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| Shepard to @NewsdaySports “I’m not worried about (the concussions). This is what I love to do and it’s how I take care of my family. Yeah I do have two kids and I think about it from time to time, but I’ll make that decision later on down the road.” |
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| “They’ve been saying stuff,” he said of people nudging him away from football. “But I’m gonna fo what makes me happy and this is what makes me happy. I’m going to continue to do that until I feel like it’s a little too much.” |
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| What’s a little too much? “When I get fed up with it.” |
They live with pressure, anxiety, and danger on a daily basis that most people cannot comprehend. And their families often worry in fear that they won't come home.
I can't believe anyone from the New York metropolitan area can't understand or appreciate.
And to be brutally frank, I find you views on minimalizing the risks they experience to be offensive.
Cops like in the NYPD have a very stressful and often dangerous job. Every call is a crapshoot with your life and career possibly on the line. Add now the growing sentiment that cops are "bad" and perpetuate injustice as opposed to pillars of the community and it is a wonder anyone would choose to be a cop in a big city. Thankfully, some do, even knowing what the job entails and how it is currently viewed by society.
I believe ten NYPD officers have committed suicide this year alone.
And you are supporting, and worse, enjoying an activity that you believe is ruing people's lives.
I can't fathom the mental gymnastics you go through to justify that position.
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going to get hammered on this, but I think everyone is overreacting here. It sounds like Shepard was surprised he was even diagnosed with a concussion and even held out.
I completely understand the concern about head injuries, but I wonder if the pendulum has swung to far in the other direction.
Do you guys realize that under the new rules that Jeff Hostetler would not have been allowed to continue to play in Super Bowl XXV?
I agree, mostly in the sense that - we REALLY don't know how severe the concussions have been.
Yes, I know any concussion is serious, but no one can tell me they are all equal.
No, but they can tell you they are all potentially dangerous.
I could get mowed down by a bus walking to my car after work today, freedom and liberty means freedom to ascertain an appropriate level of risk in one's life.
And you are supporting, and worse, enjoying an activity that you believe is ruing people's lives.
I can't fathom the mental gymnastics you go through to justify that position.
I am not going to play the insult game with you, I am just agreeing with the NFLs position as we don’t really have a way of measuring concussion severity reliably. I never told anyone to stop watching football as you suggest.
They live with pressure, anxiety, and danger on a daily basis that most people cannot comprehend. And their families often worry in fear that they won't come home.
I can't believe anyone from the New York metropolitan area can't understand or appreciate.
And to be brutally frank, I find you views on minimalizing the risks they experience to be offensive.
Eric, I like your sentiment but the fact is that sanitation workers are at a higher mortality risk than police officers in NYC.
De Nile ain't just a river in Egypt
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Interesting that 2017 was cited as the year for the statistics for dangerous profession, that year was a noted "down year": 95/fatalities per 100,000 as opposed to 144 fatalities per 100,000 for 2018. Oh, and 2016 was 159 fatalities per 100,000. Police fatality statistics 2018 - ( New Window )
Wrong. The rate is NOT 144 per 100,000. 144 is the total number of occupational deaths. The rate for 2016, since you brought that up, was 14.6 per 100,000. The most dangerous occupation in 2016 was logging, with 135.9 fatalities per 100,000.
My sincere apologies Greg, that was a mis-read error on my part. That said only truck drivers, farm workers, and construction workers had more total deaths in their respective professions. Point being, police work isn't fishing in Mayberry.
The argument was that policing really isn't all that dangerous.
To me, that's like saying that statistics prove that serving in Afghanistan isn't all that dangerous.
It defies common sense and logic.
Cops can get hit accidentally by other drivers during a traffic stop. Or someone may pull a knife or a gun on them. Someone infected with HIV can bite them.
And the nay-sayers here seem to be all ignoring the daily stress of dealing with these dangers. And you don't have to live in Baltimore, DC, NYC, Chicago, etc. to be live under this danger.
Christ, probably the first reality show was "Cops", which was immensely popular because viewers lived vicariously through the danger.
I get it. There is a lot of anti-police sentiment in the Northeast now. But don't be stupid enough to say police work isn't dangerous.
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In comment 14640939 bw in dc said:
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got speared as a freshman WR on his high school team. It was a brutal, intentional hit. And he was not the same kid for nearly the next 8 months. Fortunately, his head cleared up and he's now fine. But I no longer allow him to play. The sport is just too brutal for my tastes for my kid.
So if Shephard can get out of the game with his health mostly intact then good for him. Smart move if he does it.
My oldest three kids go to a pretty affluent DC-burb public high school. The varsity football team is in shambles. Very few seniors on the team, have sophomores and juniors who have never played organized football before ... starting. Getting beat by 25, 35, 45 points a game.
I don’t think football is in danger of extinction ... but in more affluent areas, it’s gotta be taking some big hits.
I personally wish that wrap tackling (like rugby) became required. Good hard wrap tackling would still look like football to me ... and spare a lot of brains (see eg the two gruesome injuries in the GB v Iggs game).
Totally agree. I argued this last week on a different thread. If football was just tackling, and not hitting, the game would be in a different place in terms of how it's viewed and the participation levels. Unfortunately, there is a mindset at the high school level where it is still coached to inflict damage through hitting. And the helmet is leveraged as a weapon...
Look, I get it. I still have some old school in my veins. But somewhere along the path the idea of the helmet got perverted. And it went from protective device to weapon...
My kids go to Chantilly HS. The participation levels have decreased at a rapid pace. So much so that they had to combine the freshman and JV teams to even field another non-varsity team.
Agreed. I actually think it could be changed within a few years — and it would still be “football” ... does anyone think rugby is too “soft”?
Personally, I don’t want my 15 year old son to play ... I even wince when he heads a soccer ball ... maybe I’m just getting soft in my old age, though, don’t watch boxing either. I’ve had a few too many concussions myself (which I’m reminded of when I can’t remember where I parked the car lol).
ConcussionFoundation.Org Football Experts weigh in
Science behind waiting till 14
Concussions are going to remain a problem until the proper rule changes (many of which won't be popular) are made all the way from High School to the Pros. I doubt you can eliminate CTE outright, but you can keep concussions down by enforcing Rugby Rule wrap up tackling only, no using the helmet, shoulder glancing blow tackles. Helmets need to be taken out of tackling, too many people are using their head because they think their head is protected by a shell of plastic.
It won't be popular, but Football has gone through this before. Football was almost eliminated, but thanks to Teddy Roosevelt, it was saved (by rule changes). Here's a quote from the article:
With little protective equipment, players sustained gruesome injuries—wrenched spinal cords, crushed skulls and broken ribs that pierced their hearts. The Chicago Tribune reported that in 1904 alone, there were 18 football deaths and 159 serious injuries, mostly among prep school players. Obituaries of young pigskin players ran on a nearly weekly basis during the football season. The carnage appalled America. Newspaper editorials called on colleges and high schools to banish football outright.
“The once athletic sport has degenerated into a contest that for brutality is little better than the gladiatorial combats in the arena in ancient Rome,” opined the Beaumont Express. The sport reached such a crisis that one of its biggest boosters—President Theodore Roosevelt—got involved.
How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football
ConcussionFoundation.Org Football Experts weigh in
Science behind waiting till 14
Concussions are going to remain a problem until the proper rule changes (many of which won't be popular) are made all the way from High School to the Pros. I doubt you can eliminate CTE outright, but you can keep concussions down by enforcing Rugby Rule wrap up tackling only, no using the helmet, shoulder glancing blow tackles. Helmets need to be taken out of tackling, too many people are using their head because they think their head is protected by a shell of plastic.
It won't be popular, but Football has gone through this before. Football was almost eliminated, but thanks to Teddy Roosevelt, it was saved (by rule changes). Here's a quote from the article:
Quote:
At the turn of the 20th century, America’s football gridirons were killing fields. The college game drew tens of thousands of spectators and rivaled professional baseball in fan appeal, but football in the early 1900s was lethally brutal—a grinding, bruising sport in which the forward pass was illegal and brute strength was required to move the ball. Players locked arms in mass formations and used their helmetless heads as battering rams. Gang tackles routinely buried ball carriers underneath a ton and a half of tangled humanity.
