FOOTBALL PHYSICS

(SFX:  SMASHING, GRUNTS, ROAR O' THE CROWD ) 
     ITS BEEN SAID THAT AFTER PLAYING A GAME OF TACKLE FOOTBALL A PLAYER FEELS
LIKE HE'S BEEN  IN A CAR CRASH.  AND IT'S NO WONDER WITH ALL THAT TACKLING, SAYS
PHYSICIST DAVID HAASE AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY.  HE KNOWS SOMETHING
ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF WHERE HE GREW UP.
     
     Haase: "The reason I know so much about football is I grew up in south louisiana
and everybody in south louisiana knows about football." 

     HE ALSO KNOWS ABOUT FOOTBALL BECAUSE HE'S A PHYSICIST WHO'S STUDIED ALL
ABOUT FORCE--THAT'S WHAT YOU FEEL WHEN AN APPLE FALLS ON YOUR HEAD OR WHEN
YOU TRY TO PULL TWO MAGNETS APART OR WHEN A 220 POUND LINEBACKER SLAMS INTO
YOU AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. 

     Haase: "we figured out that a 220 pound linebacker who collides with a runner is
carrying about as much . . . energy as a bowling ball dropped off the 13th floor of a
building." 

     TRYING TO CATCH A BOWLING BALL FALLING FROM THE 13TH STORY IS, OF
COURSE, A DIZZYING PROSPECt.  IT'S NOT QUITE THAT BAD FOR A FOOTBALL PLAYER SINCE
THE FORCE IS SPREAD OUT OVER A LARGER AREA BY THE PADDING. 

     Haase: "In football the padding is always very soft on the side towards the player,
but usually its very hard on the outside and the reason for that is that if you're in a collision
you want the force. . . spread over as wide an area as possible."

     THE HARD PLASTIC ON THE OUTSIDE SPREADS THE FORCE EVENLY AROUND THE
BODY, BUT THE FORCE OF THE TACKLE CAN STILL DO SERIOUS DAMAGE AS ANYONE
WHO'S WATCHED A GAME KNOWS.  ITS WHY MOST OF US ARE CONTENT TO REMAIN
ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACKS.