Agree! Any game where head impact and shearing are chronic & intrinsic elements should be changed. They should certainly not be played by minors.
Brain injury, like radiation, is cumulative over a lifetime and irreversible, even in repeated small doses. No game is worth the grief and horror of untreatable premature dementia in young and middle-aged people.
Brain injury, like radiation, is cumulative over a lifetime and irreversible, even in repeated small doses. No game is worth the grief and horror of untreatable premature dementia in young and middle-aged people.
The NFL has always spoken as though concussion in football was comparable to a bruised knee in cycling. Concussion has always been a dangerous issue which became increasingly so as more was learned about the human brain. They lied and got compromised doctors to support them...for a fee. They even were shown to have tried to destroy the career of a pathologist who dared to be honest. The chickens are home roosting. People like Gruden and the NFL will pay the piper. They may change the rules all they want. I no longer care about that business.
3
So what happens when these kids get to high school and to those few who go on to play collegiately or in the pros. Surely this is not a blueprint for the game at its higher levels. Don't get me wrong, anything that can be done to reduce head trauma should be done but for who knows how many, aren't you just postponing the inevitable? Football is a very dangerous game. Many parents are choosing not to roll the dice. More power to them.
3
Love the Gruden quote!
1
Yep.
Gruden sounds scared, as he should be. Rather than address the issue, he goes after the opposition with alternate facts: "There are a lot of geniuses that want to eliminate all sports." Like brain-dead boxers, the football establishment is on the ropes, throwing wild jabs. Not many parents are willing to risk their children's brains for the sake of the NFL's future, no matter how many millions the NFL invests in USA football.
6
I think what he's getting at is that the "geniuses" may not be looking at all the data and making and objective decision... it's easy to throw the baby out with the bath water...
Here's the takeaway: Jon Gruden--not a genius.
6
Looking at the pictures, it seems some of the kids are much bigger than others. Maybe weight classes as well as age classes would be a good idea; after all, mass is a big part of the equation Force = mass x acceleration.
4
Wars, excellent field medics, more survivors, epidemic of traumatic brain injury among them, deep understanding of traumatic brain injury, sudden deep understanding of head injuries in sports, decreased participation by parents, and a generation later, decreased advertising, because everyone is watching their new favorite sport.
1
The ideas recommended for youth football are a very good start - and flag football is a really good idea as well. If the contact is limited as is projected and there is a minimal amount of head contact, the amount of head injuries for youth football should drop immediately. Then the issue will become: what happens in high school? Maybe the high school rules need to be changed as well.
3
Jetsons episode featured George, Mr. Spacely watching robotic Pro Football players. Automation is the rocking, socking answer.
4
Football is very different from baseball, basketball and hockey, where you have to develop skills at a young age.
A kid who never played football who all of a sudden shoots up in height in the 9th and 10th grade, is strong, and is one of the fastest kids in the school, could not only make the team, but soon be the star of the team.
A kid who never played football who all of a sudden shoots up in height in the 9th and 10th grade, is strong, and is one of the fastest kids in the school, could not only make the team, but soon be the star of the team.
2
This is exactly it. No other sport rewards raw athleticism like football does.
"Violent ground acquisition games such as football is in fact a crypto-fascist metaphor for nuclear war." ---Back to School. Football is a horribly violent game that cultivates and perpetuates detrimental macho influence in schools and society at large.
3
This may save kids in the suburbs but where it really counts? Nah. Stadiums full of ravening fans, profit-hungry TV networks will insure that many boys and their fathers still seek football as road to riches and glory.
5
I played the game in high school, and my son played all the way into college. Both of us sustained concussions during our playing days, and in my opinion, playing this game is not worth turning your brain into mush. I can hardly watch the pro game anymore (I should have quit cold turkey by now, but I haven't), knowing what we know about the prevalence of brain injuries. The game should be banned altogether.
14
My belief is that boys 12+ are going through puberty and have their testerone shooting upward. They want to test themselves in physical contact. I sure did. I believe this is in our genes -- watch puppies or bear cubs tussle and wrestle, honing skills they will need later.
The skills humans need later in life now are navigating through a grocery store and around a computer. But you can't take our genetics out of our psychology. Boys wanna exert their newfound muscles -- in football, or lacrosse, or basketball, or baseball -- and we can't lose sight of that while trying to protect them to the Nth degree.
The skills humans need later in life now are navigating through a grocery store and around a computer. But you can't take our genetics out of our psychology. Boys wanna exert their newfound muscles -- in football, or lacrosse, or basketball, or baseball -- and we can't lose sight of that while trying to protect them to the Nth degree.
1
Or you could do tennis, swimming, gymnastics, diving, skateboarding, track and field,...... There are non contact sports out there. Also, hip hop is quite popular among both girls and boys.
7
have them wrestle or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
2
American football is in the midst of a steady decline; the violence and its after effects have become too large to go unnoticed by the public, parents and their children. There was a time not so long ago that boxing captivated the public in large numbers. Today, boxing is a largely marginalized affair; it's deliberate violence and the havoc it reigns on its participants should be the warning sign for the NFL, college football, and youth football. The American version of football is on it's death watch.
10
Gruden's a well paid shill for a declining game.
NFL does not want to control the late hits QB's are taking - letting 275 lb. of rage crush them at will - while other defenders are rolling around the ground into their stationary legs. It's a grim game without a qualified pro QB.
And they wonder why ratings are dropping!
NFL does not want to control the late hits QB's are taking - letting 275 lb. of rage crush them at will - while other defenders are rolling around the ground into their stationary legs. It's a grim game without a qualified pro QB.
And they wonder why ratings are dropping!
5
The only safe way to play football -- especially for kids or when you don't get paid for it -- is on a PlayStation™.
7
applies to many things...."once you get smart, you can't get stupid."
Gruden's comments are ample proof of what a lifetime of playing football can do to your brain.
12
I believe that any kid that plays football or any contact sport should get their brain checked out at least 3 times a year. It is good that they are finally realizing changes need to be done. Millions of kids have gotten concussions from getting cracked open like an egg. I’m by far not against kids waiting for a certain age to play any contact sport, but kids need to realize how to tackle properly. Coaches need to teach them the right way, not have them try and hurt the other team on purpose. When you get struck to the head bang goes the two helmets and next thing you know you have a concussion because you were out there trying to hurt someone rather than just having fun while playing the game. I believe that any kid that plays any contact sport should have knowledge about the game and doesn't go out there to hurt someone.
1
Anytime science provides empirical evidence that runs contrary to long-held cultural traditions, there's friction, and in some cases a dismissive retrenchment, as in the cases of the coach using "geniuses" flippantly.
I bet that coach used to be a jock who ruled the fields, overpowering the smart kids. Well, the smart guys win in the end, and now they have loads of evidence that threatens not only sports culture but the personal identity of sports people.
Personally, I welcome scientific knowledge. Truth isn't fearsome. Funny, as a scrawny kid on the gridiron, I was once called a pansy. Who's terrified now?
I bet that coach used to be a jock who ruled the fields, overpowering the smart kids. Well, the smart guys win in the end, and now they have loads of evidence that threatens not only sports culture but the personal identity of sports people.
Personally, I welcome scientific knowledge. Truth isn't fearsome. Funny, as a scrawny kid on the gridiron, I was once called a pansy. Who's terrified now?
10
Football should go back to its roots. Similar padding to rugby and or minimal helmets with no face mask. Take away the helmet and the game gets safer. Reduce the padding and contact changes. I have played both rugby and football. Rugby doesn't have the violent collisions due to no helmet or pads.
8
If you have never experienced a violent collision in rugby, then I would suggest getting outside the scrum, as an outside center or wing, and play against a service academy team.
Navy would eat your dead.
Navy would eat your dead.
we could ban hard contact football, but then underground play would pop up for sure, like dog fighting, because adults will still want their children to play.
At the grownup level, consider logging, fishing, construction, truck driving coal mining, motor racing, all high risk activities. adults can play sports for a while and quit early- coal miners and construction workers can't.
Loggers have about a 5% lifetime risk of dying on the job. You and I have about a 1% lifetime risk of being an auto fatality.
So even if a football player has a 5% risk after a 10 year carrer, he's no worse off than the poor slobs who have to log or fish and they get a whole lot more money for the risk.
At the grownup level, consider logging, fishing, construction, truck driving coal mining, motor racing, all high risk activities. adults can play sports for a while and quit early- coal miners and construction workers can't.
Loggers have about a 5% lifetime risk of dying on the job. You and I have about a 1% lifetime risk of being an auto fatality.
So even if a football player has a 5% risk after a 10 year carrer, he's no worse off than the poor slobs who have to log or fish and they get a whole lot more money for the risk.
One out of three pro football players develop serious brain injury.
1/ 3 = 33% which is considerably larger than 5%.
1/ 3 = 33% which is considerably larger than 5%.
6
i don't have a skull in the game, but... what's wrong with swimming?
8
Swimming favors skinny kids with long appendages like feathery wings, not the average kid and certainly not the huskier kids.
2
You've never been to a high school swim meet, huh? Just like NFL players, the highest level swimmers (Olympians) are freaks of nature who did nothing but swim, swim, and swim for decades. But I've seen good, chunky swimmers win heats and races in high school because, like wrestling, much of swimming is technique. Show me a kid that's excellent at starts and turns and I'll show you a kid that'll win races.
4
Soccer is the best: fits all young bodies.
2
The smart thing to do would be to have no tackle football for children, to play touch or flag football exclusively. That way the children can run, pass, and block all they want without introducing their heads into impacts which each other. Then, introduce tackle when the players' bodies are mature enough to provide the bone and muscles to absorb the shock upon the head.
3
Football is a violent game. That's why we go. We go to drink beer, eat snacks, dress funny, bond with other males, scream and we enjoy the violence. That's why the crowds are so big. When is the last time you saw a large crowd at a chess game?
3
Your comment is Neanderthal thinking.
(Look it up.)
(Look it up.)
1
we used to have human gladiator fights as well but we evolve.
2
"Nervous parents" and "paranoid" moms...sigh.
Seems like there is research backing the concern, not just paranoia and loose emotion. There are plenty of reasonable parents who understand and accept that every sport can include contact and injury. But finally, non-crazy sports parents are saying, "I get it
My kid is most likely not going to play in the NFL or even college, so yes, let's not risk lifeling, permanent brain injuries." Finally, sports parents are being sensible and realistic...I wouldn't call that "nervous" or "paranoid." Now, do what Edmonton did and bring non-checking hockey to 13-15 yo leagues A level and lowrr.. There will always be contact, but checking caused concussions and spinal injuries in the 13-15 yo range are high. Kids that age can be 4'8" or 6'2". Waiting longer and making sure kids have top notch control on their skates should be pursued by USA Hockey. Right now, kids are dropping out at 12yo, the last age for non checking and can't play non checking until 18 adult leagues.
Seems like there is research backing the concern, not just paranoia and loose emotion. There are plenty of reasonable parents who understand and accept that every sport can include contact and injury. But finally, non-crazy sports parents are saying, "I get it
My kid is most likely not going to play in the NFL or even college, so yes, let's not risk lifeling, permanent brain injuries." Finally, sports parents are being sensible and realistic...I wouldn't call that "nervous" or "paranoid." Now, do what Edmonton did and bring non-checking hockey to 13-15 yo leagues A level and lowrr.. There will always be contact, but checking caused concussions and spinal injuries in the 13-15 yo range are high. Kids that age can be 4'8" or 6'2". Waiting longer and making sure kids have top notch control on their skates should be pursued by USA Hockey. Right now, kids are dropping out at 12yo, the last age for non checking and can't play non checking until 18 adult leagues.
3
Growing up in the Bronx we played two hand touch through our early twenties. Typically it was eight on a side with a five man line and since we were playing on black top no tackling. There was blocking and you could get your bell rung. No uniforms and no equipment and no adults.
1
Two dacades too late, but who wants to play this sport and get hurt when you can play basketball, soccer or baseball?
5
Do you know what it's like to take the handoff and charge through a hole at right tackle, sidestepping a linebacker, running over the cornerback and stiff-arming a safety on your way to the end zone?
It's really, really, really good.
It's really, really, really good.
1
Just give it up NOW! Make the switch to flag football and sever the game's ties to a gladiatorial past ... for the kids, and for the adults they'll become.
6
This just makes a lot of sense. As the evidence of the health risks associated with concussions continues to strengthen, all contact sports will need to assess how much contact is safe and acceptable. My kids play rugby and there have already been substantial changes in rules governing contact to minimize risk and there will surely be more. I sincerely hope these contact sports can be modified sufficiently to ensure they are reasonably safe for kids, adults and professionals alike. But I worry that the fun police will take things too far by losing perspective and overlooking all the fantastic aspects of team sports.
1
Seems like a bald-faced mercenary membership drive.
If they want to be helpful, they should shut down and get out of town.
If they want to be helpful, they should shut down and get out of town.
4
Anybody that plays football ought to have their head examined.
13
Sooner or later, unfortunately, they will.
13
I played football in my schools' programs from 7th grade through 12th grade--and have the knee surgeries to prove it. Personally, I don't think kids should be allowed to play football before they are in 9th or 10th grade. Kids playing any sooner than that is crazy. I had one serious concussion in 12th grade, and had my "bell rung" a handful of times in high school. Of those of my friends who, like me, only played through high school and no further, none of us have suffered any apparent brain deficits or neurological disease and we are all 60 years old or older. But my knees did take a beating which only really manifested itself 20 years later, and my other friends have either knee or shoulder or neck problems probably related to football.
Also, I agree with a comment by an earlier commentator who observed that back in the 70s we weren't constantly pumping iron and drinking protein shakes as part of our training, so we weren't really physically capable of seriously hurting each other playing football. But since I left high school in 1974 (and a little before that), junior high and high school football coaches began adopting college-level training techniques to turn kids into physical specimens capable putting the hurt on someone. Even with the impairment of my knees, I would probably do it all over again because it was a lot of fun and good camaraderie, but parents should really be reluctant to let their kid get involved at too young an age.
Also, I agree with a comment by an earlier commentator who observed that back in the 70s we weren't constantly pumping iron and drinking protein shakes as part of our training, so we weren't really physically capable of seriously hurting each other playing football. But since I left high school in 1974 (and a little before that), junior high and high school football coaches began adopting college-level training techniques to turn kids into physical specimens capable putting the hurt on someone. Even with the impairment of my knees, I would probably do it all over again because it was a lot of fun and good camaraderie, but parents should really be reluctant to let their kid get involved at too young an age.
5
The NFL is our version of Roman gladiators. Most fans don't watch because they love the game or its nuances, they watch because they get to feel part of a tribe and enjoy the violence of the game. Good riddance to it.
8
How about not playing? Also, don't "play" mixed martial arts, or motor sports. How about the ZILLION other sports?
2
Because, Drew. Football appeals to a lot of kids, it doesn't cater to just one body type, and it's the biggest participation sport at the high school level in America. Most sports cut kids and you have to be an elite athlete to play. Not the case in football.
Some kids get revved up running. Some love chess. Some love football. Make room for them all.
Some kids get revved up running. Some love chess. Some love football. Make room for them all.
2
There are no try out for cross country. Anyone can join and during the races, both guys and girls start the same time. EVERYONE races at every race
2
A modest proposal for the NFL: When a defensive player hits an opponent so hard that it forces him to leave the game, the defensive has to sit out as long as the other player is out. A further wrinkle would be two infractions of this sort in a game would cause the defensive player to be ejected for remainder of the game.
5
I think this will show a growth in Youth Rugby.
1
"Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University have now identified the degenerative disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in 96 percent of NFL players that they’ve examined and in 79 percent of all football players." - PBS
Any responsible parent should know that Football is not safe for their kids.
As an FYI, as of last year, headers are no longer allowed in youth soccer - at least in AYSO and Club Soccer in CA.
My children play rugby, and I do see concussions from time to time. Mainly from kids running into each other, not really from tackling. This can happen in any sport though.
Any responsible parent should know that Football is not safe for their kids.
As an FYI, as of last year, headers are no longer allowed in youth soccer - at least in AYSO and Club Soccer in CA.
My children play rugby, and I do see concussions from time to time. Mainly from kids running into each other, not really from tackling. This can happen in any sport though.
3
Erica, why do you think people send their loved ones' brains to BU to get studied? It's because they suspect CTE in the first place.
Those %s don't mean that (e.g.) 96% of those who play in the NFL end up with CTE. It means that 96% of those who suspected their deceased former NFL players had CTE were, in fact, correct.
Moreover, there is a HUGE difference between even playing high school football and college, let alone pro. The Mayo Clinic performed a study several years ago and found no higher incidence of head injury, neurological conditions, or the like between former HS football players and their peers who didn't play.
I'm not saying that there isn't risk in football -- there are. But the data that you are presenting -- and that is in this article -- does not present a fair and accurate assessment of that risk.
And for what it's worth, the concussion statistics on rugby are worse than football. It's not the head-to-head collisions in football that are the biggest risk. It's slamming your head on the turf -- and that risk is as great in rubgy as it is in football.
Those %s don't mean that (e.g.) 96% of those who play in the NFL end up with CTE. It means that 96% of those who suspected their deceased former NFL players had CTE were, in fact, correct.
Moreover, there is a HUGE difference between even playing high school football and college, let alone pro. The Mayo Clinic performed a study several years ago and found no higher incidence of head injury, neurological conditions, or the like between former HS football players and their peers who didn't play.
I'm not saying that there isn't risk in football -- there are. But the data that you are presenting -- and that is in this article -- does not present a fair and accurate assessment of that risk.
And for what it's worth, the concussion statistics on rugby are worse than football. It's not the head-to-head collisions in football that are the biggest risk. It's slamming your head on the turf -- and that risk is as great in rubgy as it is in football.
3
"This can happen in any sport though. "
No, it cannot. Not in track and field, not in swimming, not even in Greco-Roman wrestling. It happens in sports with running teams competing for balls on a turf playing field.
Basketball, baseball and hockey similarly do NOT have problems with concussions, even though there is frequent player contact.
No, it cannot. Not in track and field, not in swimming, not even in Greco-Roman wrestling. It happens in sports with running teams competing for balls on a turf playing field.
Basketball, baseball and hockey similarly do NOT have problems with concussions, even though there is frequent player contact.
2
If you have to pad your body, put a helmet on your head and protect your face, really, put on war gear, and call it sport, something is wrong. I don't like the game. I can't call it a sport, I fail to see the sport if the object seems to be a brutal and dangerous one. I wouldn't watch a war, I shouldn't watch football. I've heard coaches have rewarded those that injure the better players on the opposing team. I believe that. The game is primitive, and destructive. The by-product of all this tough stuff, might be a subnormal functioning of the brain, a deficiency of cognition later in life. There are many possibilities to having a brain constantly jostled about, without an extreme jarring. That extreme jarring might not happen constantly, but certainly, it happens. Like the Roman Circus, some are amused by this male show of cruelty and competition, but more are finding it senseless and demeaning to our better natures. Sure...this is one woman's view.
3
As a lifelong Raider fan I am very disappointed in Jon Gruden's comments. Claiming some sort of conspiracy is afoot to eliminate football, much less all sports, is patently ridiculous.
I loved football, but am probably lucky that I only played for three years in high school and three more in fraternity flag leagues in college (which were at least as violent as any tackle games in high school, only without much head-to-head contact). I would likely have suffered more serious permanent damage due to my tendency to hurl my body recklessly about.
I am not bothered that my three sons, all bigger, stronger and faster than me, never developed an interest in the game. They are probably better adults for having stuck to other pursuits.
I loved football, but am probably lucky that I only played for three years in high school and three more in fraternity flag leagues in college (which were at least as violent as any tackle games in high school, only without much head-to-head contact). I would likely have suffered more serious permanent damage due to my tendency to hurl my body recklessly about.
I am not bothered that my three sons, all bigger, stronger and faster than me, never developed an interest in the game. They are probably better adults for having stuck to other pursuits.
5
There is another option. I coached my Jr High son this year in TackleBar football. It is a new modified form of football that was introduced last year. Real Football without tackling. Players all wear a TackleBar harness which is strapped to their lower back. There is contact but no high-impact collisions. Very safe, there were eight teams and the only injury was 1 broken arm (I've seen more then that in my daughters soccer season). It is a much better option then flag and safer then full contact. The kids had a blast and the mom's were not paranoid about seeing their sons injured.
Check out their website tacklebar.com
Check out their website tacklebar.com
3
Just checked out the video, thanks. Looks like a nice alternative while preserving football tactics. It might even be safer than soccer, given the helmets/pads.
Jon Gruden should be ashamed. Parents who want to actually parent SHOULD be concerned about tackle football. And Gruden should not try to shame them.
5
Well he doesn't play football, either. He just watches.
1
As a physician, I'm well aware of what repeated blows do to the body and brain. This effect is of course much worse in a developing, immature body; these new rules will perhaps mitigate some the worst injuries, but any parents who allow their youngsters to go out on the football field need to do a lot of soul searching. Their decision may have irreversible consequences for the rest of their offsprings' lives. This game should not be played in any form by anyone not able to make an informed decision about their participation.
11
Partly to blame is specialization of sports in grades 7 through 12. In my day (60's) we played all sports and "getting in shape" for football meant wind springs and calisthenics. We did not have a weight room.......anywhere. School programs have been "professionalized". Today, kids choose a sport, have regimented weight-building, strength and diet programs. Many high school football players today are large, strong, and can deliver violent hits, resulting in more concussions. Today, I would not play football.
7
I agree, at my school in Argentina we had 'seasons' and everybody did everything: track and field, cross-country running, soccer and Rugby for the boys / Field Hockey for the girls.
I played about half of a season in 6th grade, circa 1976-1977. I was too small and not fast but I enjoyed it. I had one glorious tackle, a monster hit on a receiver (I was a safety). I saw stars after the hit and that ended my career.
6
So I'm a female rugby player. Stay with me here.
I can't help comparing football to rugby (particularly in America), every time I watch it. I think a huge part of the problem is how football is designed. While rugby certainly has its issues, it is MUCH safer than football. For one, anything other than wrap-tackling is illegal. Fewer pads mean less destructive hits, backwards passing and play structure virtually eliminate the blind-sided, open-field WRECKAGE that is NFL football. All sports are contact sports at the end of the day (except maybe track?), but there are ways to design a game so that it's safer.
