Collision

In his book, A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football, Paul Zimmerman quotes a physicist who made a rather startling discovery. When a 240 pound football lineman (capable of running 100 yards in 11 seconds) collides with a 240 pound running back (capable of covering the same distance in 10 seconds), the resultant kinetic energy is “enough to move 66,000 pounds—or 33 tons—one inch. The scientist says further that in all likelihood, the collision would deliver to the player’s helmet a blow nearly 1000 times the force of gravity.

Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 26