Bob Costas: Football on the Brain | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) 

The answer is simple. Get rid of the helmets. As an Aussie who watches NFL, the way football players tackle is suicide compared to Rugby. Take away the helmet, and they'll stop using their heads as weapons.

Why is Bob Costas only a sportscaster? He seems like he really knows what he's talking about in regards to socio-political issues.

The national anthem is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO important, that the networks that broadcast the NFL's games...are almost always airing commercials while it's being sung live at the games. Stop it. I'm black, American, and a USMC veteran. Which one do you think cops recognize first when I interact with them? How about employees in department stores? People passing by on the street? What pisses me off is that it's so obvious that Kaepernick's stance has merit because those who oppose it do everything in their power to avoid ENGAGING in what he protested about! They'll bring up the socks or the Castro statement or black on black crime in Chicago...but never the inequality that this country has existed under pretty much since the aftermath of Bacon's Rebellion in the late 1600's. Funny how that works.

Costas is one of the most well-spoken people of all time

Future generations will look at American football as we look today at Gladiators' sports from Roman era ..

You're not a Libertarian, Bill. Thank god.

3 people panel is so much better

Oh Bill's a libertarian this week, ok.

Bill Maher a libertarian? And I'm a super model from Zimbabwe.

Why do you need the anthem for every sport event. How patriotic do you have too be.

It's like people have CTE when it comes to the protest Mr. Kappernick started. It was never about the anthem or the flag! The issue is about police violence against citizens and our collective acceptance of it.

Take the protections off and they will think twice before smashing their heads

Libertarian ? lol

I've heard that getting stopped from running after a tackle that doesn't touch your head, is bad for your brain. This is because of the sudden stop after your brain is traveling as fast as you're running. Even so, it would do a lot of good to discourage hitting other players with your head. But then you have more penalties in a game that some say has too many flags already

I seriously stopped watching football and hockey after reading "Concussion" and seeing the movie. It is not ethical to watch and give money to people who are selling out young players and throwing money at the situation . No contact sport is safe at any time and it should end .

My grandpa says, "take away the helmets...we didn't have any in my day and nobody ever got hurt."

People gotta stop perpetuating this bullshit that no one knew. You're confusing a lawsuit by the player's association with the reality. Saying no one knew, also means the NFL didn't know; well they did, and their medical services for retired players have been shit to non-existent anyways. They knew in the 50s and 60s, they called it pugilistic dementia. medical professionals have been calling for a ban on boxing at least that long. I started football when i was 8, after years of begging to box; ironically it wasn't much better... But i needed it. I've never hit anyone outside of competition or horseplay, and had more then enough reason to. Brain health needs to be managed better, the culture does need to change. But some kids also need a contact environment and the opportunity to test themselves, to develop a sense of security. And in its absence they will create that havok themselves just to see if they can live through it... Some level of experimentation will always come before management. When someone runs into a burning building to save a life, where do you think that mentality comes from. You don't learn how to do that, you learn how to make it work. We're hard wired for it, the sharper caveman keeps his shit. If you're going to try to put the expectation on someone, to avoid it all together, it would be better served on adults... because it is somewhat of a self eliminating drug (or experience). But that experience is going to be very important for someone 14-18 years old.

It is like the gladiators in Rome, it was also difficult for the public to give it up. They had such great tactics and skills, the fights were sometimes almost poetic. Try the other football (soccer) like the rest of the world.

Bill Maher: LIBERTARIAN chucklenutz

people have the right to take a knee and employers have the right to not re-sign you. Its really that simple. I think Trump went a bit far by saying people should be fired, but BLMatter is also going way too far by demanding Kap still have a job.

It's not possible to create a helmet that can stop your brain from smacking into your skull.

Played rugby and American Football, this issue is real to me. The worry in pro Rugby is they play 11 months a year so accumulate more hits, even if the car crash hits in the NFL are much rarer in Rugby.

“Please stand for the flag and the ideals it represents” Stop making PC language to stand for the flag!!! It doesn’t need it! A flag is symbolic, by definition!

