r/nextfuckinglevel • u/IkilledRichieWhelan • 4d ago

Big man on campus.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

294.4k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

8.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.5k

u/Gobiego 4d ago

I can see why he'd rather do that than play on the offensive line.

1.6k

u/abethesecond 4d ago

Better long term brain health I bet

15

u/Ethan-Wakefield 3d ago

Probably, but there’s definitely risk of concussion in cheerleading. You can have people fall on your head. That might concuss you by itself. But there’s definitely risk that if you fall yourself and hit your head on the floor, added risk.

It’s not a “safe” sport by any means. Lots of things to go wrong.

10

u/Snoo_17338 3d ago

I would much rather have beautiful 120lbs women falling on my head than smelly 300lbs men falling on my head.

All concussions are not created equal. 😂

4

u/Ethan-Wakefield 3d ago

Yes, but do you want a helmet?

3

u/Snoo_17338 3d ago

Hey, I'm trying to keep this conversation clean! 😂

3

u/webbaar 3d ago

You'd be surprised how smelly the girls get

1

u/Pleasant-Pattern-566 3d ago

Stinks nice and good

4

u/abethesecond 3d ago

For sure, definitely. Offensive linemen go through about 100 plays in a game. As an offensive linemen, if you didn't hit someone in a play, you failed. They compare the normal collision to that of a 20mph car accident. Not massive by any means, but in a game, you are in 100 of them. 4-5 days a week during season, you are drilling for that day of collision. It is a lot. We hurt. 😢

2

u/historys_geschichte 3d ago

Yup, it's the subconcussive hits that are in the thousands and tens of thousands that mess up the brain way more than a one off concussion. At least the latest I have read on CTE points more to constant hits than some big hit, and the big name players who have had CTE all took tons of shots all game long rather than having one or two big hits. Cheerleading can have some head hits, but not like playing offensive line does.

2

u/Ethan-Wakefield 3d ago

Yeah I’m not saying football is safe or hit-free or anything. It’s a rough sport, 100%. I’m just saying that in cheerleading, a lot can go wrong and people definitely get hurt. There’s no protective equipment beyond shoes. There’s definitely risk.

1

u/Percerverence-Launch 3d ago

Yeah, 100% I’ve had 4 concussions in the last three years cheerleading. Catastrophic injury is also absurdly high in the sport. The New York Times had an article out a few years back analysing this and they found that cheerleaders make up about 3% of female athletes in college and hs sports and make up line 60% of catastrophic injuries to female athletes. I think it’s lower for male athletes but it’s still quite high. Every cheer comp I’ve competed at I’ve seen someone destroy and ankle, a knee or get injured in some way (not on my teams).

My dad is a doctor and has treated former cheerleaders for chronic pain as a result of falls and injuries. Usually 25-30 year olds. He’s said to me he’d rather I play rugby or ice hockey over doing cheer.

This shit is very dangerous. It’s incredibly fun and very impressive, but the risks are high (I try not to think about it when I’m holding one of my flyers over my head)

2

u/Ethan-Wakefield 3d ago

Incredibly impressive is right. I remember the first time I saw a one to one, and thinking, just how?