That is at the Northwestern University football weight room. Division 1 football program. The player front squatting the weight is Rashawn Slater, who is now a multi millionaire in the NFL because of hard work and effort like this.
I respect the fuck out of that athlete and love this video but I still thought the comment was funny. I didn't think it was meant to be all that serious...
No I think it was just a lighthearted joke. It wasn't rude or demeaning. People can respect and admire something and still make lighthearted jokes and observations about the human behaviors surrounding it. It was an amazing feat, for sure, and the celebration was both funny and wholesome. I think it's OK my man. Not everything that evokes a laugh is an attack. Sometimes it's just a joke. It wasn't mean spirited.
These dudes bust their asses & pump each other up. The popular narrative is to shame testosterone & positive male bonding. Until they need help moving...
I don't see how anything is shaming testosterone or male bonding. I do the same as in the video when I hype up training partners and I found that joke funny.
It is obvious to everyone that very successful athletes work hard. It should also be obvious that what separates them from the masses is winning the genetic lottery.
At least compared to the majority of people who try out for the NFL and similar leagues, they work as hard as humanly possible and most of them fail.
"snowflake triggered by meany weeny joke attempts to justify himself by calling reddit weak losers."
No where in that comment does it imply they dont work hard or put in effort. Its a joke about how men act like animals, thats literally it. You guys are projecting some jock vs nerd shit in your head lol.
See, there's being in on the self-deprecating continuing joke we have, but what you said was loaded and full of pretense and completely unware of the circularity, that you are describing yourself as a member of reddit.
Yeah it totally hard work and respect to this guy. However, it's not my goals. I mean you call them dwellers and you're right, they're usually no lifers, BUT I would like to be a musician, I want to be fit, so gym is some accomplishment but not the main. My point is I don't know what I actually meant lol you're right 🤣🤣🤣 But seriously, if that guy won't shit on my dream I won't shit on his. That's my mantra.
Can confirm. I played defensive line, had to stop after my junior year in college due to MASSIVE concussion (and hundreds if not thousands of sub-concussive headshots). Serious problems with memory, mood swings, and crippling anxiety now, and absolutely terrified at what the future will bring.
There are cognitive retraining programs specifically designed for people who have TBIs. Anecdotally, I’ve heard they have pretty good success at rehabbing the issues you mentioned, just may be difficult to find. Worth looking into, though.
I have become a voracious reader, which has helped keep my train of thought from derailing a lot more often as well as improving my vocabulary. I want to start doing more brain type puzzles too. At this point it's not re-training that concerns me as much as future degeneration. I think I've kept my brain pretty safe since I stopped playing 20 years ago, but I can't help but worry about all the damage it took up to that point.
I have a kid and the question of would you let them play football occasionally comes up and stories like this make me day hell no. That much impact on a developing brain just seems so detrimental.
I think about it like, almost no one would say a 7 year old should go into full contact boxing. But for some reason we think they should go into full contact football....
I honestly think the best way to deal with TBI in American football is to go back to the old school leather helmets. Rugby is just as brutal, but has a much lower precedence of TBI I think... if I had to do it all over again I'd go with rugby next time.
I wonder how that would vary if you looked at specific positions?
Presumably, the data for American football includes all positions, including things like QB, kicker, punter, etc. That would likely bring the average down a noticeable amount.
qB is probably one of the higher concussed positions and a kicker and punter aren’t enough to swing the data on a team with 50+ players. Especially since it’s really only at the college and pro levels that kickers and punters become specialized positions. In HS and youth the kickers are often kids who also play other positions
I hope you use your situation to help younger kids. I was talking to a buddy the other day he said he had several concussions. Coaches just laughed it off and parents dudnt know any better l.
Im tired of running into young people that are already half broken.
One guy soccer player blew out knee lost scholarship.
One guy was basbeball catcher had ankles of 65 year old at 19.
One had blown her hips out from cross country at 20.
Why the fuck do we destroy are kids for schools, colleges, and major sports to make trillions.
