Very misleading headline. I thought it was about a coach who conscientiously turned his back on the game because of a student death, and instead it's about a coach vacillating between following his conscience and his love for a dangerous sport, which other members continue to embrace. Moreover, the coach seems largely engaged less with the principles involved (as the headline implies) than emotional trauma over the death he was in some way connected to, akin to aversion to automobile travel following being in a horrific crash, except for elements of guilt feelings (like one in such a crash having allowed an alcohol impaired friend to get behind the wheel - a situation not that dissimilar from coaching football, which may involve a severe violation of fiduciary responsibility towards students trusting coaches, as educators, to make safe decisions on their behalf).
13
What I get from this article is the Jeff Charles left coaching football not because of the health risk of this game that was manifested in the death of a player but because he felt a sense of guilt.
No where does Mr. Charles express remorse for his coaching style that may have led to this tragedy. So now, Jeff Charles finally has gotten over the guilt and he his ready to go back to football seemingly without any thought how he may help to prevent another tragedy.
He still finds nothing wrong with the health risks in this sport and would gladly see his grandchildren play football. How guilty will he feel if unfortunately they suffer the same fate as Ridge Barden?
Yes indeed -- What is the point of the article?
No where does Mr. Charles express remorse for his coaching style that may have led to this tragedy. So now, Jeff Charles finally has gotten over the guilt and he his ready to go back to football seemingly without any thought how he may help to prevent another tragedy.
He still finds nothing wrong with the health risks in this sport and would gladly see his grandchildren play football. How guilty will he feel if unfortunately they suffer the same fate as Ridge Barden?
Yes indeed -- What is the point of the article?
24
All the concern about football, especially youth and high school football, is well-justified. but why, oh why, do we have "sports" like boxing and MMA where the whole point of the competition is to induce a concussion in the opponent?
22
I just want to share how infuriating it is to not only read this article but see all the comments written. This was a young man who died playing a sport he loved and put his heart into. This article does him absolutely no justice. Yes, the coach had a hard time with his death but so did the other coaches, players, and the community. This article makes it seem like nothing was done to honor this player because a football field wasn't named after him. When in actuality there was a tremendous outpouring of people at his funeral, benefits were thrown for his family, the players, as Coach Rowe mentioned wore the number 70 on their helmets, Players wore Orange and Black Rosary Necklaces with crosses, The Homer Football team had shirts made that they wore and had made for the Phoenix team. That "puny" plaque as coach Charles calls it is directly outside of the locker room doors as the players leave to go on the field before every game, they pay their respects to ridge in that manner. Truth is while the community and the players, fans, and coaches that were on that field and the ones who were in the hospital with him as he took his last breath in this life stayed in Phoenix to heal as a community and be there for one another, Coach Charles walked away from the school district, community and everyone else, and bringing up this devastating night 6 years later out of nowhere for everyone to relive is incredibly selfish, especially when its about the person who left that community.
6
I think you may have missed the point of the article. Your points are well taken, but you may be too close to the material to draw anything general from it.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
11
Neither one of my boys were allowed to play high school football. What part of helmets, shoulder and knee pads and brain injuries do parents not get? Never mind all the testosterone on the field and in the stands.
19
Your football articles of late focus too much on attempting to condition American society to eventually give up American football. While the concern is seemingly medical, the approach smacks of one more culture war contest.
Sure, there are tragedies in football. Who hasn't heard of them? I played in high school, got a concussion one Saturday morning, and it wasn't pleasant. But I'd play again, because the other aspects of the game, the hard work, the skill, the intellectual aspect, the camaraderie, the shared purpose, and the pride, are also still with me.
Football helped prepare me for life, and life requires focus and physical commitment, just as later army service did. The values of teamwork may not fit in with our self-indulgent increasingly isolated society of selfie-takers, but it is integral to the operation of many of our societal institutions.
Everyone wants young people to be safe. And we should do our best to protect them and keep them from harm. But it should not extend to shutting down a sport.
Otto Warmbiers parents are feeling the pain today of their son's death at the hands of barbarians. But they also expressed admiration, pride and understanding for that part of their son's soul which needed to go not only to Paris, but also to North Korea. It is part of being young, and there is always risk to that.