FYI : Hypocrisy 101 , Bill Maher is a ( minority shareholder) for a NFL team...guess which one? Not in California, Bill Maher is not from there...NY? NJ? Buffalo Bills...Bill Maher joined an investment group that bought a stake in an NFL team

I question whether the anthem really represents our “ideals”. Rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air giving proof that our flag is still there?The melody is difficult to sing and has been destroyed by many a concert artist whose careers were then destroyed. There's nothing sacred about this tune. I much prefer Columbia Gem of the Ocean.That one speaks truth to tyranny without all the adolescent rockets & bombs bullshit. And theres genuinely feel good music in it also. If there has to be martial music, then for me this is the way to go. Actually makes me proud to be American again when I hear it. America was ALREADY great when this was written. And they didnt need red baseball caps to be convinced.

I don't mind the occasional political talk in sports and I absolutely understand that society and sports somehow are a mirror. However, espn and sports were the one place we could all go to 'get away from reality' so to speak. This last two years even i am lost at the amount of black lives matter and trump talk on espn and the NBA and NFL. This is embarrassing...it has become significantly more about politics than sports. I guarantee you this will not go well for the NFL

Bill is a libertarian?? What?

Does Bill know what libertarian means?

Bob and Bill are brilliant together...I grew up in Pgh during the 70s and 80s and went to Penn State ..so Football was a big part of my life...and I thank God my son is a musician....so much!

Aren't 6d making a football helmet? There the guys who made the sespention bumper motorcycle helmets

So running into other people at full speed is a bad idea!? Who knew!

Lose the helmets and the pads and it will be safer. You can do everything needed without them.

Wasn't Bill just asking Penn Jillette about being a libertarian a couple weeks ago?

All the protective equipment in football is having the opposite effect as what was intended. Players just hit harder and more recklessly because of it.

Kids used to start organized football in high school and played 6 games a year. College teams used to play 8 or 9 games a year and the pros played 12 (at one time even fewer) with a one round post season. Going back to a more reasonable schedule (not driven by greed for revenue) would go a long way to alleviate the problem.

Bill, you're a neoliberal. Not a libertarian.

I have a 25 year old son living in my basement. He played football from age of 5 until 14 His current diagnosis is TBI Traumatic Brain Injury (suicidal ideation). The neurologist said he can’t diagnose CTE until he passes. But he said I can take an educated guess that he has CTE

wtf... is it me, or Maher is really trying to convince everyone that he is a libertarian

When did bill become a libertarian? Didn't he used to criticise them?

"As a libertarian..." WTF, Bill, you're not at all close to being a libertarian, fortunately, except for pot legalization.

Um, did Bill Maher just call himself a Libertarian 3 times?

Hey Bob, you do not need new helmets. You need to force players to stop using their heads as weapons and stop trying to injure each other. No more 'tuck your head and dive through the trench'. No more DB/SSs coming from behind and blasting into people who do not even see them. Tackling should be to stop the players progress. Somehow rugby players can do that and they have no armor. Also the glorification of the needless violence, Bill was about to touch on it, has to stop. I actually have the feeling the commentators have go-to phrases instead of 'well that was unneeded'. 'Keep yer head on a swivel' or 'smash mouth football' or some stupid stuff like that. I just recently watch a college game and darn if it was not the same. You had the brutal shots getting repeated again and again and again. 'yeah this is a tough game' ... nah that was a cheap shot that was totally unneeded. Just that one game was enough to turn me off again ... even though I love the sport and played 15yrs.

Really pushing hard on the "libertarian" thing. I don't recall him ever mentioning that before this clip. I guess I stopped really watching Bill a few months ago for a good reason.

I played football in high school. Thank God I mostly rode the bench.

When OJ finally kicks it I'm sure they'll find the same

is there the same issue in rugby? if no, why not?

At least I heard some support for Alan Kaepernick.

BIll Maher is in NO WAY a libertarian.

My kids will play Football if they want to IN HS they can play flag football before that...I didn't play proper football until I got to HS and I earned a college Scholarship

Here’s what u can maybe do to make it safer not safe. But get rid of pads and helmets and make sure tackle occur at the hip and increase the amount of time the collision occurs and ban any contact above the hip. That is a reality but there will still be some issues.