Similarly, the majority of rugby players in America don't pick up tackle until high school, at least near me.
I can't help comparing football to rugby (particularly in America), every time I watch it. I think a huge part of the problem is how football is designed. While rugby certainly has its issues, it is MUCH safer than football. For one, anything other than wrap-tackling is illegal. Fewer pads mean less destructive hits, backwards passing and play structure virtually eliminate the blind-sided, open-field WRECKAGE that is NFL football. All sports are contact sports at the end of the day (except maybe track?), but there are ways to design a game so that it's safer.
Similarly, the majority of rugby players in America don't pick up tackle until high school, at least near me.
3
Wow. Rugby SAFER than American football? Not from the statistics I've seen.
Really? Because everything I've read is the opposite. Rugby players do not tackle with their heads, and the risk of high-speed collisions is certainly less (specifically in 15s). Besides, when was the last time you heard of a rugby coach paying players extra to take out players?
2
Why do we have to keep reminding parents that their own children are not a representative slice of the population, and that analysis of one's own offspring is probably subject to more bias than any other matter?
Jon Gruden. Genius.
3
My nephew plays lacrosse and loves it, while my two nieces play soccer and lacrosse. My brother and his wife didn't want their kids receiving head injuries. As for my favorite game, its Team Handball, which I only catch every four years during the Summer Olympics. I wished they played pro tournaments here. The women's game is more popular too. Team Handball is a combination of basketball, red rover, soccer, and lacrosse and is high energy. The only gear you need is mouth guard, a net, a ball, and sneakers.
2
Wow. If you think not playing football eliminates risk of concussions or other serious head trauma, you are sadly mistaken.
The risk of concussion from hockey and soccer is not materially different than football -- and lacrosse is not far behind.
There is a risk of head injury in every sport -- even running and tennis.
The risk of concussion from hockey and soccer is not materially different than football -- and lacrosse is not far behind.
There is a risk of head injury in every sport -- even running and tennis.
Hi Thom,
I think one of the big issues is sub-concussive impacts. In football, players in certain positions endure those on every play. Not so in soccer. In soccer there is the issue of "heading" the ball, but rules are being changed -- certainly at the pre-HS level -- to prohibit that.
I think one of the big issues is sub-concussive impacts. In football, players in certain positions endure those on every play. Not so in soccer. In soccer there is the issue of "heading" the ball, but rules are being changed -- certainly at the pre-HS level -- to prohibit that.
2
When I was in middle school, I begged my parents to let me play football. They said no, and I begged more. And more. And more. They relented when I was in 8th grade, and I made an immediate impression on my coach as "a hitter." I went on to play in high school, and would have played in college had I been good enough.
I suffered a concussion in 10th grade, and couldn't begin to fathom how many subconcussive impacts my head sustained as a tight end and defensive end. I remember some of the big hits, but I'd guess the more mundane ones would have done more damage overall. And I worry. not a lot, but a little bit in the back of my mind. I wonder if I will feel the impact of those hits more near the end of my life than I did in my teens.
I wish my parents hadn't given in. And I'm glad to be the parent of girls.
I suffered a concussion in 10th grade, and couldn't begin to fathom how many subconcussive impacts my head sustained as a tight end and defensive end. I remember some of the big hits, but I'd guess the more mundane ones would have done more damage overall. And I worry. not a lot, but a little bit in the back of my mind. I wonder if I will feel the impact of those hits more near the end of my life than I did in my teens.
I wish my parents hadn't given in. And I'm glad to be the parent of girls.
9
I played tackle football, in Florida, from 3rd grade through high school. From my experience, in the younger leagues, you don't get hit very hard and you learn fundamentals of e.g. tackling that actually prevent you from getting injured when you get older. This might have unintended consequences.
American football is a great game to watch on TV -- better than soccer, I think --fascinating, complex and dramatic. But it's an awful game to play.
I played Pop Warner and then HS in the early 70s. I quit after freshman year specifically because I did not like the sensation of hits on the head. (I remember the defensive players were coached to slap the heads of the receivers like me as we came off the line of scrimmage -- "ring their bell"). But I did get addicted to watching the game.
Meanwhile, I didn't play soccer as a child, but now once a week I head out onto the field to play with other adults. It's exhilarating, and no concussions yet. Meanwhile no one I know plays American football -- certainly no one in their 50s.
Perhaps there is some way to modify American football to keep it as dramatic and exciting but reduce the exposure of players to injury. If not, it will go the way of prize fighting -- once huge, now a niche sport.
I played Pop Warner and then HS in the early 70s. I quit after freshman year specifically because I did not like the sensation of hits on the head. (I remember the defensive players were coached to slap the heads of the receivers like me as we came off the line of scrimmage -- "ring their bell"). But I did get addicted to watching the game.
Meanwhile, I didn't play soccer as a child, but now once a week I head out onto the field to play with other adults. It's exhilarating, and no concussions yet. Meanwhile no one I know plays American football -- certainly no one in their 50s.
Perhaps there is some way to modify American football to keep it as dramatic and exciting but reduce the exposure of players to injury. If not, it will go the way of prize fighting -- once huge, now a niche sport.
2
People love football, so I applaud the efforts to make it safer. I don't think they're there yet, however.
Great piece.
So easy to make the game safer, especially for younger players. It is the greatest game ever invented, and it is nice to see us taking some easy steps to make it safer for kids.
So easy to make the game safer, especially for younger players. It is the greatest game ever invented, and it is nice to see us taking some easy steps to make it safer for kids.
It's our current climate. As opposed to getting the info out, accepting responsibility,...looking for compromise,....
You dig in and Say, I'm right and you're the Enemy:)
But from when I played as a youth (1980s) it seems to be significantly safer. You were praised for using your head/helmet, getting your "Bell Rung" and continuing to play back then.
All sports carry risk, so does driving, walking to school,..but I don't think anything has more potential risks than Tackle Football for kids?
Make it as safe as possible and let folks decide for themselves.
You dig in and Say, I'm right and you're the Enemy:)
But from when I played as a youth (1980s) it seems to be significantly safer. You were praised for using your head/helmet, getting your "Bell Rung" and continuing to play back then.
All sports carry risk, so does driving, walking to school,..but I don't think anything has more potential risks than Tackle Football for kids?
Make it as safe as possible and let folks decide for themselves.
1
The rest of the world just calls it soccer instead of turning their children into battering rams.
2
TV ratings are going down. Superbowl tickets are easier to get this year, per the Boston Globe. Movies/books/articles about concussions are legion. Aaron Hernandez' murder trial continues to dominate the news in my neck of the woods.
Football is in irreversible decline, and no one is happier than me.
Football is in irreversible decline, and no one is happier than me.
7
Football can be a remarkably violent game.
My kids never ever played it, thank goodness. They played soccer.
It's a parent's number one job to keep their child safe until they are an adult and can make their own choices. Keeping them away from tackle football and the damage it can do strikes me as a good place to start.
I do not watch college or professional football games. They repulse me. I am not entertained watching young men trying to give one another concussions.
My kids never ever played it, thank goodness. They played soccer.
It's a parent's number one job to keep their child safe until they are an adult and can make their own choices. Keeping them away from tackle football and the damage it can do strikes me as a good place to start.
I do not watch college or professional football games. They repulse me. I am not entertained watching young men trying to give one another concussions.
5
Changes to youth football? At some point they start to hit each other and the damage begins.
1
Played youth football when I was 12 to 13 years old. Knocked out once with helmet to helmet contact, also cracked a rib and sprained a knee. Missed one practice with the cracked rib and was called a "sissy" when I showed up for practice not dressed for contact. No water during practice... coach said it was bad for us. Have things changed? I hope so.
8
It was the NYTimes that originated the concept of free range kids. I let my kids swim in the creek, bang their thumbs with hammers, drink from the hose, and jump from tall trees. I also let them play tackle football. I have no criticism for helicopter parents, who truly have their kids' best interest in mind. But I'm also willing to accept the small risks and let my kids pursue their own interests in the face of those risks. I'm also a social scientist, and I recognize that "statistical significance" doesn't equate to "magnitude of effect." In other words, the consequences may be real, not due to sampling error, and they may (or may not) be substantial to those affected. But the risk is miniscule compared to the risks we accept everyday, like getting behind the wheel of a car. To the offense of helicopter parents everywhere, I will let my kids risk it. I will also let them ride a bike with no helmet, and enjoy the childhood I enjoyed, without worry, fear, and neurosis.
10
Great post.
Let them smoke cigarettes too!
2
I am not aware of any databases for either grammar school or high school football regarding the incidence of CTE from which one could draw the inference that the risk is small. certainly the emerging evidence for college and undoubtedly professional football is that the risks are significant. that said, I am not making an argument from this data to extrapolate backwards to youth football. of course you are free to do as you wish with regard to the risks to which you yourself allow your children to be exposed. as children of the fifties and sixties, my brothers and I have a long history of visits to the ER and to hospitalizations, none of which resulted from participation in organized Sports of any sort. while I do not regret any of the the activities that led to our numerous trauma, I recognize we were fortunate there was nothing that was disabling or irreparable. I hope you and yours are equally fortunate
Can you say "the beginning of the end? Anyone who thinks otherwise is whistling past a graveyard. Boxing and horse racing used to be BIG, but look at them now. UC Berkeley had a boxing team in the mid-sixties, when I attended.
1
MMA and UFC is hugely popular and more violent.
2
ExPeterC: I grant you that MMA and UFC are highly popular ESPECIALLY AMONG ITS DEVOTEES; but I maintain it's nowhere near as popular as boxing once was. I don't know how old you are; but you don't know much about the sport of boxing. They say every radio in the country was tuned to the Lewis/Scheming fight. And *everybody" knew the champions: The Brown Bomber (Joe Louis), Sugar Ray (Robinson), The Manassa Mauler (Jack Dempsey), The Raging Bull (Jake LaMotta), Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, and so on. Now tell me that these new "champions" spectacles are one percent as famous. in their day and even now.
Will UFC number whatever become legendary like Dempsey/Tunney or or Clay /Listen? I think not, do you?
Will UFC number whatever become legendary like Dempsey/Tunney or or Clay /Listen? I think not, do you?
One possible solution is, like rugby, to get rid of all the so-called protection - helmets everything . Clearly the pads etc is counter-productive to the health of the players by allowing them to continually beat their heads against one another and otherwise injure and re injure themselves. The game would become less violent because players are less likely to spear someone with an unarmored head and body. This is not to say there are no injuries in rugby, but it might be a way forward without diluting the essence of the game
2
I concur in theory but I would like to know what data there is on the incidence of CTE amongst rugby players.
With what we now know about football and CTE it is tantamount to child abuse to let your kid play football.
5
I will have nothing to do with football. I don't need people risking their lives in a effort to entertain me. If I watch it on TV or go to games and people get hurt I am complicit.
4
“Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance, competitive drive, selflessness and respect for authority is the price that each and every one of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” V. Lombardi
2
ahh the inevitable invocation of that well-known philosopher Saint Vincent Lombardi.
1
I'm the yearbook adviser at my school. I'd say my activity teaches all those skills as well.
1
Wonderful, very important skills.
This article troubles me because it masquerades as a news article but it is really an opinion piece. For example, it conflates the risks with playing at higher levels with the youth level. By citing to problems experienced by NFL players, it suggests that anyone who plays Pop Warner may develop CTE. But the studies I have seen on reptitive, non-concussive impact -- which are inconclusive -- deal with forces and numbers of repititions that simply are not present in youth football. To the contrary, a Mayo Clinic study found that youth football players did not suffer greater risk of injury -- whether head injuries, broken bones, or tissue injuries -- than their counterparts in baseball, soccer, hockey, or basketball.
Moreover, the article goes to lengths to discount a study performed by USA Football -- but then cites, without any reference to criticisms -- a highly questionable study that compared the percentages of NFL players who suffered permanent head trauma and concluded that those who played youth football were more likely to have those injuries.
I applaud the Times for its consistent devotion to an important topic. But its reporting has, over the years, displayed a consistent animus to a great game and fails to distinguish between NFL, college, HS, and youth football. Moreover, it fails to acknowledge that the risks of concussions in hockey and soccer are indistinguishable from football. A great game deserves better.
Moreover, the article goes to lengths to discount a study performed by USA Football -- but then cites, without any reference to criticisms -- a highly questionable study that compared the percentages of NFL players who suffered permanent head trauma and concluded that those who played youth football were more likely to have those injuries.
I applaud the Times for its consistent devotion to an important topic. But its reporting has, over the years, displayed a consistent animus to a great game and fails to distinguish between NFL, college, HS, and youth football. Moreover, it fails to acknowledge that the risks of concussions in hockey and soccer are indistinguishable from football. A great game deserves better.
1
Utter nonsense! I spoke to the people at Boston University and it is far too early to tell what the ramifications for your children might be from playing the game at such a young age. It is clearly Russian roulette you are playing with your children by allowing them to play the game. I don't see former soccer players suffering from CTE to the extent that we are seeing from former NFL players. At BU Medical Center, theyre is such a flood of interest in the matter that they are only taking brains from those who played at the NFL level. Some college and high school players, now deceased have also shown that there is CTE evidence found in their brains post mortem. As to those who seem who have been influenced by the "soccer is as bad" school. It is just a stalling tactic as football makes its way to a rightful and final death.
2
I do not demure from what you have said but I note that that you began your piece by calling this article opinion, not news. what else is your concluding sentence but opinion?
I'm not a journalist writing an opinion piece for the New York Times. I'm leaving a "comment."
Physical traumas to the brain takes a long time to heal. I learned that from my 16-year old son's accident two weeks ago; he fell (not from playing football), hit his head and suffered a mild concussion. His physician allowed him to return to school after two-days off. However, it has taken about 2 weeks for him to recover: he felt tired easily; his head hurt when trying to concentrate; did not feel like participating in class.
Extrapolating to students who play football, their brains would be under going a continuous healing process from frequent blows to their heads. A common observation ('joke') is that athletes do not do well academically as the other students; I now believe that it is caused mostly by the frequent traumas to their brains.
Extrapolating to students who play football, their brains would be under going a continuous healing process from frequent blows to their heads. A common observation ('joke') is that athletes do not do well academically as the other students; I now believe that it is caused mostly by the frequent traumas to their brains.
2
Ah, the Yankees and their stereotypes of football and all things Southern/Appalachian. My granny would call the thing you are riding a "high horse".
I'm not a huge fan of youth football but our kids did participate in it (no injuries minus one knee strain). Our children attend a high achieving school with an excellent football program, play football, and get straight A's. One minor concussion this year (10th grade) was dealt with aggressively and appropriately.
I hear of an equal number of head injuries in soccer, anecdotally, and given the early age soccer starts (and the range of training in coaches, not unlike youth football) how can you really assess a baseline of neurological functioning? Several years ago I went to a CEU that showed evidence that youth soccer was the predominant reason elementary school athletes went to the ED for head trauma, but I cannot site the source for this.
In my experience the big problem with youth football is the knucklehead parents who encourage kids do dumb things, but I see that in every sport. At least in football a diversity of body types and athleticism is beneficial. For the "bears" (as opposed to the "rabbits"), the only other are field events, and baseball (both spring sports). One can injure yourself rolling off the couch.
Basketball is the real soul killer here in the SEC. I know 12 year olds who play on several leagues, while the limit on team size means all but the elite sit in the stands.
I'm not a huge fan of youth football but our kids did participate in it (no injuries minus one knee strain). Our children attend a high achieving school with an excellent football program, play football, and get straight A's. One minor concussion this year (10th grade) was dealt with aggressively and appropriately.
I hear of an equal number of head injuries in soccer, anecdotally, and given the early age soccer starts (and the range of training in coaches, not unlike youth football) how can you really assess a baseline of neurological functioning? Several years ago I went to a CEU that showed evidence that youth soccer was the predominant reason elementary school athletes went to the ED for head trauma, but I cannot site the source for this.
In my experience the big problem with youth football is the knucklehead parents who encourage kids do dumb things, but I see that in every sport. At least in football a diversity of body types and athleticism is beneficial. For the "bears" (as opposed to the "rabbits"), the only other are field events, and baseball (both spring sports). One can injure yourself rolling off the couch.
Basketball is the real soul killer here in the SEC. I know 12 year olds who play on several leagues, while the limit on team size means all but the elite sit in the stands.
2
I spent my youth playing and watching football. I am of the generation - ages 50-70, who made the game the media giant it became. The game I occasionally watch now is not even close. And youth coaches, with their whistles, their false discipline, and their non-action, have become the laughing stock of youth sports. The opinions of Jon Gruden, like most in the game, are what is killing it. What part of 20% decline in both viewership and participation do they not understand. Who does he think pays his salary, and the exorbitant salaries of many others who have a vested interest in perpetuating the status quo? The TV version is unwatchable - slow, boring. Even worse to attend a pro or big college game, where you may sit for 5-7 minutes while absolutely nothing happens on the field. The youth version has been proven not only dangerous - all sports have risks of injury - but debilitating even if played correctly and not actually injured per se. Keep talking Gruden, keep thinking like you do. The more you do, the more the game will die a rightful death.
7
The simple solution here is to ban tackle football before high school. I am someone who played the game, starting at age 10, and would support such a ban. I don't think this is the 'end of football'. As long as boys want to play the game, the game will go on...
8
That's fair but I'm more in the starting 8th Grade Camp.
With strict rules on coaching/techniques.
The game is a lot safer now than when I played (early-mid 80s).
Boxing would "Go Away" way before Football.
With strict rules on coaching/techniques.
The game is a lot safer now than when I played (early-mid 80s).
Boxing would "Go Away" way before Football.
Football, like smoking will recede to a blue collar, poor persons sport. Already the white, professional class directs its kids to different sport. Rich kids won't play football.
26
Rich kids have been playing lacrosse for decades already. Football messes up their manicures.
Ryan, my son swims. He is likely to be armed with his full mental capacities at age 50, unlike most football players who play at the college and pro level.
2
There is no protection for a brain sloshing around in a skull; no matter what size helmet, no matter how many players are on the field, no matter how much money the NFL gives to influence your decision on your son's health, no matter what tackling robots Dartmouth College chases after, and no matter what names Jon Gruden calls you.
12
The most dangerous part of youth football is the school bus ride to/from the game. Do you realize that the kids don't even wear seat belts?
1
then the appropriate response is to take efforts to minimize this risk, not use it as an excuse to diminish the other.
2
Forty-six years ago I was a freshman football player. I remember getting headaches at practice from the hitting. We were not allowed to drink water. One hot day at practice I was so thirsty I found a straw on the ground and went to a sprinkler head that had water. I was told to run laps when I was caught. One morning on the way to school, the bus I was riding had it's radio on as usual. That's when I heard that an Atwater High School sophomore football player was killed the night before. My best friend. No counselors at the school, I just walked around school in a daze, crying.
27
Did you go into the military out of high school? If you did, I'm sure you faced a lot worse a mere four years after 9th grade. But what's done in boot camp is considered "necessary" and "honorable".
Did I miss the relevance here to the article?
Full disclosure: I love the game of Football. That being said, the day of reckoning is coming for youth tackle football in this country. The NFL and NCAA would be wise to mandate that youth tackle football be banned in the United States due to the disparate leagues, rules, coaching, etc that currently exists in the sport. Here is how youth and HS football should look in the future.
- Flag Football for ages 6-13
- Freshman year of HS is first year of tackle football. Not allowed to play in games. Practice only. Use this year to teach proper technique & fundamentals (see leverage/rugby based tackling).
- Sophomore year of HS be allowed to participate in JV football only.
- Junior & Senior year be allowed to play Varsity Football.
By creating a national set of rules and guidelines for youth and HS football, players will be entering the sport with close to 8 seasons of non-contact/blows to the head. The game will never be safe. The risk will always be there. But if the game is to survive, then drastic changes need to be made.
- Flag Football for ages 6-13
- Freshman year of HS is first year of tackle football. Not allowed to play in games. Practice only. Use this year to teach proper technique & fundamentals (see leverage/rugby based tackling).
- Sophomore year of HS be allowed to participate in JV football only.
- Junior & Senior year be allowed to play Varsity Football.
By creating a national set of rules and guidelines for youth and HS football, players will be entering the sport with close to 8 seasons of non-contact/blows to the head. The game will never be safe. The risk will always be there. But if the game is to survive, then drastic changes need to be made.
10
I have been playing and coaching football for 20 consecutive years now. I love this game with all my heart. No child should put pads on until they are 12, period. Even at 12 I believe you should spend one or two years practicing before you start playing games. Fundamental development is the key to safety. Learning to harness those fundamentals at full speed takes time and repetition. Head injuries are serious and should be addressed from the ground up, not from the NFL down.
24
Bill Simpson has focused his considerable expertise designing safety apparatus for motorsports onto the design of a revolutionary helmet. Shortsighted naysayers frequently object to the way it looks. Ask any racecar driver if Bill Simpson is to be trusted.
1
The Heads Up program is a joke.
My son 11 asked to play tackle, so I looked into what the Heads Up program is doing. The coaches get some training. I didn't see any evidence that this training is communicated to the players or parents, and they added tiny stickers to the BACK of the helmets that read, Heads Up. What kid can see the back of a helmet during a game? The stickers should be large, and on the front of the helmets.
My son still wants to play - but I can definitely see what repeated jarring of the cranium could do. I'll look into the new format for the game USA Football plans to introduce, and if it is for real, I will consider it.
My son 11 asked to play tackle, so I looked into what the Heads Up program is doing. The coaches get some training. I didn't see any evidence that this training is communicated to the players or parents, and they added tiny stickers to the BACK of the helmets that read, Heads Up. What kid can see the back of a helmet during a game? The stickers should be large, and on the front of the helmets.
My son still wants to play - but I can definitely see what repeated jarring of the cranium could do. I'll look into the new format for the game USA Football plans to introduce, and if it is for real, I will consider it.