Sure, there are tragedies in football. Who hasn't heard of them? I played in high school, got a concussion one Saturday morning, and it wasn't pleasant. But I'd play again, because the other aspects of the game, the hard work, the skill, the intellectual aspect, the camaraderie, the shared purpose, and the pride, are also still with me.
Football helped prepare me for life, and life requires focus and physical commitment, just as later army service did. The values of teamwork may not fit in with our self-indulgent increasingly isolated society of selfie-takers, but it is integral to the operation of many of our societal institutions.
Everyone wants young people to be safe. And we should do our best to protect them and keep them from harm. But it should not extend to shutting down a sport.
Otto Warmbiers parents are feeling the pain today of their son's death at the hands of barbarians. But they also expressed admiration, pride and understanding for that part of their son's soul which needed to go not only to Paris, but also to North Korea. It is part of being young, and there is always risk to that.
5
I'll never forget the day I was running on a track alongside a pee-wee practice. These were little kids. And the coaches were yelling at them to hit and tackle. Since then I have been grateful that neither of my sons showed any interest at all in playing football.
As many have said, physiological evolution (among other things) has increased body mass to the point where no equipment modification or rules change will mitigate the risks of the game. I realize people assume the risk, but at some point it becomes just too dangerous to health. Football as we know it is reaching that point.
As many have said, physiological evolution (among other things) has increased body mass to the point where no equipment modification or rules change will mitigate the risks of the game. I realize people assume the risk, but at some point it becomes just too dangerous to health. Football as we know it is reaching that point.
15
100 years from now football will be viewed like gladiatorial combat.
21
Fingers crossed.
10
Football? Not my kids. No knee or back injuries. No head trauma. No worries.
9
Sixteen years old, and 235 pounds?
8
One hit on the head caused Ridge Barden's sudden death, but how much damage had his brain already sustained before that because he was pushed too hard by his coach. Coaches force their players harder and harder. The players are afraid to report an injury because it isn't manly and they may not be able to continue to play. It is not only this coach who should stop coaching football but all other school coaches. Aren't we past the Roman gladiator phase yet? Does it require injury to the players for the fans to enjoy the sport? If he thinks his grandkids should play, he should have his head examined. Maybe he has brain injuries from his former football days which are clouding his thinking.
18
You can get injured playing badminton, but that is an accident. In football, that 240 lb. linebacker (among many others) has the specific intent of driving your vulnerable body into the ground. This "sport" is nothing but modern gladiator and really amounts to a sanctioned form of child abuse. When I started high school, my buddy was thrilled because he was going to play football. On the first play, of the first practice session, he broke his leg in three places and thereafter, for as long as I lived near him, he walked with a limp. High school and college football can be exciting to watch, but fans in the stadium risk nothing, unless their children are on the field.
31
Football should be and will be banned within 10 years. Athletes are becoming bigger and faster than we had ever imagined Physical force is so great that damages will only increase further.
17
Sometimes, people just die. Because it is their time, whether at 16 or 60. Life is like that. Unfair. Short. But the human spirit needs challenge and sports is one way to channel human drive to excel.
It may not be your way, but millions have played football and survived, and even thrived. While the sport can be made safer, there seems to be a determined campaign to eventually scrap it. For what?
I played. I had that helmet to helmet hit on a Saturday. I got a concussion, they tell me. it wasn't pleasant. But then again, neither were parts of the army, some times in work, or raising kids.
We want all our young people to be safe, protected, and never confront the harms and evils of the world. What a tragedy that a young man returned from that horrible mess of a regime called North Korea missing brain tissue which led to his death yesterday.
But Otto's Dad said he was glad Otto had that sense of adventure to travel to, besides Europe, to North Korea. Maybe that is hindsight justification.
Or maybe attempting to ban a sport because life can be dangerous, is a self-defeating narrative.
It may not be your way, but millions have played football and survived, and even thrived. While the sport can be made safer, there seems to be a determined campaign to eventually scrap it. For what?
I played. I had that helmet to helmet hit on a Saturday. I got a concussion, they tell me. it wasn't pleasant. But then again, neither were parts of the army, some times in work, or raising kids.
We want all our young people to be safe, protected, and never confront the harms and evils of the world. What a tragedy that a young man returned from that horrible mess of a regime called North Korea missing brain tissue which led to his death yesterday.
But Otto's Dad said he was glad Otto had that sense of adventure to travel to, besides Europe, to North Korea. Maybe that is hindsight justification.
Or maybe attempting to ban a sport because life can be dangerous, is a self-defeating narrative.
2
Millions of people have survived driving without seat belts. Millions of people have survived driving while drunk. But they are still stupid things to do.
Football won't be banned but mothers everywhere will stop their sons from playing this form of Russian roulette. In the long run it will die off.
Football won't be banned but mothers everywhere will stop their sons from playing this form of Russian roulette. In the long run it will die off.
31
As a clinical psychologist who used to love football but now cannot tolerate watching it, this resonates. My thoughts are with Mr. Charles as he finds his way forward. He clearly is a man of compassion and conscience.
11
It is mostly the parents fault for pushing and coercing their sons into football. Many people even have their son start kindergarten a year late just to increase his chances of being bigger and stronger for varsity football. Then the parents and the athlete complain about brain injuries and want to sue anybody and everyone, except for the two people at fault: mom and dad. It doesn't take much intelligence to know that being hit over and over is not a good idea. I refuse to watch boxing for the same reasons, it is barbaric and stupid.
13
I agree with you about 90 percent. The sad thing is that for many kids, athletics is the only way they can afford college, so the football scholarship becomes the holy grail. It's nice to sit in a position of privilege and judge these families, but for many, it's a ticket out of poverty. You can say, "well, that's not worth their son's life," but that would be unfair. In a perfect world, the millions of dollars being funneled into college athletics would go to need-based scholarships.
5
The death of a boy playing football: brings home the danger.
But every kid playing football experiences brain injuries: it's just that a lot of them are not obvious. The living brain is mostly water with tiny membranes separating one neuron from another and tiny fragile arms reaching out to connect with other neurons. The brain is attached to the skull only by tiny membranes: there are only a few other structures inside the skull. When the head stops too quickly the brain sloshes around inside the skull and tiny membranes are torn. The connections between neurons are broken which means those neurons can't function. Please please please don't let your boys play football. And by the way: don't let your kids head the ball in soccer.
Rethink lacrosse. Search for a sport for your kid that has a history of minimal brain damage.
But every kid playing football experiences brain injuries: it's just that a lot of them are not obvious. The living brain is mostly water with tiny membranes separating one neuron from another and tiny fragile arms reaching out to connect with other neurons. The brain is attached to the skull only by tiny membranes: there are only a few other structures inside the skull. When the head stops too quickly the brain sloshes around inside the skull and tiny membranes are torn. The connections between neurons are broken which means those neurons can't function. Please please please don't let your boys play football. And by the way: don't let your kids head the ball in soccer.
Rethink lacrosse. Search for a sport for your kid that has a history of minimal brain damage.
16
FWIW I have a somewhat relevant story.
When I was a kid, I loved both football and basketball.
I was born in Austin, Tx but by the time I was 4 we had moved to Southern California. Anyways, by the time I was in middle school I was the best QB at our school and when I went to high school everyone wanted me to try out for QB on the team, as most thought I was the best of all the incoming Middle School QBs, but my mom absolutely refused. She had heard of a few deaths in football in Texas more from practice than in the actual game, and my dad wouldn't support me. So... never played football, but eventually played basketball on JV and Varsity. In the summer between my junior and senior years, both JV and Varsity Basketball were doing windsprints on the football field, and we really needed to make it by a certain time or we would have to do it again... and I was bringing up the rear in the sprint with a boy named Todd Keeland and everyone was trying to root us home so we wouldn't have to do another one, and then Todd just collapsed and died right next to me. We were all saying "Todd get up" but he never did...the autopsy indicated an enlarged heart and they said no one was to blame but I don't know doing some insane windsprints on a hot day probably didn't help.
But that is not to blame anyone...it is a very sad story but it is also ironic, here my mom was so worried about me playing football and getting hurt and then the basketball player right next to me literally dropped dead...
When I was a kid, I loved both football and basketball.