Forgive my ignorance, but surely they can't do anymore to protect their heads? Isn't contact, power & intensity part of the game? These guys know that and are happy to take the dollars

As a Jets fan, we could Kappernick, but the blockhead owner is a right-wing "moran" (in the words of a famous misspelled sign) and he'll never sign him no matter how bad the team is

Well said, Bob, as usual. I think more and more players are going to be willing to stand up to what they see as an un-american ethic that needs to be addressed.

Costas a legend? Maybe in his own mind.

Soccer players have repeated, frequent head trauma. Children continue to play soccer hitting their heads and compiling damage.

I played football until college, but it was in college that I ended up with two concussions, because we played flag football, which still involves blocking, only without helmets and pads.

I appreciate both your perspectives on the Kaepernick kneel issue; but I think you omitted one key fact about the the beginning of sports events. The military PAYS sports teams to have the ceremony aired, because they see it as a recruitment tool.

He was 27, and he hadn't played in the NFL for the last 3 years either. So, he was Stage 3 by 24.

As Einstein owned physic’s Costas knowledge of sports is mastery.

You’re right. he probably means Liberal Socialism. Libertarianism is associated with anarchism. However, he is probably reacting to our move toward Being unitarian.

Bob Costas says if you don't want politics and sports mixed then you are a"mouth breather". Seriously, Bob? We are inundated by politics 24/7. Sports are an escape for most people. I watch for the competition and athleticism, not for political statements. If politics continue to dominate the NFL, I'll just ignore it. If the league folds, so be it. The NFL is getting boring anyways

When will they attack other sports for CTE the way the attack football? Boxing, MMA, Hockey and Wrestling probably all have similar rates of CTE but pundits don’t care.

Bob Costa; Yes, yes, yes, the flag represents the Declaration of Independence, our Constituion, the Nation's ideals, not its flaws; protest the flaws not the ideals, not the flag.

This isn't just football. It's just being talked about in reference to football because of how huge of a business it is. People get fucked up in all types of physical activities; skateboarding, biking, other xgames, boxing, ufc, etc.

I do just wanna hear it's a ground ball to shortstop. Either that or quit allowing thugs that beat and choke pregnant women to play in the NFL. This from the same people that forced those "No More" commercials on us. Hypocrites.

Here, folks. This hits the high notes of why the National Anthem at Sporting Events. mentalfloss.com/article/22150/why-do-we-sing-national-anthem-sporting-events Actually, I've learned that the reason had more to do with the Red Sox being superstitions, but maybe someone with greater knowledge can field that one. Yeah. I think there may be a few puns in the post. :-)

Ok, late comment. To fix this issue. No helmets or padding. It will stop the attackers going with no regard. Secondly penalise any head contact. Then you’ll have a game where skill is rewarded and cowards will be filtered out.

I stopped watching NFL because I'm tired of seeing millionaires cry about oppression when as soon as they have the opportunity they leave the oppressed areas and don't look back. NFL players are supposed to be tuff. They are not supposed to cry about injustice. They are suppose to overcome adversity. Any NFL player who protests shows he is not mentally ruff enough to succeed so he should be fired.

Bob motherfucking Costas, yeah baby. couldn't sleep on a single syllable. you go girl! even maneanuvered around Mahers bad impulses.

I heard the latest broadcast this morning. I have been totting one of my mitigation s for these injuries , but so far no traction! I have assumed many of the brain injuries are from large players hitting smaller ones. Defense hitting offence players. I do not have data to confirm this! So, my idea is to go back to Iron Man Football, or a version of it. Only one team on each side! Yes, like auto racing, the American Football spectators are now trained to enjoy the carnage in the play! Yes, I enjoy Eroupan & British Soccer, the real football, but am also a trained accident mitigation professional. !

"I wonder why more aren't doing what [kaepernick] did,"... It's because they still can be proud of their country even if there are problems.

As a European i find american football... well I don't even know the rules and appeal of it but it looks silly. Can't you just play normal football and use metric system like the rest of the fucking world?

I've slowly grown to have more of an interest in soccer...NFL has lost me as a fan over the past few years...too brutal...on and off the field..too political...too greedy....done with it.

Who cares how the athletes choose to use their first amendment rights? Even if it is disrespectful, they are allowed to be disrespectful. And its so benign too. No one is affected by them kneeling besides themselves. So fuck it. Let em kneel, disagree with it, then go on watching your game. That's what this country is supposed to be about. Express yourself freely, disagree with those who are different, but respect their right to be different.