4
Gruden's comments are offensive to parents everywhere, genius or not, who are concerned about the welfare of their children. Most of our kids are not going to receive football scholarships in college, and they certainly are not going to make millions of dollars playing the game professionally. We are making a sane cost-benefit analysis that there is no point in risking your cognitive abilities especially when there are other opportunities to participate in sports or other activities besides football.
8
Growing up in the city in the 60's, there were no organized after school sports activities for elementary school aged children in my neighborhood. Still, in the fall we played football every afternoon. We had enough sense, not having any pads or helmets, playing as often as not in the street rather than on grass, not to tackle anyone or hit them in the head. The blocking and two handed touches provided all the contact we needed. In fact, judging from what I saw with my children when they played sports in the ubiquitous after school leagues required because the mishnah of rules of American sports that used to be passed down from one American generation to another disappeared with parents' desires to produce scholarship winning athletes, we had a lot more exercise because coaches were not always stopping things to instruct us— we just ran around and had fun. I could care less if they abolish these leagues, but I think we had a lot more fun and exercise than most of the kids I see sitting on benches now being humiliated — intentionally or not— by Belichick wannabes.
3
Despite Mr. Hallenbeck's self serving and smarmy tone, I will stand up to say his attempt to save the NFL, which it is (after all no feeder of the fodder, no draft) is a travesty similar to allowing smoking to take innocent citizen's lives.
If brain injury were a rare event, then maybe but only with parents and kids having a full chance to seek alternative ways to be recognized for talent and athleticism and the worship that comes with it. But it is not. I know of at least two men who have been claimed by this problem and since I'm not at an athletic university setting to rub shoulders with many players, this alone is shocking to me.
Slick talkers who are selling a product (the NFL) need to be called out where ever they surface.
If brain injury were a rare event, then maybe but only with parents and kids having a full chance to seek alternative ways to be recognized for talent and athleticism and the worship that comes with it. But it is not. I know of at least two men who have been claimed by this problem and since I'm not at an athletic university setting to rub shoulders with many players, this alone is shocking to me.
Slick talkers who are selling a product (the NFL) need to be called out where ever they surface.
3
I find Coach Gruden's "jock strap" view disheartening. Those "geniuses" he refers to are called doctors... brain doctors... you know, neurologists.
I agree, "The solution is for boys to play flag football through junior high school."
Have the kids start wearing pads and helmets around 12 yrs old, blocking only with extended arms/flat hands through 15 yrs old, then full contact practice only 1 once a week starting at 15 yrs old, with 10 minute quarters... and eliminate kick-offs from all levels of play.
Here are a few other ideas to speed up the game: when your team is in the lead, no time outs allowed... no 2 minute warning time out... eliminate kick-offs... review plays in real-time from NFL HQ... allow for substitutions (no more gotcha quick snaps for an easy too many men on the field penalties).
Of course, it will take a very long time to change the Gruden-like, hit 'em hard culture so endemic at all levels of the game.
It does not help that the NFL has "militarized" the game at every turn with direct comparisons to going to war with military personal and hardware paraded out at every game.
And also encouraging fan on fan conflicts with visiting teams officially taunted rather than welcomed and respected. Attending a game with your family is impossible without being exposed to over the top foul language and drunken fools.
The game must change inside and out or it will be a thing of the past.
I agree, "The solution is for boys to play flag football through junior high school."
Have the kids start wearing pads and helmets around 12 yrs old, blocking only with extended arms/flat hands through 15 yrs old, then full contact practice only 1 once a week starting at 15 yrs old, with 10 minute quarters... and eliminate kick-offs from all levels of play.
Here are a few other ideas to speed up the game: when your team is in the lead, no time outs allowed... no 2 minute warning time out... eliminate kick-offs... review plays in real-time from NFL HQ... allow for substitutions (no more gotcha quick snaps for an easy too many men on the field penalties).
Of course, it will take a very long time to change the Gruden-like, hit 'em hard culture so endemic at all levels of the game.
It does not help that the NFL has "militarized" the game at every turn with direct comparisons to going to war with military personal and hardware paraded out at every game.
And also encouraging fan on fan conflicts with visiting teams officially taunted rather than welcomed and respected. Attending a game with your family is impossible without being exposed to over the top foul language and drunken fools.
The game must change inside and out or it will be a thing of the past.
6
agree. more rule changes for nfl and college football: 20 minute quarters, running clock. run out of bounds or incomplete pass, clock keeps ticking. 15 seconds to snap the ball after placed by the ref. No huddles allowed. similar rules for NBA and college basketball. fouls shots-clock runs. I watched my college team play this weekend. Took 18 actual minutes to play the last 1:50 on the clock. Ridiculous.
1
Football isn't going away. It's a blood sport and that's what 'the market' demands. Our culture is besotted with violence from kiddie cartoons, 'prime time' TV, computer 'games', the web--and the NFL. America loves violence. Football isn't going away.
don't forget the fascination and the growth in mixed martial Arts
I applaud the changes USA Football is trying to make, but I suspect that Mr. O'Neil is right - flag football through junior high is the answer.
The stumbling block to any of these changes is, as Mr. Belson suggests, the parents. Can they accept this as a method of reducing injury and protecting their children? It is also the football establishment, including meatheads like Mr. Gruden.
His insults do nothing to make the game better and ignore the concerns that parents, medical professionals, and society and general have raised about what is an inherently violent sport. I should know - I played it for a quarter of my life.
I love the game, watch it all the time, and have a six-year-old son who is passionate about it as well. He will play flag football this summer for the first season, and I have been clear that it is his only football outlet until much later in his growth. Thankfully, we have a local athletics association populated with football fans and parents not nearly as myopic as John Gruden who recognize that to change the game, you may have to change how we play it.
The stumbling block to any of these changes is, as Mr. Belson suggests, the parents. Can they accept this as a method of reducing injury and protecting their children? It is also the football establishment, including meatheads like Mr. Gruden.
His insults do nothing to make the game better and ignore the concerns that parents, medical professionals, and society and general have raised about what is an inherently violent sport. I should know - I played it for a quarter of my life.
I love the game, watch it all the time, and have a six-year-old son who is passionate about it as well. He will play flag football this summer for the first season, and I have been clear that it is his only football outlet until much later in his growth. Thankfully, we have a local athletics association populated with football fans and parents not nearly as myopic as John Gruden who recognize that to change the game, you may have to change how we play it.
8
Thank you, Mr. Belson and the Times, for your persistent reporting about brain damage due to tackle football, with emphasis on the fragility of the brains of young players.
8
His reporting is highly biased and there are major flaws in this article. But I am in agreement that youth football should not being until at least 6th or better yet 7th grade. But youth football players are no more likely to sustain a serious injury of any sort than their peers who play hockey, lacrosse, soccer, or the like. A Mayo Clinic study confirmed this.
If you come here to say "...there are major flaws in this article" and then leave it there, sorry, but that counts as an alternative fact. What are those flaws?
As for your Mayo Clinic study, so what? The logic of what you say can be compared to saying this: A person can die in their sleep, so sleeping is just as dangerous as getting hit by a car, or being in the kill zone of a nuclear bomb.
As for your Mayo Clinic study, so what? The logic of what you say can be compared to saying this: A person can die in their sleep, so sleeping is just as dangerous as getting hit by a car, or being in the kill zone of a nuclear bomb.
You seem to not understand that injuries occur in all sports, however, with American football the threat of brain injury is much great because it requires head to head contact on every play of the game. Soccer, la crosse and hockey do not. The Mayo clinic study was not about brain injury.
Just switch to real football, i.e. the game played with the foot.
11
The NFL is like Big Tobacco, when Big Tobacco insisted smoking didn't cause cancer, that second hand smoke was fine, that smoking isn't addictive.
If children start hitting their heads when they are 5, 6 years old, and then continue to hit their heads for the next 20 years, does anyone really think that that is good for your brain?
The latest study shows that 40% of NFL players suffer brain damage:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/40-percent...
Retired NFL players had to sue the NFL to get any money for their injuries. Finally, after years of dragging it out, the NFL settled the suit, but didn't have to admit any wrongdoing, as part of the settlement.
Just appalling.
Why would any sane person allow their child to play this game given what we now know?
If children start hitting their heads when they are 5, 6 years old, and then continue to hit their heads for the next 20 years, does anyone really think that that is good for your brain?
The latest study shows that 40% of NFL players suffer brain damage:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/40-percent...
Retired NFL players had to sue the NFL to get any money for their injuries. Finally, after years of dragging it out, the NFL settled the suit, but didn't have to admit any wrongdoing, as part of the settlement.
Just appalling.
Why would any sane person allow their child to play this game given what we now know?
34
Skipped a grade. Junior year in high school, Seattle Prep, fifth in the state, versus Stadium of Tacoma, even better. 1957.
We score. Bad kick bouncing near the 35 yard line sidelines. Number one back in the state races for it. I, an underage junior, am equally fast and see a chance to scoop it up and race for a touchdown. Neither of us ever sees the other in the poorly lit, raining stadium. Boom.
A short scream. I am laid out, wind knocked out, for the only time in my career. Five doctors race to me. All said it was the loudest boom they ever heard in a football game. His helmet hit me in the solar plexus. But starting at 8 years old, 200 sit-ups and 200 leg raises per day, every day. I struggle up and they move to the unmoving young, black, best running back in the state of Washington.
Fractured skull, broken neck, broken back, six months in a coma, permanently paralyzed. I have repeatedly called and no one has ever given me an update. Young, gifted, and black. What happened?
1961. Last game of the season, last game of his career for Pepperdine's Little All-American 6'4" 240 lb tight end, his mother and fiancée present to see his final game and their marriage immediately after the game.
I hit him on the 6 yard line from behind and a scream, no movement, and momma and fiancé scream. No wedding. NCAA VP comes from the stands. "Ray, no more football. You hit too hard." No disagreement. Two screams and then silence. No joy left.
We score. Bad kick bouncing near the 35 yard line sidelines. Number one back in the state races for it. I, an underage junior, am equally fast and see a chance to scoop it up and race for a touchdown. Neither of us ever sees the other in the poorly lit, raining stadium. Boom.
A short scream. I am laid out, wind knocked out, for the only time in my career. Five doctors race to me. All said it was the loudest boom they ever heard in a football game. His helmet hit me in the solar plexus. But starting at 8 years old, 200 sit-ups and 200 leg raises per day, every day. I struggle up and they move to the unmoving young, black, best running back in the state of Washington.
Fractured skull, broken neck, broken back, six months in a coma, permanently paralyzed. I have repeatedly called and no one has ever given me an update. Young, gifted, and black. What happened?
1961. Last game of the season, last game of his career for Pepperdine's Little All-American 6'4" 240 lb tight end, his mother and fiancée present to see his final game and their marriage immediately after the game.
I hit him on the 6 yard line from behind and a scream, no movement, and momma and fiancé scream. No wedding. NCAA VP comes from the stands. "Ray, no more football. You hit too hard." No disagreement. Two screams and then silence. No joy left.
34
Got a better idea. Get rid of football. This is parent-driven, kids can grow up and have a happy life without ever playing football.
8
This is shamefully behind what should have happened.
In the summer of 1963, we lived in the country but most of the road was paved. All the kids (lots, as birth control pills were new) were riding bikes. They were heavy, fat tube-tire bikes, but we could get going fairly fast.