With little protective equipment, players sustained gruesome injuries—wrenched spinal cords, crushed skulls and broken ribs that pierced their hearts. The Chicago Tribune reported that in 1904 alone, there were 18 football deaths and 159 serious injuries, mostly among prep school players. Obituaries of young pigskin players ran on a nearly weekly basis during the football season. The carnage appalled America. Newspaper editorials called on colleges and high schools to banish football outright.
“The once athletic sport has degenerated into a contest that for brutality is little better than the gladiatorial combats in the arena in ancient Rome,” opined the Beaumont Express. The sport reached such a crisis that one of its biggest boosters—President Theodore Roosevelt—got involved.
How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football
Great post. And amen to that.
My point was that people wilfully sign up to do dangerous jobs. Pro football players sign up to play a dangerous sport and now it even turns out CTE rates are higher than expected in soccer.
People sign up for dangerous jobs for their own reasons, money, benefits, family occupation, lifestyle, the rush and thrill, the glory.
The point was not whose job is most dangerous, it was that people from all walks of life freely accept dangerous jobs as their occupation.
Not too long ago, the NFL and football hid the studies indicating brain damage from repeated hits to the head. By this time players are aware of the issue. The league rightfully was forced to take action. Given the information, players are free to play or move on to another career.
If Sterling Shepard decides that playing football is acceptable risk that is a decision for his family and him to make. He has the information. The team is trying to diminish permanent damage as required by league rule (and legal action that caused the rule changes). Until it becomes apparent that a player is not competent to make this determination, he is free to choose to play.
ConcussionFoundation.Org Football Experts weigh in
Science behind waiting till 14
Concussions are going to remain a problem until the proper rule changes (many of which won't be popular) are made all the way from High School to the Pros. I doubt you can eliminate CTE outright, but you can keep concussions down by enforcing Rugby Rule wrap up tackling only, no using the helmet, shoulder glancing blow tackles. Helmets need to be taken out of tackling, too many people are using their head because they think their head is protected by a shell of plastic.
It won't be popular, but Football has gone through this before. Football was almost eliminated, but thanks to Teddy Roosevelt, it was saved (by rule changes). Here's a quote from the article:
Quote:
At the turn of the 20th century, America’s football gridirons were killing fields. The college game drew tens of thousands of spectators and rivaled professional baseball in fan appeal, but football in the early 1900s was lethally brutal—a grinding, bruising sport in which the forward pass was illegal and brute strength was required to move the ball. Players locked arms in mass formations and used their helmetless heads as battering rams. Gang tackles routinely buried ball carriers underneath a ton and a half of tangled humanity.
With little protective equipment, players sustained gruesome injuries—wrenched spinal cords, crushed skulls and broken ribs that pierced their hearts. The Chicago Tribune reported that in 1904 alone, there were 18 football deaths and 159 serious injuries, mostly among prep school players. Obituaries of young pigskin players ran on a nearly weekly basis during the football season. The carnage appalled America. Newspaper editorials called on colleges and high schools to banish football outright.
“The once athletic sport has degenerated into a contest that for brutality is little better than the gladiatorial combats in the arena in ancient Rome,” opined the Beaumont Express. The sport reached such a crisis that one of its biggest boosters—President Theodore Roosevelt—got involved.
How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football
I coach rugby in the spring and was never allowed to play football. We have a fair number of players who overlap and I was shocked at how hard it was for some of them to adjust to a rugby style tackle. Rugby teaches you to target a hip, hit with shoulder and wrap with arms, and get your head behind the body. Apparently, these kids are still taught to put their heads across the body for football. Some of these guys have been tackling that way for five years or longer and they're only 14. How many direct collisions is that to the head over that span of time factoring in not only games, but full contact practices and drills? Seems insane to me.
Our AD is trying to get the state to make Rugby a varsity sport and is using the concussion argument so we've been tracking it. We had a total of two concussions all last season in what amounts to 10 full length games (some preseason tournaments had shortened games), one of them was a fluke where two of our own players bumped heads trying to tackle the same player. It's just a safer, more dependable way to tackle in general and I don't know why so many teams hesitate to implement it at all levels.
There was one study was deemed flawed because they used the brains of deceased people who had CTE and live subjects who thought that they had some form of CTE going into the tests instead of the normal randomly chosen group. So of course the test subject number will automatically be higher.
There are numerous newer reports (within the last couple of years) that have stated that while there still is an inherent risk for CTE when playing football. The risks are nowhere near as bad as the press has made it out to be. These newer reports also have football further down the list of sports for potential CTE behind soccer, hockey and even extreme sports. Remember. Terrible news sells. Good positive news, not so much.
Is this something that needs to be properly looked at and full discussed? Yes 100%. However it also has to be looked at factually and objectively to make sure that anything that is done, is done properly and not as a result of flawed data or by media pressure.
Well, isn't that even more of a reason to be cautious going forward?!
There isn't a single Neurologist in the country who would tell you that head trauma is good for the brain! Based on that simple fact, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that football isn't good for the brain either. And given how little the medical community knows about the human brain, I wouldn't take a back-seat approach to the issue if I were the league.
In SBXXV, Jeff Hostetler was visibly playing concussed.
In his case, it worked out for the best. For others, it didn't and doesn't.
I'm not sure where you're going with this line of thought.
Are you saying you disagree with Concussion Protocols?
I fully realize this is a minority position.
But the decision should be made by the team doctor and the player.
Right now, if a player even shows signs of a concussion, he is automatically out of the game and next week's game at the very least.
I fully realize this is a minority position.
But the decision should be made by the team doctor and the player.
Right now, if a player even shows signs of a concussion, he is automatically out of the game and next week's game at the very least.
It sucks, but to me, it's definitely a case of 'better safe than sorry.'
As for Sterling Shepherd, if he's already thinking that way, then I wonder how much effort he's gonna have chasing balls in traffic over the middle?
I'd hate to lose him, but he's got a fat bank account and a long life ahead of him.
Why put it at risk?
I fully realize this is a minority position.
But the decision should be made by the team doctor and the player.
Right now, if a player even shows signs of a concussion, he is automatically out of the game and next week's game at the very least.
Eric, totally agree with you are saying in this thread.
RG3. I know, it wasn't a concussion, but that's all you need to know about players, teams and their concerns for safety in the heat of the battle.
RG3. That's why the player and the team can't make the call.
If I were Shep I would retire. But I’m not a professional athlete. They are wired differently. They make these kinds of decisions differently. They can’t be protected from themselves or it would ruin the sport.
Superb point.
Also, why have games on Thursday?
The BS just keeps piling up.
Thanks for good posts.
Bad idea, actually awful idea.
The team has no incentive to protect the player.
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I think I've been pretty clear on this. They are now being too cautious with the concussions.
I fully realize this is a minority position.
But the decision should be made by the team doctor and the player.
Right now, if a player even shows signs of a concussion, he is automatically out of the game and next week's game at the very least.
Yeah - I'm good with that rule.
It sucks, but to me, it's definitely a case of 'better safe than sorry.'
As for Sterling Shepherd, if he's already thinking that way, then I wonder how much effort he's gonna have chasing balls in traffic over the middle?
I'd hate to lose him, but he's got a fat bank account and a long life ahead of him.
Why put it at risk?
You have no idea if they are being too cautious, hell they might not be cautious enough, we don’t really know. As for the player having a say, definitely NOT, especially if they are concussed can they really make a lucid decision and the pressure to get back in during the game is just too great.
Again, just to piss some folks off, I see some virtue signaling going on here. Football is a horrifically violent game that uses players and discards them, even when they don't suffer concussions.
As fans, we celebrate players who "suck" being cut, which usually means their lifestyles radically change for much worse. How many of these guys have very little education and few prospects after football? (See Bobby Johnson being forced to sell his Super Bowl ring and losing a finger in an industrial accident as just one example). How many can't walk normally in middle age? How many die in their 50s and early 60s?
