Why are players more athletic now than they were 20 years ago?

[BuckNaked]

Evolution doesn't happen in 20 freaking years man. If anything, if we are evolving as a species we are getting slower and weaker.  A Neanderthal that had to hunt and kill for food would destroy the typical human.  It's all about training and sports science.  

[imminent rogaine]

1 hour ago, csx said:

That's training. Evolution doesn't solve for making people faster. It solves for reproduction. This is what I heard an evolutionary biologist sayou when debunking the paleo diet. I don't know if it applies here but it sounds good to me.

 

But whatever it does it doesn't make football players faster in 20 years. I've taken enough science in my life to know that. These guys parents aren't out running cheetahs to fug and make football players.

On paleo: I've read where humans used to have like 2 enzymes in their saliva that broke down carbs into energy but have evolved to have like 8.so now we are super efficient at making energy from wheat/grain. So essentially, completely shunning wheat and grain is fighting thousand of years of evolutionary advancement. 

[Jangler]

fruit roll-ups

[Captain Obvious]

hd cameras. ped use. training year round. younger kids focusing on just one sport.

[csx]

1 hour ago, imminent rogaine said:

On paleo: I've read where humans used to have like 2 enzymes in their saliva that broke down carbs into energy but have evolved to have like 8.so now we are super efficient at making energy from wheat/grain. So essentially, completely shunning wheat and grain is fighting thousand of years of evolutionary advancement. 

Interesting. The take I heard was that the diet that was being mimicked was great for reproduction.  Super high fat and protein intake in order to reproduce a bunch before dieing in the 20s. It did not make people live long healthy lives.

[electro's horse]

2 hours ago, iamcline said:

So your primary logic is camera quality?

So instead of posting your own opinion (which I see you have now done) you wanted to take a jab at me all because you don't agree with me. Ok, bud. Maybe I just read that wrong, let me get a new monitor so I can see it clearly.

You said something really stupid. 

Im not going to humor you like it's some freshman level debate class. 

Dont get butt sad. 

[Archimedes]

4 hours ago, CamMoon said:

 

I'm watching the 97 Playoffs where we play Dallas in the divisional round. I haven't watched an old game in a while, and I dont think I've ever watched any NFL game in its entirety that happened to be that old.

That being said, the players look clumpy, stiff, and a heck of a lot slower than todays players. Deion Sanders is the only guy that looked like he had the speed to play in todays NFL. Visually the game just looked slower, and it dragged along. What has changed in 20 years? Note, these guys look a lot bulkier than guys today.

Sent from my LGLS992 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

 

A lot has to do with the popularity of the NFL.  The players in 97 grew up in the 70s, the players today grew up watching football in the 90's, by that point it had already become the most popular sport in America.  More kids watching football means more kids want to grow up and become football players.  The talent pool expanded because the number of kids playing football grew exponentially.

Same as what Tiger Woods did for the game of golf.  All the sudden the sport was cool, and the youth involvement in the game exploded.  20 years later look at how much better pro golfers are in general vs the 90s.

[nosuchthingasapanther]

you wouldn't see this 20 years ago... 

is a cat choke slamming another cat evidence of evolution advancement, or is it the advancement of technology?

[pstall]

More youths play a particular sport year round.

When i played sports in middle and high school we would play 3 and 4 dif team sports a year. This was late 80s. Early 90s kids started playing one sport YEAR round. Thus they started to really hone their craft.

Then training and tech explodes and we got this.

[OneBadCat]

Another thing that might visually have an effect is that the padding of today's players is much sleeker and more conforming. It was bulkier back in the day.

[h0llywood]

Running in Nike Speed Lows instead of chuck Taylor's on spikes can help your 40.

20-40 years ago, football was supplemented by a day or summer job. Today, NFL is a lifestyle.

 

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

21 minutes ago, OneBadCat said:

Another thing that might visually have an effect is that the padding of today's players is much sleeker and more conforming. It was bulkier back in the day.

still remember jake and his long-ass floppy sleeves when the rest of the league had moved on

[AU-panther]

More population to choose from.  Same reason larger high schools usually are better then smaller ones.  The fast guys back then were just as fast, just not as many of them.  

Training, diet, specialization, equipment, offensive philosophies(more power running) defenses bigger maybe?

Some of it is just perception.  Deion Sanders was faster then probably any corner in the league right now.  Daryl Green? Rod Woodson would compare favorable to today's safeties. Larry Allen?

Would those early 90s Cowboy's teams be competitive today?  I would think so, so their talent can't be much worse.

There are a lot of reasons why the players of today might be better, but in reality the difference isn't as much as people on here think probably.

[Khyber53]

Training is a big part of it and high speed cameras let coaches really examine how a player runs and what changes in technique can trim .1 seconds here and there. Conditioning and nutrition are greatly advanced and players are often in programs to improve from the time they are in their early teens, if not sooner.

Also, you can't rule out advances in equipment. Pads are lighter and more streamlined, and shoe technology keeps moving right along (with some evolutionary dead ends like toe shoes...) with lighter weights and more grip on specialized surfaces.

And then there is the brass ring effect. More and more money as the prize for being the best pushes athletes to reach farther and try harder, year after year.

And never discount the affects of offseason drug use.