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Dierdorf spent his entire 13-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals, and that led to six Pro Bowl selections and five first-team All Pro selections. Dierdorf played through multiple injuries and enjoyed a stretch from 1974-78 during which he rarely gave up sacks. Dierdorf made the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the color analyst for Michigan football.
This time they were joined by the American Football Coaches Association, the National Football Foundation, the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, and the NCAA Football Rules Committee USA Football. That January proposal was voted on and accepted Friday by the Division I Council. Balancing player workload has also been an awkward issue for the NCAA in court. In an effort to compensate for it, teams are allowed to start training camp a week earlier to further spread the practice schedule out.
For instance, in 2015 Bret Bielema stopped doing them at Arkansas. Georgia Tech nixed them last offseason. And others scaled the practice back, like in 2015, when Georgia only scheduled one day of them, and it was rained out.
The paradigm has shifted to be smarter about how players train in a violent sport. You’ll never take all the contact out of the game, but reducing it is important to player safety.