But we're supposed to be more outraged over concussions that players have experienced in this sport since it was invented? We should all feel bad for ANY lasting physical or mental impact on a player. We shouldn't celebrate any bottom-tier player being fired and seeing his personal financial welfare radically diminish. We shouldn't celebrate another player getting injured on the field (I see the latter posts all of the time).
The good news is the NFL is taking this more seriously, trying new equipment, trying new rules. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be working. Either that or they are simply reporting more concussions now (or I suspect, concussion-like symptoms).
Again, if you are personally appalled/disturbed by concussions being suffered in this sport, I can't fathom why you watch. Concussions will always be a part of this game. I would guess that there are about 20-30 concussions suffered every weekend in the NFL.
On top of all of this, just think about the lower levels of football. How many high school and college teams are qualified to "diagnose" a concussion and take appropriate steps? I would imagine very few.
As some have alluded to above, I think one of the central issues here is the gladiatorial nature of the game. We celebrate player toughness. We marvel at LT playing with a torn pectoral muscle. Or Jack Youngblood playing on a broken leg. Look at how Giants fans romanticize how beat up Eli Manning was in the 2011 Championship Game.
Meadowlander says Jeff Hostetler should have been pulled from Super Bowl XXV. I personally think that would have been a TRAGIC result, not only sacrificing the team's chance to win a title, but also sacrificing one of Hostetler's most amazing moments in his life.
My point in all of this? If you like football, accept that people are going to get hurt, and hurt horribly. How that is managed must be addressed, but there also has to be balance.
At the same time, the NFL is full of shit on much of this. If you want to protect players, stop expanding the # of games. Stop playing football on Thursday night.
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In comment 14640686 Eric from BBI said:
Quote: I completely understand the concern about head injuries, but I wonder if the pendulum has swung to far in the other direction.
Do you guys realize that under the new rules that Jeff Hostetler would not have been allowed to continue to play in Super Bowl XXV?
There is no single objective diagnosis for a concussion. Nor is there any definitive treatment for a concussion. It's absurd to believe the NFL is being too cautious here. If anything, the NFL concussion protocol is a band-aid on a problem that needs surgery.
Shepard should take the rest of the year off and reevaluate in the off-season.
While I agree, I will also disagree to some extent. The NFL is still using the flawed and incomplete reports that were initially used back as far as 2012 to 2015. It is a knee jerk reaction to a bunch of really bad press.
There was one study was deemed flawed because they used the brains of deceased people who had CTE and live subjects who thought that they had some form of CTE going into the tests instead of the normal randomly chosen group. So of course the test subject number will automatically be higher.
There are numerous newer reports (within the last couple of years) that have stated that while there still is an inherent risk for CTE when playing football. The risks are nowhere near as bad as the press has made it out to be. These newer reports also have football further down the list of sports for potential CTE behind soccer, hockey and even extreme sports. Remember. Terrible news sells. Good positive news, not so much.
Is this something that needs to be properly looked at and full discussed? Yes 100%. However it also has to be looked at factually and objectively to make sure that anything that is done, is done properly and not as a result of flawed data or by media pressure.
Source?
Really? Holy conspiracy theory.
It's all about the $.
There was a time when the game was quite lethal. There was a minority of fans who enjoyed it maybe, but the players and the majority of fans recognized the barbarism and those forces pushed the game in a safer direction.
And something totally crazy happened; the game exploded in popularity.
Football is a beautiful, cerebral, tactical, and physically wonderful game.
Dragging a guy down to an elbow or knee doesn't have to be blood sport. It's no more brutal than Judo.
It's a physical sport, and people will get injured. But with better medicine, technology, coaching, rules, and a dose of humanity from fans, football can have another renaissance in safety and popularity.
Brain safety will advance if the league, the players, and maybe most importantly the fans require it.
Maybe the worst among us get off on the kill shot, gladiator elements. I tend to think those among us are dodos.
Of course they should. But you know the answer. The owners don't want to pay out more money to the proletariat.
Unless you are Jason Witten or Ben Watson...
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gets into a player's mind, its generally only a matter of time.
Once a player gets into the NFL, it's generally only a matter of time.