I was born in Austin, Tx but by the time I was 4 we had moved to Southern California. Anyways, by the time I was in middle school I was the best QB at our school and when I went to high school everyone wanted me to try out for QB on the team, as most thought I was the best of all the incoming Middle School QBs, but my mom absolutely refused. She had heard of a few deaths in football in Texas more from practice than in the actual game, and my dad wouldn't support me. So... never played football, but eventually played basketball on JV and Varsity. In the summer between my junior and senior years, both JV and Varsity Basketball were doing windsprints on the football field, and we really needed to make it by a certain time or we would have to do it again... and I was bringing up the rear in the sprint with a boy named Todd Keeland and everyone was trying to root us home so we wouldn't have to do another one, and then Todd just collapsed and died right next to me. We were all saying "Todd get up" but he never did...the autopsy indicated an enlarged heart and they said no one was to blame but I don't know doing some insane windsprints on a hot day probably didn't help.
But that is not to blame anyone...it is a very sad story but it is also ironic, here my mom was so worried about me playing football and getting hurt and then the basketball player right next to me literally dropped dead...
6
It is probably a good thing that I never had children, as I would have refused to allow my son to play football. I wouldn't have been very popular, but I don't care. My condolences to the families and coaches who have lost children to football injuries.
4
As the mother whose son died at 21 two years ago, this article was difficult to read. Quotes in the story like, "Because we were trying to move on," "Once in a while I think about it," and the author's phrase, "it is no longer front and center" all pierced my heart. Ridge Barden's parents never "get to move on". They don't, I am fairly certain, thinking about him only "once in a while". There is no closure for a grieving family; there is only the lifelong accommodation of this massive boulder of grief.
23
We're finally realizing that getting hit in the head is not good for one's health. Or have we? Boxing has been making a comeback lately, Even women fighters in the ring. Then there's MMA and cage fighting. Brutal. Barbaric. And very popular. I'm not sure we've come very far at all.
7
Football's worse than boxing, because there are 21 other players on the field besides you, so you could be hit from behind, or piled onto from behind, even if by accident, and never see it coming. In boxing there's only one opponent and he's right in front of you at all times, so you can see him coming. Plus there are rarely any injuries below the waist. And boxing had concussion protocol YEARS before football ever did. In boxing if you're knocked out or stopped by technical knockout, you're medically suspended from fighting for at least 3 months. It's been that way for a long time. So football is the most dangerous.
7
When will reporters start asking college presidents and school principals why they continue to support a sport medical science has documented causes brain damage? Would they encourage their students to smoke? To text & drive? When will reporters put down their pom poms and pick up their pens?
19
They don't just support football, they raise millions of dollars for new stadiums and start touting new recruits months before the actual seasons begin. Said recruits don't have to attend class regularly because they, ahem, have practice, and have to travel. In some universities--thankfully, not mine--football seems to take precedence over virtually everything else.
9
College presidents won't do anything about football because, unlike students who smoke, football brings the college so much money. As Kwai-Chang Caine said on an episode of that great 1970's TV series, Kung Fu: "Honor dies........where interest lies."
9
After ten years of youth, high school, and college football,I gave it up because of constant head aches and memory problems. That was 40 years ago. No one could tell me what was happening. Many of my friends and teammates thought I had psychological issues, because I was self medicating with alcohol and other illegal substances. It took me years to get over the headaches and depressions. I feel lucky that they stopped. I am hoping that there aren't any issues awaiting me in later life.
17
When I was a senior in high school, one of my classmates died of a cerebral hemorrhage from a helmet to helmet hit during our Homecoming football game. It was over 40 years ago & I've never forgotten it. Back then, it was thought to be a one-in-a-million tragedy. Now we know better. We know better. So why are we still playing this game?
47
why indeed. A barbaric "sport" not different than fighting a lion in the Colosseum. We were we are so "civilized" in 2017 but we haven't changed in thousands of years
10
The fact that an assistant principal's salary is more than a footfall coach's is I'm sure coincidental. It's nice though that he got at least a little extra compensation for giving up what he once loved to do.
2
Wow. Cynical much?
1
Jeff Charles sounds like a wonderful, caring man .The way to truly honor Ridge Barden is not to name a football field, or locker room after him, but to lobby for the end of high school football in his memory, in order to protect the health and lives of current and future players.