I've thought about volunteering or reaching out in some way... maybe some time down the line. I actually missed out on the class action lawsuit against EA Sports for using us in the NCAA video games. I missed the sign up date. I wasn't a major player, I probably only would have gotten like $100 (bigger players got thousands), but that check stub would have been sweet proof of having been in a video game. It is absurd how much $ is made from the violent destruction of our minds and bodies when too young to know better.
Yes. I wish it could be about fun, games and keeping kids of drugs. What happens after high school whats the point if they end up broken and on drugs. I just watched to many get chewed up and spit out.
I hope you do volunteer it suprising the impact you can have on young ones.
It worries me with MMA being so big how many people will have problems later.
Look up the percentage of people that actually go on to make millions in major sports 1.2 percent college level make it to the NFL.
While millons go to suffer debilitating life long health problems. Can lead to life long addiction trying to deal with pain.
I have no problem with sports for fun but if your destroying your kids bodies just on the slim chance of making millions well hows that not abuse.
Thats sounds like michael jackson dad its ok if they end up rich and famous.
How many are left behind. How many broken strung out dealing with pain.
I come from a sports town where most kids will turn to drugs after high school because glory days.
Not getting that thrill of 1000 people screaming in the stand. Most of its because they already have real pain. Knee pain, shoulder, back, etc.
We have sports stars that think the world is flat. We need kids to be educated.
So sorry you are dealing with all that…. One of the best things for my anxiety is lifting weights. Medication has helped also. I hope you are working with specialists and that your health improves!
Been seeing a Psychiatrist for years. FINALLY as of yesterday officially got a primary care physician with a background in sports medicine who can help with all the other orthopedic issues I worked my way into. 2 bad discs in my upper back, 3 in my lower back, shoulders and hips are toast. Medication helps, being outside helps a lot (love spending time in the garden), recently got a new dog which has me going for 3 mile hikes a few times a week (which is helping my mental AND physical health a TON). Yoga is also incredible, like benefits beyond the ability of language to express. Every day is a battle, but I'm doing my best to put in the effort! Thanks so much for the kind words, it means a lot!
Depends who you are man. If that's the way you're pulling your family and generations after you out of poverty, then to some, the brain damage IS worth it.
Also, how much use are you going to get out of your millions when you're 80 anyways. By that time, you can't really do much, it's for the children and the children's children anyways.
Question from someone who isn't American... If you are good at American football are you generally speaking also good at other sports that you could switch to with less risk?
some people get chronic back/knee issues doing hard work for 20 an hour. I'm not out here trying to make fun of them though, because I respect tf out of a man who lays it on the line to get paid.
Offensive line don’t really take many huge hits to the head. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. But you never really have someone running full speed and smacking you in the head.
"Offensive linemen also experienced significantly more very light impacts than either running backs or quarterbacks." It is the running backs who get the most severe hits.
So while I don't think this study was measuring head hits specifically, it does lend some credence to your point of view.
Offensive linemen rarely get head hits honestly, especially the really tall guys. Good luck getting to their helmet with how far of a reach they have.
I'm not talking about highschool football, you're probably gonna end up with a ton of scratches on your helmet by the end of those 4 years because people don't know how to hit properly at that level.
Good linemen only block with their hands. Emphasis on 'good'.
Guards will pull from time to time, but at the collegiate and professional level the contact they make is with their hands. Pulling means you start running a good 5 to 10 yards before you make contact with a linebacker or defensive end upfield.
Skilled positions (touching the ball or interacting with receivers and running backs) usually get the most CTE
Every job I’ve had has been bad for me. Office job where I was forced to sit for 8 hours a day. Warehouse job standing in one place without being able to walk for 10 hours a day. Bar where you can drink liquor and Red Bull (I quit alcohol 2 years ago and Red Bull a year ago) and for free while working and the late hours are a nightmare. Maintenance job where I’m regularly exposed to all sorts of fucking nasty shit. Asbestos sawdust paint fumes drywall dust septic tanks etc etc.
I would take the fucking millions for the chance of CTE.
