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SPORTSSaturday 4 March 2017
NFL teams finding better value in running back revival
AP Sports Writer Wisconsin running back Corey Clement prepares to run the 40-yard dash at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, March 3,
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As 2017, in Indianapolis.
Todd Gurley and Ezekiel
Elliott spent the past two Associated Press
years crashing through
conventional wisdom, Dal- the passing game opened Then came the dual-back- From 2012-2016, only four and Atlanta won the NFC
vin Cook saw the NFL’s two up and the salary cap be- field craze. The concept running backs were taken championship by using es-
emerging stars as some- came more prohibitive, was two solid backs were in the first round and none sentially two productive
thing bigger. He viewed team officials searched for better than one great one was selected in 2013 or feature backs to give quar-
them as change agents, younger, cheaper answers. because they could stay 2014. Things are changing terback Matt Ryan more
as role models, as trend- Former Denver Broncos healthier and productive. again. After Seattle rode balance on offense.
setters, paving the way coach Mike Shanahan was That was followed by the Marshawn Lynch to a Su- “Running backs went
for college football’s next so masterful at using late- over-30 idea — don’t per Bowl title and almost a through this period of — we
great runners. Now, with round draft picks or even waste money on an over- second, Gurley broke the blame that on Denver and
a whole group of backs undrafted rookies behind the-hill back. The stats first-round drought and be- Mike Shanahan, where you
ready to cash in on the his seemingly invincible mostly backed it up. The came the 2015 Offensive can always get your run-
success of Gurley and El- zone-blocking scheme, ev- result: Each philosophical Rookie of the Year. ning back in the seventh
liott, Cook is looking to do eryone thought they could adaptation made running Elliott won the 2016 NFL round,” said Rams general
more than join the cause. do it. Others tried, with backs less valuable on rushing title and led Dallas manager Les Snead, who
He wants to create his own mixed results. draft weekend. to the top seed in the NFC, drafted Gurley.q
story in the league’s run-
ning back revival.
“After that draft class with
Todd and Melvin (Gordon),
and then Ezekiel came af-
ter those guys, I’ve defi-
nitely seen it (the value
of running backs) go up,”
Cook said Thursday at the
league’s annual scout-
ing combine. “If you put
us in the right system, we
can help teams win ball
games.” It sounds strange
coming from a league
that once treated work-
horse feature backs with
the reverence of today’s
franchise quarterbacks.
But as the rules changed,
Britain’s soccer associations to fund dementia research
ROB HARRIS signs of Alzheimer’s disease Football Association , FA, CEO Martin Glenn, left, and FIFA Presi- That was a possible con-
AP Global Soccer Writer after their brains under- dent Gianni Infantino smile during a press conference after the sequence of repeated im-
LONDON (AP) — A large went post-mortem exami- 131st International Football Association Board (IFAB) annual pacts to the brain, includ-
study is being funded by nations. general meeting at Wembley stadium in London, Friday, March ing heading the ball and
Britain’s soccer associations A greater sample size is re- 3, 2017. concussion injuries from
to try to determine whether quired for fresh research head-to-head collisions.
players are more prone to and English Football Associ- Associated Press “The ball today weighs 450
developing dementia. ation chief executive Mar- grams — it’s a different
The announcement was tin Glenn said that a “mas- than it is in the population National Hospital for Neu- ball,” Glenn said. “What
made on Friday by the as- sive” study led by university as a whole? You need lots rology and Neurosurgery might the impact be of
sociations after they used researchers will receive “six and lots of data on that.” showed that four brains heading the ball today?”
a meeting of soccer’s law- figures” in funding without The research published last were found to have chron- In 2015,
making body to back the specifying further as to the month by University Col- ic traumatic encepha- the U.S. Soccer Federation
introduction of electronic estimated amount. lege London and Britain’s lopathy (CTE) pathology. recommended a ban on
devices on the sidelines to “We’re obviously taking headers for players 10 and
enhance player welfare, it seriously, but one has to under in a bid to address
including assessing poten- be proportionate,” said concerns about the im-
tial concussions by watch- Glenn, who was alongside pact of head injuries. The
ing video replays. his counterparts from the United States has also seen
The renewed focus on Scottish, a $1 billion settlement be-
degenerative damage tween the NFL and thou-
to footballers’ brains fol- Welsh and Northern Irish sands of its former Ameri-
lows research published federations. “The research can football players who
last month that highlighted that we’re scoping out ... is have been diagnosed with
potential dangers of re- really to look at one simple brain injuries linked to re-
peated blows to the head thing: Is the incidence of peated concussions.
in soccer. Six of 14 former dementia greater in profes- “It’s a massively different
players were found to have sional footballers, or former game,” Glenn said. q
professional footballers,
