he was able to get peoples attention focused on the problem in a way that no one else had been able to do. Suddenly players and coaches were thinking to themselves "Wait a minute, I won't make it to my 30th birthday if I keep getting hit like that" and then they realized that a change needed to be made. He took something that was always dangerous but sort of invisible in the NFL  and condensed it into a weekly ass-whoopin that brought it's severity into the light and made people sit up and take notice.  If not for Night Train, who knows how long it would have been before the NFL would have realized how dangerous above shoulder hits were, and changed the rules? And how many more players would have been injured in the process?That's what I think anyway. It's funny how things work out like that sometimes. Who would have thought the rough and tough guy could end up being a hero?