The chain on my bike jumped off the sprocket and the bike stopped. I kept going and landed on my forehead on a late 1950s Detroit car. The car was fine. I was out cold. Two lovely neighbor ladies eased me off the car and took me to my mother's front door. My mother's attitude was that I'd be fine in the morning.
Without saying in front of me that I'd been knocked out, they made my mother understand that I was going to the ER, with or without her. (Often, the patient isn't really aware of being unconscious, or of much els
The doctor checked what neurological signs he could, then sewed my head wound. He told me that for the rest of the summer, I'd be sitting still. I could read or watch TV; I was not to run, climb trees, do all the other normal country-kid things, or swim. I liked to read, so it was fine with me.
Then the doctor explained the rules to my mother. She was not pleased.
If the doctor who treated me over 50 years ago knew the dangers of concussion, what's the problem with sports "medicine"?
In the summer of 1963, we lived in the country but most of the road was paved. All the kids (lots, as birth control pills were new) were riding bikes. They were heavy, fat tube-tire bikes, but we could get going fairly fast.
The chain on my bike jumped off the sprocket and the bike stopped. I kept going and landed on my forehead on a late 1950s Detroit car. The car was fine. I was out cold. Two lovely neighbor ladies eased me off the car and took me to my mother's front door. My mother's attitude was that I'd be fine in the morning.
Without saying in front of me that I'd been knocked out, they made my mother understand that I was going to the ER, with or without her. (Often, the patient isn't really aware of being unconscious, or of much els
The doctor checked what neurological signs he could, then sewed my head wound. He told me that for the rest of the summer, I'd be sitting still. I could read or watch TV; I was not to run, climb trees, do all the other normal country-kid things, or swim. I liked to read, so it was fine with me.
Then the doctor explained the rules to my mother. She was not pleased.
If the doctor who treated me over 50 years ago knew the dangers of concussion, what's the problem with sports "medicine"?
24
My son has played tackle football for 3 years and flag for 2 years. He loves tackle far more than flag football. Flag football is a great way for kids to be active, but the game is far weaker than tackle. Anyone that has played both, knows this. Flag is also more "inclusive"; kids with no athletic skill can easily play the game. It's a shame that those who hate football are trying to ruin it for the millions of athletes that play it with no regret. Here's my suggestion: start your own "modified tackle" leagues instead of trying to force it down the throats of existing organizations that provide outstanding tackle football programs. But they know if they try to do it alone, virtually no one will participate.
But every kid dreams of a way to be special, to be recognized and will do whatever it takes to achieve that status, no matter how brief.
to think that kids will make a rational choice, especially if mom and dad are button busting proud that their tyke has a talent, is ludicrous.
If football dies in the next decade, there will be a healthier public, and one with much more money than paying the inflated prices that advertisers have to charge for their products, along with hundreds of other benefits for this country.
to think that kids will make a rational choice, especially if mom and dad are button busting proud that their tyke has a talent, is ludicrous.
If football dies in the next decade, there will be a healthier public, and one with much more money than paying the inflated prices that advertisers have to charge for their products, along with hundreds of other benefits for this country.
5
Terminator, the fallout from repeated head trauma is cumulative over a lifetime, and the first signs may be subtle. Some individuals are Moe susceptible -- but we have no way to identify them. Ask about regrets when your son or one of his buddies suffers from double-vision an headaches in college, or irritability and inattention in his forties, or dementia in his fifties and sixties.
The damage may be invisible, but it is real, cumulative and irreversible. Dementia is horrible for the person who has it and for their loved ones -- a living death. You are trading a few moments of fun now for potential future years in hell. That is the truth. Only adults should play tackle football, and only after viewing graphic material about the real risks.
The damage may be invisible, but it is real, cumulative and irreversible. Dementia is horrible for the person who has it and for their loved ones -- a living death. You are trading a few moments of fun now for potential future years in hell. That is the truth. Only adults should play tackle football, and only after viewing graphic material about the real risks.
7
Loving parents are beginning to rethink the head injury their sons experience and the potential for long term consequences such as CTE. The vicarious thrill parents get from watching their boys and young men play this harmful sport does not justify their being blind to their sons futures.
2
Gruden's been commented on earlier, but I'll add this to it - his demagogic repetition of the word "geniuses" is another example of the anti-intellectualism that has become rampant in this society. I have no idea of Gruden's political affiliations or preferences, but we do hear a lot of this coming from the White House. Gruden can't even take the fairly moderate position of Mark Murphy.
Murphy, for those who don't know, was an NFL safety (an important member of a Super Bowl champion) before he became president of the Packers. Murphy was also the player rep for the Washington football team (I won't use that name) during the 1982 strike. Many feel his stance as a player rep ended his career. It's not a surprise to see a reasoned position from him.
For whatever it's worth, I did play youth football and high school football. I wonder what is the place for contact sports now that we know the dangers (I'm also a hockey fan - I believe the NHL has a good rule on "headshots," but it's poorly enforced). To me, flag football seems an alternative worth exploring.
Murphy, for those who don't know, was an NFL safety (an important member of a Super Bowl champion) before he became president of the Packers. Murphy was also the player rep for the Washington football team (I won't use that name) during the 1982 strike. Many feel his stance as a player rep ended his career. It's not a surprise to see a reasoned position from him.
For whatever it's worth, I did play youth football and high school football. I wonder what is the place for contact sports now that we know the dangers (I'm also a hockey fan - I believe the NHL has a good rule on "headshots," but it's poorly enforced). To me, flag football seems an alternative worth exploring.
6
No respect at all for the hockey group as long as they not only allow but do not penalize 'enforcers' and other thugs from beating each other up, while the referees take a break until they think the players have beat each other up enough to continue the game.
1
Dale, you're preaching to the choir. But I appreciate the comment. Fighting in hockey is not allowed anywhere except for the Leagues controlled by the NHL. Note that in the Olympics where NHL players have participated there has been zero fights (well, at least in 2010 & 2014). Enforcers, such as the late Reg Flemming (my age is showing?) suffer CTE.
The physics at play in hockey, with the speed and size of the players, can cause "whiplash" concussions. Then pile on headshots, fights, etc. Yes, this game needs cleaning up, too.
The physics at play in hockey, with the speed and size of the players, can cause "whiplash" concussions. Then pile on headshots, fights, etc. Yes, this game needs cleaning up, too.
Good post, Tom. I coach football and I love Gruden (on some levels) but the lack of moderation and tolerance for dissenting viewpoints is a real issue our country and it obviously manifests itself in a variety of issues. Similarly, I think the respect for data -- both what it shows and what it doesn't -- is evident in the Times' reporting, this thread, and our society. I just look at all of the posts cheering the anticipated demise of football from people who consider themselves more educated, who obviously don't like the game, or some mix -- just another chance to pile on (NPI) and cheer for another "win" for someone's "side."
You could tape an egg to a youth football player's helmet and it would be intact by season's end. There are lots of reasons not to play youth football but head injuries isn't one of them. The real issue (IMO) is when to start tackle and what needs to be done (by coaches like me) to keep a great game alive at the high school level -- where it does a whole lot of good and engages a lot of young men in a positive manner.
You could tape an egg to a youth football player's helmet and it would be intact by season's end. There are lots of reasons not to play youth football but head injuries isn't one of them. The real issue (IMO) is when to start tackle and what needs to be done (by coaches like me) to keep a great game alive at the high school level -- where it does a whole lot of good and engages a lot of young men in a positive manner.
John Gruden's comments in the article are instructive, because they are completely devoid of science, fact or analysis. They are the equivalent of just sticking your fingers in your ears and saying "I can't hear you."
Nobody is out to diminish or attack football for the sake of it. If it was safe we would not be having this conversation. However, the fact is that there are legitimate health and safety concerns regarding this sport which are based in scientific research.
I am not surprised by Gruden as he has made and continues to make a very good living off the NFL.
Nobody is out to diminish or attack football for the sake of it. If it was safe we would not be having this conversation. However, the fact is that there are legitimate health and safety concerns regarding this sport which are based in scientific research.
I am not surprised by Gruden as he has made and continues to make a very good living off the NFL.
23
Some football players play lacrosse in the spring, and they are getting bigger every year.
It's high time schools and communities take steps to make children's sports safer. I suffer pain everyday from a traumatic neck injury I suffered playing on my 9th grade football team in 1974. Full contact football is no more appropriate for kids than Ultimate Championship Fighting.
7
Our organization has hundreds of kids each year that play. This year only 2 concussions. Tackle football is safer today than ever. People need to pay attention to facts and not one sided opinion peices. The editor makes no mention of any developments in tackle football that have had profoundly positive impact on the safety of football. Irresponsible.
I guess your comments are instructive for how much relevance to give to the deliberately uninformed. You must be aware that there is now substantial evidence that it is the repeated subconcussive shocks to the brain that cause damage in virtually every participant. The idea that you have improved things and now there are only 2 concussions in your organization is an interesting anecdote, but not to be taken too seriously. There has been lots of discussion on the web about how neither football instruction or design of ultimate helmets can seriously reduce trauma to the brain. Science denial is not just about rejecting lectures from scientists about what to do in society. We all have access to large amounts of information on everything from climate change to head trauma. You dont have to be a scientist to read this material if you have time, and if not to rely on someone who has done the checking. Such decisions are no more complicated than buying a car or house, repaving a driveway, or getting rid of crabgrass. It takes a bit of work, but should be available to all literate (i.e. can read) adults.
1
People just don't get it. It isn't the one or two concussions a player suffers in a career that causes chronic encephalopathy, its the thousands of little hits and even non hits caused by deceleration. There is no way around it, the physics are just against you. As a former player (HS and college defensive line) and football lover, I am sorry to say that I don't think there is ANY way to make this game truly safe.
1
Well, if they're aiming to make football less popular, there's no better way to go than watering it down. By its nature, football is a violent sport. Those who can't handle the consequences just shouldn't play.
2
By "those who can't handle the consequences", are you referencing 8-year old kids?
8
You need to read history. Football was nearly eliminated from colleges and universities during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency because too many people were dying. The sport adjusted to make it safer. As more has been learned, more changes have been made.
Many have argued that professional football has been "watered down" because of rules changes that protect the quarterback and allow him to complete passes. Yet those changes have made the game more popular and the NFL more prosperous.
"Can't handle the consequences"? Most football players don't really appreciate all the potential consequences, partly because people want to hide those consequences and because not all the consequences are known. But we are learning more.
Finally, all of the hitting and tackling can be taught and learned at the high school level. There is no need for younger kids to learn those "skills" because they are easily taught and learned, with the right coaching, later. Passing, catching, kicking, learning how to execute the offense can be learned at any age, and, arguably, require much more time to learn and master.
Many have argued that professional football has been "watered down" because of rules changes that protect the quarterback and allow him to complete passes. Yet those changes have made the game more popular and the NFL more prosperous.
"Can't handle the consequences"? Most football players don't really appreciate all the potential consequences, partly because people want to hide those consequences and because not all the consequences are known. But we are learning more.
Finally, all of the hitting and tackling can be taught and learned at the high school level. There is no need for younger kids to learn those "skills" because they are easily taught and learned, with the right coaching, later. Passing, catching, kicking, learning how to execute the offense can be learned at any age, and, arguably, require much more time to learn and master.