29
Man must evolve past the point of physical beating of one another for sport no matter how rousing it might be to us; boxing, football and then maybe in the distant far off future, war itself.
16
I played football as a teen and I was very good at it. However, once I started playing basketball and tennis, I realized I did not have to hurt another player, or myself. Then, I could see football was a primitive, ignorant pastime. like Roman gladiators. My daughter wanted to be a cheerleader for the football time, and it was one of the only times I said no. If I had a boy, I would not let him play this "sport." Someday, they will modify it, or outlaw it, like bullfighting, dog fighting or cockfighting. It's backwards and uncivilized.
38
In the age of the omnipresent "Helicopter Parents" who shield their children from every possible form of danger [including a negative thought]- I wonder why this game is still around ..???
7
My husband when to one football game at our high school. In that one game the school's star player suffered a broken spine and never walked again. He was featured in the school paper in a wheelchair but never returned.
That finished football for my husband. as far as I know he never watched another game and forbid out three kids from playing. He said he would see the boy lying on the field in his mind.
That finished football for my husband. as far as I know he never watched another game and forbid out three kids from playing. He said he would see the boy lying on the field in his mind.
26
What is the point of this article? Mr. Charles appears to have learned nothing. A kid he coached dies for no good reason. He does some soul searching and well, maybe after all it would be just too cool to coach with his son to contemplate the damage the sport does to young bodies. As far as I can tell, the only thing that has moved is time and memories. Barden is forgotten and what are the chances some other kid will get hurt? What are the chances?
16
There are so many things wrong with American football, it's hard to know where to start. Glorification of violence in the sport, coupled with the feigned ignorance of domestic abuse by players is disgusting. Complete disregard for players' health, no matter how old, the NFL as a nonprofit organization (allowing them to have that status is criminal), exploitation of college players, the focus on football at most schools to the detriment of music and arts programs, and the unbelievable national obsession with the sport are all very troubling. In the end it's all about money and the cultivation of fans who thrive on the violence all for ratings and the almighty dollar. I was a mild football fan in the 80's, but I stopped watching it and going to games ages ago as the sport became more and more violent and corrupt (as if they didn't know about the TBIs long, long ago). I have two boys, 14 and 21 and I made it clear to them from day one they would never, never play football. I'm happy to say not only they did not play football, they could not care less about the sport. I do sympathize with this coach and I hope he becomes a strong advocate for reform.
15
The NFL organization governing body is non profit but every team is for profit and pays taxes. This happens all the time as to businesses organizing and having an over seeing board. Music and arts, which I like do not bring revenue into schools generally, football does. Many football programs support all the sports programs, particularly women's raise little revenue along with sports for students like intramural basketball etc., Exploitation of college jocks? Yeah a 4 year scholarship to the Stanford, Notre Dame and so many expensive and non expensive colleges which allows many students to go is so exploitative. Almighty dollar? The dollars are there because consumers willingly pay. Who works for nothing? Whose more exploitative, that French professor whose average $126,000 salary at public universities coming from the taxpayer or Saban at Bama, millions coming from revenue his football team raises, not one dime from taxpayers. Football is an important event at many schools from Friday night football on the high school level to the 100,000 at many colleges, all of which are the biggest events uniting students. Saturday football with Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame was the second most religious event event the week after Sunday mass for me. Players get hurt, but do in all sports. Scientific American reported 1.8 million soccer injuries among girls and 1.5 million among boys at the high school level. Head injuries around 20% of total, usually concussions (no head gear).
Both football (and futbol) coaching and football parenting are acts of child endangerment. Child welfare agencies should shut down the sport to protect the children.
11
My son wanted to play football. I didn't let him. It's that simple.
17
Football by nature is a violent "Sport" ? It took 21 and the death of a young man to enlighten him.
5
Jeff Charles has learned little if he considers returning to football again. Never mind that coaching 7th and 8th grade varsity is right in line with perpetuating the course to more injuries and damaged health.
He dares ignore the trauma of a young man's death, and the dangers of football to so many because he "loves" the game? Sorry, the just wait a few years for memories to recede is a self-centered focus built on false comfort. How could he be happy to watch his grandchildren play? He needs to watch hours of concussions instead.