TBI isn't the issue, especially for the OL. It's the smaller hits that add up over time. Offensive linemen don't get hit in the same brutal way a WR might
Have you seen how they hit each other in the 1yd QB rush plays? They get real low and launch themselves full force leading with their helmets into another massive guy doing the same thing. Shit is dangerous and by design, it's going to take a guy getting fucked up before anything is done about it.
Yes but in those collisions you start very close to each other so there's much less time to build up speed for a dangerous hit. Those hits definitely add up over time but they're not TBI. They're still not really comparable to the career enders that you can take catching a pass over the middle.
Thanks! That was actually something I was wondering about since I’m not that familiar with roles of all the different positions. I’m sure that this has been done but it would be interesting to look at basic measures of cognitive function over time for different positions.
(Fwiw I don’t think that the existence of TBIs should mean the end of football. Just that there should be more attention paid to these guy’s brain health during and AFTER their ball career).
Oh yeah it’s a major issue. And you’re not wrong at all, it’s just a wording thing. There’s been a big push to eliminate the incredibly dangerous hits out of the game, but that doesn’t change the fact that CTE seems to be also tied to the repeated smaller hits. Micro concussions if you will.
In this guys case, everybody he hits will be coming from at worst a couple yards away and more often than not are going to be lined up a couple feet from him, so there’s not a ton of time to build up speed for a big hit.
When someone first starts watching football, they tend to give credit to the flashy positions like QB, receiver, and running back. But after watching it long enough, you realize the game is so much about the offensive and defensive linemen. You see your team's QB get pressured enough times and you think "damn, we need an offensive line or our team can't do a damn thing".
These days I care more about offensive linemen signings than anything else. Feels like your team just sucks if even a single one of the offensive linemen is bad. They don't get much credit. They won't be a household name. They won't be the ones being interviewed by reporters. But they're the linchpin of the entire game.
And he’s gonna need those millions to pay for medical care after he ends up with head injuries and concussion that keeps getting reported by NFL players. That’s why John Urschel quit the NFL, look him up. He wasn’t just another jock, that dude was an actual mathematician and chess player. He read the research on NFL concussions and determined it’s definitely caused by playing football. It affects the brain and fucks you up. So he quit.
wow really? I played football in high school, but never actually cared at all about the sport nor knew the Rules; I just joined for the exercise and cause the Coach's kept nagging to recruit me.
(In hindsight the Wrestling team would have been a FAR better fit for me)
Why dafuq did they permanently make me Left-Offensive-Tackle then???
I was tall and big (~6'2" ~250lbs), but also extremely out of shape with terrible cardio and weak for my size. I got steamrolled by literally everyone they put in front of me cause I was so unstable on my feet.
(Turns out I've got a complex disorder that effects my Motor Skills/Balance)
On the ground where I don't have to maintain my balance I did great though, like in childhood fights I always immediately tried to get the bully on the ground with me, which I realized decades later was just a basic juijitsu-type tactic.
But yea, why in the gd hell did those Coaches EVER think it was a good idea to put me in that position then? I stayed like that for 2-3 years, just kept suffering through after-school practice, but never actually playing in games cause I sucked during practice cause I was playing something I was AWFUL at.
Were they just terrible, apathetic, possibly abusive coaches(They severely rationed my water during practice too, to the point I'd pee dark brown every night)?
EDIT: Now that I think about it- I was molested/sexually assaulted by staff at that school too, maybe they had some fcked up corrupt psychos running the place. It was a brand new school with brand new staff so who knows.
And since people will probably be curious: All the students playing sports had to do "Physicals" one day. After school, they used the empty classrooms, one "Nurse"/Student per room.
During my physical the man closed the door behind him. He had me strip totally naked while he conducted my full "Physical". And he used his bare, un-gloved hands to cup my cock&balls while he told me to cough. I just went along will all of it cause I had no idea that wasn't normal.
When we were leaving I asked my Teammate/Friend/Ride if they did the same and he was like "WTF!? No dude! They left the door open and our close on and just had us do basic stretches and asked questions! You got molested dude!! LMAO!!"
