A not insignificant number of athletes are notorious for resisting safety changes, even ones we all accept as objectively “good” or “smart” decisions.
It took 15 years between Plante wearing a goalie mask and goalie masks becoming universally adopted.
It took 10+ years between helmets becoming mandatory and helmets being universally adopted.
It’s taken 10+ years between visors becoming mandatory and visors being universally adopted (there are still a couple stragglers).
And we can assume it will take a similarly long time between when neck guards are made mandatory and when they become universally adopted.
These are all safety advancements that are scientifically proven to reduce injuries and, in some cases, death. Even when mandatory and widely adopted, we have ample evidence that given an avenue not to, some of those directly involved do not make the smartest decision and argue against safety improvements. This is very true historically in the NHL, F1, the NBA, the NFL, etc. This does not mean all athletes are “too stupid.” But often there is a lack of education involved:
Quote:
“I don’t think we should expect any improved leadership from the NHL,” Nowinski said. “They are not going to be leaders on this. This is on the players at this point. I don’t think the players are educated on the consequences of what these head impacts are going to do to them long-term. I doubt very many are aware that 19 of the first 20 NHL players that we have studied have had CTE.
“And I don’t think they understand how bad CTE can be and how much it can affect them. So there is a lack of respect for the brains of their opponents and an appreciation of their (own) brains. And I think people are still willing to try to take out a good player for the other team and take that suspension, and that’s not a culture that good players should want to play in. And so I would encourage them to take learning about CTE very seriously this summer and come and start taking steps to create a safer game. Because right now, if they get CTE, we can’t fix them.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/634...-nhl-playoffs/
If players don’t have all the information, are feeling pressured, or are physically/mentally unable (due to a head injury) of making an educated decision, how are they supposed to make one?
They can be terrible about making these decisions for the reasons above. It doesn’t make them “too stupid.”