WAKE UP, GROW UP! It is his willful blindness and conscious ignorance of the dangerous risks of football that are so condemning. All the emotion is no longer front and center, so that becomes a rationale to pretend the risks are immaterial.
My disgust is boundless.
He dares ignore the trauma of a young man's death, and the dangers of football to so many because he "loves" the game? Sorry, the just wait a few years for memories to recede is a self-centered focus built on false comfort. How could he be happy to watch his grandchildren play? He needs to watch hours of concussions instead.
WAKE UP, GROW UP! It is his willful blindness and conscious ignorance of the dangerous risks of football that are so condemning. All the emotion is no longer front and center, so that becomes a rationale to pretend the risks are immaterial.
My disgust is boundless.
8
"Over the last four years, 19 players have died from brain-related injuries in high school football."
BRAVO to this coach for seeing the light, for his conscience that refuses to endanger the future of any more of our youth, for his integrity to do the right thing in the face of the massive money machine that is US football, and for his courage to walk away from something he loves because he knows now that football is a killer.
BRAVO to this coach for seeing the light, for his conscience that refuses to endanger the future of any more of our youth, for his integrity to do the right thing in the face of the massive money machine that is US football, and for his courage to walk away from something he loves because he knows now that football is a killer.
13
Not exactly so, by any means. He speaks of possibly coaching 7th and 8th grade varsity teams and seeing his grandchildren play.
His conscience and seeing the light have unfortunately passed their expiration dates. Nineteen high school players killed by brain injuries in the last four years and he is unfazed enough not to work to eliminate the "sport." No thanks.
His conscience and seeing the light have unfortunately passed their expiration dates. Nineteen high school players killed by brain injuries in the last four years and he is unfazed enough not to work to eliminate the "sport." No thanks.
2
This is an odd headline and article. It seems that the point was to highlight the danger and devastation of concussions tied to football. Yet at he end of the article the coach himself says that he still loves it and thinks he is is emotionally ready to go back, and that his opinion of the sport hasn't changed. So the author instead appears to be using the article to misrepresent his painful recovery but growing balanced perspective.
I'm a mother of five student athletes, and have seen multiple kids over the past 20 years have serious concussions over ice hockey, soccer, field hockey, softball, lacrosse, basketball and as well as but not more than football. I've also seen several kids have serious concussions playing tag. Two months ago a student died at my daughter's college track meet when he was at the wrong place during the hammer throw. These are serious issues and we should always be aware of how to better prevent injuries and deaths. But probably the truth is that it is likely that people are getting more concussions because more people are playing sports and more people are aware of what concussions are. As long as there are contact/fast paced sports, there will always be some degree of risk. To take this further, there are hundreds of bicycle deaths each year in the United States, yet no one is calling for the end of bicycle use.
I'm a mother of five student athletes, and have seen multiple kids over the past 20 years have serious concussions over ice hockey, soccer, field hockey, softball, lacrosse, basketball and as well as but not more than football. I've also seen several kids have serious concussions playing tag. Two months ago a student died at my daughter's college track meet when he was at the wrong place during the hammer throw. These are serious issues and we should always be aware of how to better prevent injuries and deaths. But probably the truth is that it is likely that people are getting more concussions because more people are playing sports and more people are aware of what concussions are. As long as there are contact/fast paced sports, there will always be some degree of risk. To take this further, there are hundreds of bicycle deaths each year in the United States, yet no one is calling for the end of bicycle use.
4
Sport is PROFIT (via taxpayer dollars). While every other industry and business is endlessly harassed by Government "safety" mandates sports ( and food!) miraculously get a free pass.
PROFITS
PROFITS
1
As the parent of a child who played this team the week before Ridge died, I feel very sorry for this coach. This had a huge impact on every player on my son's team. We did not hear of Ridges death until the next day, when we were at the orthopedics for a wrist injury from the game the night before. It affected my son tremendously. He went to the calling hours and as we were leaving they were showing clips from the Phoenix vs Mexico game. It wasn't good. He actually was not going to play in his play off game that he helped get to. Being a senior, I knew if he didn't at in that game he would regret it. Between his coach and I we got him to suit up and play one play. I wanted him to end his high school football career on a good note, not with th ed death of Ridge being his last memory. We still talk about it. My niece and nephew went to Phoenix so it is something that is always there. I have a lot of respect for this coach. It was a hard time in Oswego Cup 5th football.