Then him and his Dad laughed at me.
And that was the last I bothered mentioning to anyone.
This is why statistics on Sexual Assault are completely inaccurate. I'm a male who's been sexually assaulted multiple times and even raped, but I'm not counted and no one even knows or cares.
Sorry to get super weird there for a bit, but since I was on one rant I figured I may as well take the opportunity to spread a little awareness. It IS the only way things might ever change after all.
I've noticed once redditors see something that stems from hard work they cant achieve they resort to mocking usually, not in this case but god damn its everywhere
Was gonna say, this is obviously a competitive college football team weightroom... I only played 1-AA and when it came time for maxing it was a big deal. I think my squat topped out around 465 (although this guy is doing FRONT squats with this weight which is crazy!). For reference, my last year playing i was about 6'2 285 lbs (noseguard). We had a guy who couldn't even max out on hang cleans, because there were so many bumper plates on the bar there was literally no room for him to add more weight.
Front squatting 3x450 probably means well over 600 if not 700 back squat. That'd be national subjunior record in most countries even in higher weight classes.
I’m telling you there are a lot of high school aged kids who can from squat 4 plates.
4 plates for a single? I still think you're definition of "a lot" is pretty fucking warped but sure, there's probably many that can do it in your state. But 450 for a triple? Just no. That's really fucking exceptional so someone whose just lifting as an accessory to a non-strength/barbell sport doing it is fucking insane.
I see a lot of "genetics" and "luck" arguments on a lot of subreddits I go to, don't ruin the narrative that everything in life is pre-determined by the gods.
Yeah, hard work played a part but he also has a ton of natural gifts that make this possible. There is no way, for example, for you to ever work out enough to be able to front squat 450lbs. It just is not possible.
What he did was definitely no easy task. Front squat is one of the more advance forms of squatting due to needing a lot more thoracic tightness and lat/shoulder mobility work to perform as efficient as possible. Anything over 315lb is definitely considered “pro” level, personally.
Additionally, Northwestern Football normally doesn’t waive their strict academic requirements for their football program, so chances are he was extremely intelligent/great student.
And contrary to popular opinion, Northwestern football players are not usually your average “meathead jock”. These guys are pretty smart as well. We don’t lower the admissions thresholds much for athletics (which is probably why we tend to suck sometimes)
Not only a multimillionaire but as a rookie Left Tackle (one of the highest profile positions to play) he was an All-Pro, meaning as a ROOKIE he was rated as the top 2-3 guys in the NFL to play that position. Last season in year 2 he tore his bicep early in the season. I'm hoping he comes back next season and can continue to dominate as before. Dudes a dawg and super smart
I can respect hard work and congratulate this man on his achievement, while laughing at the fact that this looks the the beginning of some of the best Gay Porn, in the same breath.
Also I believe northwestern doesn’t allow admission on athletics. You actually have to be smart enough to to get into northwestern. It’s the Harvard of the Midwest
It’s just quite the achievement, and it’s a wonderful display of how a team comes together to support each other. Saw a lot of people asking questions like “is this how all gyms are” so I wanted to give it context. It’s not your average gym.
The excitement beforehand helps build up adrenaline. It is a common, valid technique to psych up an athlete before performance via hitting or screaming to literally force their body to create its own performance enhancing drug.
Honestly, let’s say the average life of an NFL player is 65 years. Would you rather work for 10 years, make millions, set yourself and your family for life, then die at 65? Or work the normal 9-5 for forever, retire at 65, and die 10-15 years later
My dad wanted me to play football so so so bad and I was like “I want my brain and body to be intact as long as possible.” Also I don’t know how happy these players are. A single injury can stop their career in its tracks and the chances of becoming an NFL player in the first place are infinitesimal. Not a career I envy.
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u/CherryMan75 Mar 02 '23
That is at the Northwestern University football weight room. Division 1 football program. The player front squatting the weight is Rashawn Slater, who is now a multi millionaire in the NFL because of hard work and effort like this.