1
Have the games of football, ice hockey, baseball and basektball - the top most dangerous youth sports in America - changed all that much in 30 years? The rules haven't really changed. The fields and rinks haven't changed. Look at what has changed for youth sports... pro sports athletes themselves are physically bigger and their personas are emulated down to the youngest kids on the team. Aggressive, cocky behaviors, kids that swagger across the field - kids that have picked up the obnoxious traits of the players they want to be.
And don't even get started on gymnastics injuries - today's degree of difficulty for women and men is way beyond what Evil Knievel imagined.
40 years ago there were injuries but not like today. Kids played within their ability or found another sport.
Before football disappears, ice hockey will go first as it has far more documented head injuries than football. Gymnastics and diving needs to be curtailed with more sensible moves.
Coach the kids to play like kids, not like the professionals they emulate and their games will be safer.
And don't even get started on gymnastics injuries - today's degree of difficulty for women and men is way beyond what Evil Knievel imagined.
40 years ago there were injuries but not like today. Kids played within their ability or found another sport.
Before football disappears, ice hockey will go first as it has far more documented head injuries than football. Gymnastics and diving needs to be curtailed with more sensible moves.
Coach the kids to play like kids, not like the professionals they emulate and their games will be safer.
1
Moving to flag football would mean girls could play too, at least through junior high level. Come to think of it, why not just play ultimate frisbee?
1
People have the option whether or not to let their child play. Football is a tremendous sport. Let the parents and the players (when they are older) make the decision for themselves. Also, no one would watch flag football, lol. How boring would that be.
There is no safe football as long as blocking and tackling is involved. Little League baseball has become dangerous since players have become bigger and stronger. They need to move the mound back and lengthen the base paths.
1
Gruden is a shill, he doesn't care about the health and safety of our kids. Just where is the next tv camera, and where is his next paycheck coming from.
5
Look it up... soccer is way more injurious than football for every level of play.
1
Welcome to soccer America!
2
I'll listen to what the geniuses are saying, not Jon Gruden.
28
Enjoy football while you can. It will go the way of the Do-Do bird. it is already happening. Youth football will disappear as lawsuits from self proclaimed "caring" parents bankrupt youth leagues' ability to pay the insurance ransom needed to operate. Then middle school and finally high school football will succumb, and college ball will be next. All to satisfy the politically correct left which wants to eliminate all contact sports in favor of co-ed volleyball, where everyone will get a participation trophy. It's going to happen. Enjoy football while you can.
All to satisfy the not unreasonable expectation that school activities are, you know, safe for children. Most of the world gets by fine without watching or playing football. We will too.
3
Stop blaming the left, this is politic agnostic. I know plenty of conservatives that feel this way.
6
I recommend that Jon Gruden and other rah-rah parents read this article before committing too deeply:
http://www.gq.com/story/the-concussion-diaries-high-school-football-cte
Yes, you grew up in and around football and you turned out okay and you ain't no pansy. But brain trauma is real and destroys lives--not just the player's life but everyone who cares about them.
http://www.gq.com/story/the-concussion-diaries-high-school-football-cte
Yes, you grew up in and around football and you turned out okay and you ain't no pansy. But brain trauma is real and destroys lives--not just the player's life but everyone who cares about them.
13
Never very athletic, not real big, in college I choose to play some intermural flag football. What could go wrong? This non contact sport being played by non sporty type students at college, gave be sore ribs for a couple years. Maybe I cracked one, I don't know, I didn't seek medical help, just thought I was knocked over (with attitude).
Younger kids are more flexible than an "old" 19 year old. Its got to be better than full on hitting, but as long as you have young boys and girls chasing down a field in tight formations, someones gonna get hurt.
Younger kids are more flexible than an "old" 19 year old. Its got to be better than full on hitting, but as long as you have young boys and girls chasing down a field in tight formations, someones gonna get hurt.
1
I think they'd do a lot better by giving up on the sport entirely. It's going to be damaging to the players unless they take it down to 'touch' football, and nobody's really going to be interested in that. It's not a particularly clever game, it's brutal and anachronistic, and it's time to abandon it.
24
It's a bloodsport, and we're learning more and more every day this year just how bloodthirsty a people we are.
You would have to question the sanity of any parent that lets their young kids play football.
Yeah I know, we will get the usual responses that snowflake liberals are trying to ruin the country.
But it is simple fact and science.
Yeah I know, we will get the usual responses that snowflake liberals are trying to ruin the country.
But it is simple fact and science.
17
Unfortunately for poor kids, especially in the south and rural west, it's the only way out of abject poverty.
That's a myth.
Dear DickeyFuller,
Sorry but that's completely incorrect. Football winds up being profitable for nearly nobody who starts playing it in high school. People don't get paid in college, one out of a thousand college players get picked for the NFL, and most players manage a couple of years before being pushed out for injuries or poor performance.
However, poor people can get out of poverty by studying hard, getting scholarships to college, and getting good jobs thereby. Or by going into drug smuggling, which is hugely profitable and usually less injurious than football.
Sorry but that's completely incorrect. Football winds up being profitable for nearly nobody who starts playing it in high school. People don't get paid in college, one out of a thousand college players get picked for the NFL, and most players manage a couple of years before being pushed out for injuries or poor performance.
However, poor people can get out of poverty by studying hard, getting scholarships to college, and getting good jobs thereby. Or by going into drug smuggling, which is hugely profitable and usually less injurious than football.
You're right, Jon Gruden - there are a lot of smart, well informed people ("geniuses", in your pedestrian vernacular) out there who've figured out that tackle football is a health hazard, sort of like smoking.
You're not one of them.
Oh, and btw, It's not your watch.
You're not one of them.
Oh, and btw, It's not your watch.
11
Gruden seems to be lock step with the current political climate by mocking "geniuses" three times in one paragraph. By all means let's not let science ruin our way of life.
26
"There are a lot of geniuses out there that are diminishing football right now,” said Jon Gruden, a former coach of the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who now works as an analyst for ESPN. “There are a lot of geniuses that are trying to damage the game, and ruin the game. Do you feel it? There are a lot of geniuses that want to eliminate all sports, including recess.”
Clearly, John Gruden is NOT a genius. He appears to be misreading the intent of this effort. I have yet to hear of anyone trying to ban recess. This guy sounds like he subscribes to the NRA method of discourse when confronted with criticism - total baloney.
Clearly, John Gruden is NOT a genius. He appears to be misreading the intent of this effort. I have yet to hear of anyone trying to ban recess. This guy sounds like he subscribes to the NRA method of discourse when confronted with criticism - total baloney.
21
You're giving Gruden way too much credit. And I'd just add, whenever the term "analyist for ESPN" is in the same sentence as any form of the word "genius," there's an oxymoron waiting to happen.
-----------------------------------------
The photos of the little kids in helmets and uniforms -- with adults coaching them -- is so sad. Trying to look grown up, but dwarfed by what they are wearing-- and playing a sport that will injure them, possibly for life.
The kids look like miniature puppets.
Of course, that fits. After all, the NFL involves a bunch of overgrown puppets. It's all so scripted, with the players like pawns in a chess game being moved around by offensive and defensive coordinators.
Then, adding to that, the outrage of the military paying the NFL to put on military displays at games.
I wonder if any of these kids have enough social and political awareness to kneel rather than stand during the national anthem before games!
-----------------------------------
The photos of the little kids in helmets and uniforms -- with adults coaching them -- is so sad. Trying to look grown up, but dwarfed by what they are wearing-- and playing a sport that will injure them, possibly for life.
The kids look like miniature puppets.
Of course, that fits. After all, the NFL involves a bunch of overgrown puppets. It's all so scripted, with the players like pawns in a chess game being moved around by offensive and defensive coordinators.
Then, adding to that, the outrage of the military paying the NFL to put on military displays at games.
I wonder if any of these kids have enough social and political awareness to kneel rather than stand during the national anthem before games!
-----------------------------------
4
And my town just installed a million-dollar plus football field, with all-weather turf. Oh, well, it doubles as a soccer field.
1
As much as I enjoy the spectacle of a football game, it has devolved into two corporations suiting up this year's players in their corporate logos to sell beer and trucks (and I include college football in that description too). But it will continue so long as money is to be made and people are content to watch 11 minutes of action out of 60 minutes of play televised over 2.5 hours of beer and truck ads. There is the collateral brain damage...
9
To the rest of the world football is the game that we call soccer. Continuous action, far fewer injuries. We're isolated in our irrational system of weights and measures and in our brain-destroying national game. It's time to join the world in the metric system and the kind of football you play with actual feet.
2
Here's the only way to go: touch football or flag football -- with no knock downs or tackles allowed.
We played both as kids and had great fun. With friends, it was touch football -- at school, they used the flags and some miscreants cheated by tying them into their belts!
What fun we had playing: doing the reverse, faking the hand off, running patterns, throwing the sideline pass, or heaving the long bomb. Can still picture talking things over in the huddle, planning out the pass patterns, and succeeding with the old timed play where the receiver would count and suddenly turn around to catch the ball or the long down-and-out pass.
Still reminisce with an old high school friend about the games we played and even specific throws and touchdowns!
We played both as kids and had great fun. With friends, it was touch football -- at school, they used the flags and some miscreants cheated by tying them into their belts!
What fun we had playing: doing the reverse, faking the hand off, running patterns, throwing the sideline pass, or heaving the long bomb. Can still picture talking things over in the huddle, planning out the pass patterns, and succeeding with the old timed play where the receiver would count and suddenly turn around to catch the ball or the long down-and-out pass.
Still reminisce with an old high school friend about the games we played and even specific throws and touchdowns!
29
There is an alternative. Check out tacklebar.com This is a new version of the game that eliminates tackling while still maintaining contact. My son played it this last fall. Very fun and very safe.
Might be naive of me but I believe that youth and High School football could completely change the sport (and the NFL) by moving to a flag football format. It would be quicker, faster and more exciting, with fewer injuries, far fewer repetitive head impacts. Parents would be willing to let their kids play. The NFL's head injury problem would go away. Fans in it for the violence would be replaced by new ones. Players would become more familiar/identifiable to fans because they'd be running around without helmets. Far fewer game interest killing injuries to big name players. I could go on.
23
I played a lot of flag football in Texas thanks to the PE teachers for organizing the after school activity. Flag football is tons of fun and I didn't mind all the running at all.
I think flag football may be safer than soccer due to the fact that headers are not part of the game. Also fewer knee injuries, as many knee injuries are the result of tackles.
Also cheaper than tackle football---less equipment and no need for referees.
Sure beats hanging around the 7-11 store after school for those not cut out for basketball.
I think flag football may be safer than soccer due to the fact that headers are not part of the game. Also fewer knee injuries, as many knee injuries are the result of tackles.
Also cheaper than tackle football---less equipment and no need for referees.
Sure beats hanging around the 7-11 store after school for those not cut out for basketball.
41
It would be a process but I think that the NFL can sell this. It would be very helpful to have it driven from youth, high school and then college ball.
Concussion is the most dangerous injury, but don't forget about knee injuries. Knees simply don't heal (think knee-capping by the IRA). Sonny Jurgenson was a brilliant quarterback who called his own plays. The problem was that he couldn't run and many days could barely walk.