1
YOU wanted him to end his high school football career on a good note? What did HE want? Obviously, he didn't want to play that last game, having to be pressured into it by a parent and his coach. As a young man getting ready to go out and make his way in the world, your son was perfectly capable of making the decision not to play that game after Ridge's death, and in fact HAD made that decision. His decision should have been respected.
11
Amen!
2
If students, parents and school employees had the same, or more, passion for high school education as they do for high school sports perhaps students would be studying more and playing less
12
Playing sports well at the high school level gets many poor kids an education at Stanford, Michigan, Notre Dame and Duke. Schools the poor would have a hard time walking on to campus.
We as a society will need to come to terms with football being a sport that is too dangerous and damaging to play. It won't be easy because football is an incredibly successful part of the entertainment industry. But the overwhelming evidence of brain damage is too much. All sports have associated risks of injuries -- knees, elbows, shoulders, etc. But brains? Not sustainable as more and more understanding of the damage to lives comes to light.
11
My first job out of high school (not my first job) was working for a set of neurosurgeons who tasked me with the job of going through their entire set of medical records. I read a thousand over a summer.
There in the records were documents of the deaths of high school athletes, amusement park roller coaster attendees, and swimmers.
Those records radically changed my view of sports. Football is horribly dangerous, to the spine and brains of its players.
I am very sorry for the young man who died on the football field.
May this story reach football loving cities and towns in the U.S. Football is too injurious a sport to maintain. We are not living in the age of the Coliseum in Ancient Rome.
There in the records were documents of the deaths of high school athletes, amusement park roller coaster attendees, and swimmers.
Those records radically changed my view of sports. Football is horribly dangerous, to the spine and brains of its players.
I am very sorry for the young man who died on the football field.
May this story reach football loving cities and towns in the U.S. Football is too injurious a sport to maintain. We are not living in the age of the Coliseum in Ancient Rome.
13
How many who have commented here have read the book "Concussion"?
I have. And I think Dr Omalu is brilliant!
I also have a son who upon entering High School/9th grade, decided to play JV football.
I was stunned and thrilled when he informed me he would be playing! I absolutely love football! My son was big early, but he didn't posses a great amount of athletic ability. But I supported his choice. It was outside the box for him, and, well, I love football.
Within the first few weeks he broke his thumb, as it got caught in someones helmet during a play. So, these things happen.
He played 2 years of JV football, and I saw a lot. Yes, football is a violent game, no doubt about it.
But football can also be graceful. Jerry Rice took ballet lessons to help him improve his receiving skills.
The vast majority of football players do not contract CTE. If we only knew why. It would be so helpful.
So I supported my son playing. I am glad he was not injured.
I think how CTE in football is addressed will take some time. I can only hope for the best.
I have. And I think Dr Omalu is brilliant!
I also have a son who upon entering High School/9th grade, decided to play JV football.
I was stunned and thrilled when he informed me he would be playing! I absolutely love football! My son was big early, but he didn't posses a great amount of athletic ability. But I supported his choice. It was outside the box for him, and, well, I love football.
Within the first few weeks he broke his thumb, as it got caught in someones helmet during a play. So, these things happen.
He played 2 years of JV football, and I saw a lot. Yes, football is a violent game, no doubt about it.
But football can also be graceful. Jerry Rice took ballet lessons to help him improve his receiving skills.
The vast majority of football players do not contract CTE. If we only knew why. It would be so helpful.
So I supported my son playing. I am glad he was not injured.
I think how CTE in football is addressed will take some time. I can only hope for the best.
"The vast majority of football players do not contract CTE. If we only knew why."
--> we do know why. It's from blows to the head!!!
--> we do know why. It's from blows to the head!!!
2
The vast majority do NOT get CTI? In case you missed it, 97 of the first 100 brains of former NFL players that were examined at Boston University's concussion lab showed CTE. Not pure randomness. The chances of that trend continuing as the number of brains examined reaches into the hundreds will be a 100% guarantee.