Why not just get rid of helmets . It works in rugby union. yes , there is long term injuries, but not on the scale of the N.F.L.. Amateur boxers no longer wear headguards cos it has been proven that when the head is encased it rattles around from a blow and has nowhere to rest. people will always wanna play sport regardless of the danger but maybe wrapping up in candyfloss is counterproductive

I don't care if you stand, kneel, sit, dance, or strip naked for the National Anthem. I just hate how much media coverage these stupid things are getting. Every week, every news channel feels the need to recap who stood, who knelt, who raised a fist. Just stop. No one cares. I don't listen to pop stars when they feel the need to use their national exposure and spout their uninformed opinion about politics, so why would I care what professional athletes think about social equality?

Standing for the anthem has always been just as much of a political act as sitting is now. If it wasn't, then sitting wouldn't have caused such a politically polarizing discussion. Nearly all conservatives I've heard give their opinion on the subject believe that standing for the anthem is important because they think the anthem represents their conservative values. They (mistakenly) believe that patriotism and combat valor are somehow conservative values and that sitting is a rejection of these things. The irony runs deep in this topic.

Bill does believe that people should be allowed to do what they want if they're not harming anybody. That's why Maher is a libertarian. The confusion is that Bill does a 180 on acts with consequences.

Third biggest 49er fan here... crapernick just went about it the wrong way... I believe in what he is saying, it's just the way he did it.

Bob Costas is wrong...the people who do not kneel have said why they are staying out of it. They have families to take care of, people relying on them. Getting involved could mess up their money and threaten their contracts. It isn't some big mystery.

"The Roman Circus", like that's not an euphemism. It's been nothing but gladiators since inception, so deal with it, that's what you love.

Bill Maher isn't a libertarian and I don't even know why he wants to brag about it. There isn't anything really in the libertarian movement. It's just the y axis (from authoritarian to libertarian) on the right-left scale.

Time to switch to Rugby USA. No armour = no BS. Or play real Football like the rest of the World that you call for some strange reason Soccer.

How many times can Bill say Libertarian in one interview? Count along and drink each time he says LIBERTARIAN.

Change the national anthem. Bombs bursting in air blah blah is a bummer. America the Beautiful is a much more worthy anthem. "And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea."

Why can’t football change the rules? Tackling with shoulders rather than heads should be the norm, and if one tackles with their head, suspension.

Thats what I don't get about faux American patriotism. Isn't freedom and in turn your first amendment, what your anthem is based upon?

Want to stop injuries ... remove all padding. Play it like rugby. No padding and it becomes self regulating as the pain is instant.

Is Maher a libertarian? I couldn't tell. Probably doesn't matter. He'll be calling himself something else in a few years.

It's textbook risk compensation theory. These guys feel they can dive headfirst into people at full speed because they feel protected by all the armour and the helmet. Take away every protection and you'll see these problems less often and to lesser intensity.

Disrespecfulness solved: "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem, and if you would like to worship the flag, please kneel on one knee."

Solution to the national anthem issue: stop playing the national anthem at sports events. I don't understand why it is done. Sports events should not symbolize the nation's culture, especially when it means wasting the brains of young men for the entertainment of the idle in the stands, and the couch potatoes at home. We need something worthwhile to root for; then we can play the national anthem.

As a libertarian? Since when? He has disavowed calling himself a libertarian back in the 90's. And now he's all about it?

Get rid of the helmets and all the padding in american football. You cant hit as hard when you may break your own bones. Not a complete solution, but it may reduce the effects

America should start playing soccer. Wait! Injury rate in soccer is higher than football.

Wanna make football safer? Get rid of helmets. Who would lead with the head? Theres hardly any injuries in rugby

Oh there are many cringeworthy moments in the NFL. You wonder how brave these guys are for sacrificing their mental health.

Bill is now a libertarian? Just last year he was a liberal...mmm. identity politics as long as you think your on the right team is what counts..

Professional football players make a lot of money, the least the can do is respect the rules of the employer they work for. If they don’t like these rules, they can always go work somewhere else. Besides we don’t care about their political views

Libertarian, the philosophy of freeloaders, i love all the benefits for civilised society but i don't want to pay any taxes to pay for it.