Just a few weeks ago, there was a knee-level tackle on a player not involved in a play. I don't follow football much any more, but I hope the tackler got fined, suspended, and more.
Search YouTube for the tackle that nearly killed Frank Gifford in 1960. At the time, the tackle was legal. It was unnecessarily rough and Gifford took about a year to recover.
Don't even think about "mixed martial arts." The fighters are impressive athletes, but it's dangerous. Bruce Lee, an amazing man, died way too young.
Just a few weeks ago, there was a knee-level tackle on a player not involved in a play. I don't follow football much any more, but I hope the tackler got fined, suspended, and more.
Search YouTube for the tackle that nearly killed Frank Gifford in 1960. At the time, the tackle was legal. It was unnecessarily rough and Gifford took about a year to recover.
Don't even think about "mixed martial arts." The fighters are impressive athletes, but it's dangerous. Bruce Lee, an amazing man, died way too young.
1
Its simply time to end this sport for kids. Continuously banging your head on hard things is obviously not good for your health.
61
Crazy idea I know... I'd like to see football - at every level - get rid of hard helmets and pads and put a weight limit on players. Go back in time to leather/foam soft padding and get away from the 250 pound human missiles making hard tackles. I suspect the serious injury rate would plummet and players and fans would get a more "pure" sporting experience. Serious rule and equipment changes need to be considered to save ourselves from the game many of us so dearly love.
11
You do realize that in the good old days of college football there were numerous fatalities each year, right?
20
The 1905 season of football was described as this
"In what the Chicago Tribune referred to as a “death harvest,” the 1905 football season resulted in 19 player deaths and 137 serious injuries. A Cincinnati Commercial Tribune cartoon depicted the Grim Reaper on a goalpost surveying a twisted mass of fallen players."
so I agree with Doc Who....getting rid of pads & helmets is not the answer....Flag Football is
"In what the Chicago Tribune referred to as a “death harvest,” the 1905 football season resulted in 19 player deaths and 137 serious injuries. A Cincinnati Commercial Tribune cartoon depicted the Grim Reaper on a goalpost surveying a twisted mass of fallen players."
so I agree with Doc Who....getting rid of pads & helmets is not the answer....Flag Football is
3
I.e Rugby.
2
Lacrosse, Hockey, Soccer and Football started as sports for adults. Lacrosse, Hockey and Soccer now all have children's versions modified by various the age level of the children playing the game. It is clear that hitting one's head over and over is bad for any brain, but even worse if one is a child.
Checking limits, heading bans, and teams by age brackets are some of the modifications that help to reduce the risk of repetitive brain trauma and other injures as children learn to play these adult games.
Football continues to be the outlier.
And while there are many Chicken Littles out there... The sky is not falling and Football will survive modifications it needs to make to join Soccer, Hockey and Lacrosse with developmentally-appropriate, age-dependent versions of the game.
Checking limits, heading bans, and teams by age brackets are some of the modifications that help to reduce the risk of repetitive brain trauma and other injures as children learn to play these adult games.
Football continues to be the outlier.
And while there are many Chicken Littles out there... The sky is not falling and Football will survive modifications it needs to make to join Soccer, Hockey and Lacrosse with developmentally-appropriate, age-dependent versions of the game.
13
TBI isn't just from hits to the head. Many times a legitimate body tackle can cause the brain to compress and decompress, too.
Teams ought to be organized by weight and size. In this case, physics doesn't care how old a kid is!
Teams ought to be organized by weight and size. In this case, physics doesn't care how old a kid is!
1
Good post.
Love the game and it will last, but I have never seen the need for youth -- at least not before 7th grade. The coaching is too inconsistent and often bad, the kids do not want to play OL -- just does not make sense.
Let them have fun and play flag and start tackle in 7th grade or so.
Love the game and it will last, but I have never seen the need for youth -- at least not before 7th grade. The coaching is too inconsistent and often bad, the kids do not want to play OL -- just does not make sense.
Let them have fun and play flag and start tackle in 7th grade or so.
In 50 years the sport won't exist anymore. Kind of sad.
6
Change is hard. Not as hard as brain damage, though.
However, I suspect the NFL lobby will prevent this from happening. College football is a free farm team system for the NFL industry as well as a cash cow for the colleges.
However, I suspect the NFL lobby will prevent this from happening. College football is a free farm team system for the NFL industry as well as a cash cow for the colleges.
17
You are correct, football won't exist. But it's not sad, it's inevitable. It will have outlived its usefulness and it is near approaching the end of its socio cultural usefulness.
4
Not as sad as devastating head injuries. I don't understand what is "sporting" about any activity that maims, damages, or destroys the players. To train our children in such atrocity and call it sport is inhumane.
“The games are getting a lot faster and kids are getting bigger, so they need to modify the game so parents feel it’s safe,” said Paul Macklin II, who helps run recreation programs in Norfolk, Va.
After seeing the NFL pull a fast one on parents for decades, I think a growing number of millennial parents and will-be parents don't just want to "feel" that football is safe, they want to KNOW the game is safe. Even though I do not yet have children, my partner and I have already discussed this issue (as he played football through college). And we have decided not to enroll our future son(s) in football if the status quo remains. If this new iteration of youth football is proven by peer-reviewed science that is not funded by the NFL, USA Football, etc., then I will consider enrolling my future kids. But, as it stands, enrolling your child in youth football is to knowingly put your child in the path of serious, irreparable harm.
After seeing the NFL pull a fast one on parents for decades, I think a growing number of millennial parents and will-be parents don't just want to "feel" that football is safe, they want to KNOW the game is safe. Even though I do not yet have children, my partner and I have already discussed this issue (as he played football through college). And we have decided not to enroll our future son(s) in football if the status quo remains. If this new iteration of youth football is proven by peer-reviewed science that is not funded by the NFL, USA Football, etc., then I will consider enrolling my future kids. But, as it stands, enrolling your child in youth football is to knowingly put your child in the path of serious, irreparable harm.
45
Yes. The kids are getting bigger.
I have a neighbor who has been gung-ho about getting junior into football since the day junior was born.
He deliberately held junior out of kindergarten for a year (and a half) so the boy would end up being one of the bigger kids and could compete with the younger kids.
Pathetic. Stop living vicariously through children!
I have a neighbor who has been gung-ho about getting junior into football since the day junior was born.
He deliberately held junior out of kindergarten for a year (and a half) so the boy would end up being one of the bigger kids and could compete with the younger kids.
Pathetic. Stop living vicariously through children!
8
I hope people recognize that Gruden's comments are extremely manipulative. His contempt for people who have concerns about the safety of the game is evident. Then he makes it sound like paranoid activists are attempting to eliminate all physical activity by kids, and football just happens to fall within that.
There are serious issues around tackle football, and having media people who are specialized in the game respond in this way churns my stomach.
I'll be very surprised if 30 years from now tackle football is still around. The NFL is right; if people won't let their kids play, both the talent pool and the audience become smaller. But parents are so careful about every aspect of their children's upbringing these days, who will take this risk? Football will go the way of boxing.
There are serious issues around tackle football, and having media people who are specialized in the game respond in this way churns my stomach.
I'll be very surprised if 30 years from now tackle football is still around. The NFL is right; if people won't let their kids play, both the talent pool and the audience become smaller. But parents are so careful about every aspect of their children's upbringing these days, who will take this risk? Football will go the way of boxing.
75
I agree... this is the type of "debate" style that President Trump has used with great success. It is manipulative, deceptive and deliberate.
Good. The beginning of the end for the NFL.
71
Jon Gruden is no genius, and he does the sport no favor by promoting "the game" over our kids health.
Football is big business, and Gruden profits well from it.
Doing everything possible to save our kids from serious long-term brain damage would seem to be a pretty reasonable goal.
If we don't do that it won't be long until American football disappears, which would really be too bad for the thousands of young people who gain real opportunities through "the game." Grow up, Jon!
Football is big business, and Gruden profits well from it.
Doing everything possible to save our kids from serious long-term brain damage would seem to be a pretty reasonable goal.
If we don't do that it won't be long until American football disappears, which would really be too bad for the thousands of young people who gain real opportunities through "the game." Grow up, Jon!
36
Trouble is, it won't be football.
That is OK - football is very dangerous - I don't want my grandkids to play it and contract early Alzheimers and go ga-ga at age 45. It's like climate change/global warming. The evidence can't be denied. One concussion could be enough.
But football is a very interesting game to watch, like a controlled war.
Gladiators sacrificing themselves...
That is OK - football is very dangerous - I don't want my grandkids to play it and contract early Alzheimers and go ga-ga at age 45. It's like climate change/global warming. The evidence can't be denied. One concussion could be enough.
But football is a very interesting game to watch, like a controlled war.
Gladiators sacrificing themselves...
28
I've got 2 boys. They played flag. They wanted to play tackle. We did the research. None of it was good.
Heads Up? That was misguided. Now "modififed tackle"? Which will take a few years to show any data? Then, assuredly, there will be another plan after th at.
Sorry, too late for us. We chose other sports. Soon there will be a socioeconomic gap in football - you watch. The kids with educated, involved parents will not be playing tackle.
Heads Up? That was misguided. Now "modififed tackle"? Which will take a few years to show any data? Then, assuredly, there will be another plan after th at.
Sorry, too late for us. We chose other sports. Soon there will be a socioeconomic gap in football - you watch. The kids with educated, involved parents will not be playing tackle.
107
There already is, very clearly. In our district, which is large and upscale suburban, they have had to eliminate freshman football and move all the kids up to JV, due to lack of participation. It's only a matter of time. I'm frankly amazed that any parent lets their kid play, and wonder how long our district will spend relatively large amounts of money to support this activity.
33
Agree. I have 2 boys, both physically big enough to play football. They play other sports - they will never play tackle football (flag, touch football yes). Soccer, Basketball, baseball and track - plenty of other sports to available that are competitive and they enjoy.
That said, injuries happen in these other sports ( and have). But the potential risk of head and neck injuries is significantly less.
That said, injuries happen in these other sports ( and have). But the potential risk of head and neck injuries is significantly less.
2
you chose soccer, hopefully...
I know that the number one sport for concussions (reported accurately) is NCAA Division 1 Women's Soccer. All things being equal the reason why is the "heading" of the ball and the relatively weak necks of the players (resulting in a greater whiplash effect and therefore more shifting of the brain inside the cranium among other issues that contribute to CTE).
I mention this because the real issue - and particularly to football at all ages and specifically youth football - is shifting of the brain within the cranium much like a car accident. The bigger and faster the players the more brain shifting during contact despite the relative neck strength. No helmet can stop concussions.
We need to recognize that our bodies are fragile and build rules in sports to recognize that despite how tough we think we are. We are limited in what we can endure.
If it was up to me I would do the following:
Soccer: No heading all levels starting with FIFA level events. Now.
Combat sports - no head blows. Review all take downs to limit certain throws like lateral drops. Outlaw boxing - Pro & Amateur.
Football - no helmets and no tackling. Yep. We are talking flag football folks.
Hockey - no checking allowed.
I can go on and on by sport.
Let's stop the child abuse and the exploitation of athletes at all levels.