Once they're born, really.
Turns out 225mph+ for stock cars causes INSANE accidents. FANTASTIC TV and really wonderful racing, but guys were getting maimed and killed at an unacceptable rate.
So now, restictor plates basically mean you're watching trains race - it's all about the draft, boring as hell, viewership and attendance in decline.
The sport is dying because of safety.
I'm good with that. I wasn't watching to watch people die.
You'd drive home with a carload of contusions and bruises. All fun - but we didn't realize people were literally dying there.
Eventually litigation and insurers catch up to entertainment that doesn't take care of it's performers or it's audience.
The NFL is doomed to the same fate as NASCAR, as Action Park.
It's nobody's fault - it's an unsustainable model.
Not as much fun to watch slow racing, not as much fun to watch football when all your favorite players are on IR, but that's the nature of the business.
Turns out 225mph+ for stock cars causes INSANE accidents. FANTASTIC TV and really wonderful racing, but guys were getting maimed and killed at an unacceptable rate.
So now, restictor plates basically mean you're watching trains race - it's all about the draft, boring as hell, viewership and attendance in decline.
The sport is dying because of safety.
I'm good with that. I wasn't watching to watch people die.
Yeah I hate restrictor plates, too. But while the accidents were spectacularly bad, who was actually maimed? Last guy I remember was Dale Earnhardt in a basically innocuous accident on the last lap of the Daytona 500 and that was because his seat belt broke after it had been altered for some reason. Those cars are built like tanks - maybe safer than tanks.
I'm just drawing a blank and I was a huge race fan up until 10 years ago, maybe.
I love football for two reasons, the chess match that goes on, and the inherent violence of the game.
Sneakers is 100% on point here. It's going to be quite a while (if ever) before we get to the point where we know what an "acceptable" level of brain trauma. CTE is a result of cumulative hits to the head, along with possible genetic issues that may make some people more vulnerable.
What IS known is that cumulative hits to the head for those exposed 12 years or younger result in worst outcomes than those over 12. Also, those with longer careers have a greater chance for CTE.
I suspect in the next few years, we will see "Smart" helmets in the NFL that record impacts real time. Perhaps we might see the equivalent of a "Pitchers Count" in football, so if you get a certain level of impacts, you will need to sit out for a while.
I still think that in the meantime, we need to make rule changes that force tackling to go back to what it used to be back in the early part of the 20th century (form tackles, not impact blows, similar to Rugby tackling). You didn't really see the impact/using the helmet tackling on defense before the impact of TV (especially ESPN, who glorified it and made it popular).
The current NFL rules don't go far enough, and actually are counter productive (they limit not hitting the head, and not hitting too low, but they don't do enough to stop non form blow tackles. I think some sort of "softer" helmet (with better materials than leather) would be useful, people won't lead with the head if they are afraid of hurting themselves.
And I don't agree with all about the game being "less" exciting if you take the killer impact blows out. Rugby is just as physical, but a much safer sport because of the emphasis on form tackling.
Anyway, when you get the constant injuries because of impact tackling, it's not so exciting when your favorite players are on the IR, is it? That's the reality we face today.
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Yeah I hate restrictor plates, too. But while the accidents were spectacularly bad, who was actually maimed? Last guy I remember was Dale Earnhardt in a basically innocuous accident on the last lap of the Daytona 500 and that was because his seat belt broke after it had been altered for some reason. Those cars are built like tanks - maybe safer than tanks.
I'm just drawing a blank and I was a huge race fan up until 10 years ago, maybe.
Bill Elliot set the NASCAR lap speed record at Talledega in 1987 at 212 mph.
Restrictor plates arrived in 1988 for safety and 'competition' - pre-restrictor plate racing commonly had only a few cars on the lead lap by the end, Earnhardt's death is actually typical of the shitty racing I speak of with a TON of cars on the lead lap at the finish, a late caution and people driving like assholes to the checkered flag.
Earnhardt died driving the way he always did. Being an asshole to the end, this time blocking faster traffic so his kid or teammate could win. Noble, but reckless and that time finally cost him. (he'd done it COUNTLESS times before)