3
The brain is the second most complex structure in the universe (after the universe, itself) -- the hardware of the human mind. Human culture exists because of the ability of the mind to think, to conceptualize itself as a mind and to "link up" with other minds through various sensory-based, conceptual, interactive systems: to turn sensory input into experience, into theory, into knowledge and understanding, into a palpable sense not merely of inhabiting but participating in a real, coherent universe.
Educational institutions exist to celebrate the human mind and its seemingly inexhaustible capacity for thought and feeling: is meaning making. Football, by contrast, physically destroys minds. How can a rational society tolerate the paradox of educational institutions valorizing football -- a practice that undermines their very reason for being? How can a democratic society accept as a social norm a practice that holds some young minds may be turned into mud for the momentary thrill of others?
Educational institutions exist to celebrate the human mind and its seemingly inexhaustible capacity for thought and feeling: is meaning making. Football, by contrast, physically destroys minds. How can a rational society tolerate the paradox of educational institutions valorizing football -- a practice that undermines their very reason for being? How can a democratic society accept as a social norm a practice that holds some young minds may be turned into mud for the momentary thrill of others?
8
Using your logic lets ban cars, bikes, walking across streets which kills and turns minds into mud also on campuses? Educational institutions exist for many reasons, on the college level these days its a doorway supposedly to a good paying job, not some high minded ideal of celebrating the mind. Sorry sports is a part of existence for many. How many talk Sunday football on Monday at the job rather then the latest local opera or new book at the library. Football is large part of the American make-up as the other kind of football is in Europe and other parts of the world. Why? Because Americans decided so, its called Capitalism, what makes America great.
I truly cannot follow the reasoning here. It's clear that football is a dangerous game. Mr. Charles knows it is. He knows what playing football does to kids. He walked away from the "sport." Yet he's talking about somehow having an "impact" by returning to coach middle school football. Concussion after concussion. Some impact.
2
Whenever I see football, I can't help thinking of my grandfather. He boxed when he was in the United States Marine Corps in the 1940's and suffered for decades thereafter with Parkinson's Disease. I can't help but wonder if his illness was related to that brutal sport, and what his life would have been like without it.
6
My thoughts are with Mr. Charles. As the article states rather clearly, young Mr. Barden succumbed to a rare, yet not unheard of, sequelae of an inherently violent sport. And while objectively there's truly "no one to blame", I view it as a mark of responsibility, however perhaps misplaced, that Mr. Charles should feel the way he does. It's said time heals all wounds. I think it just lessens the sting.
I thought my son would never forgive me when I refused to sign the consent to let him play high school football. I don't regret that decision at all. He went on to play professional baseball -- until he got hurt. But at least that injury wasn't to his brain, and he will have a long healthy life.
11
As if brain injuries don't happen in baseball. Numerous head injuries have occurred from being hit in the head by a pitch, running into the fences trying to make a catch along with head injuries while sliding into bases. Ray Chapman of the Indians was killed by a pitch from Carl Mays of the Yankees and died 12 hours later. Any NFLer die that quickly from a football play? Herb Score of the Indians hit in the face, breaking facial bones by a batted ball back through the pitchers mound, was never the same again. Head injuries are quite common in soccer at all levels.
1
I used to watch football, but I can't anymore having assessed brain trauma in my neuropsych practice over the years, from war, boxing and football. Every collision I see, I see a few more brain cells dying, frontal lobe impact, coup and contra coup, and I just can't watch.
Just like things past we no longer do because we recognize the harm (DDT, thalidomide, etc.) we should just walk away and think of something else to do instead.
Just like things past we no longer do because we recognize the harm (DDT, thalidomide, etc.) we should just walk away and think of something else to do instead.
21
Whatever Mr. Charles decides, he won't be coaching my son, because my husband and I refused to let him play football. We don't have to wait for coaches to resign in order to do something to avoid the sport's dangers.
89
Coach, stick to softball. As for the grandchildren, buy them a soccer ball.
56
I don't want to make this about me, but I do share the coach's feelings. I began attending Chicago Bears games with my father when I was four years old and eventually became obsessed with the game. I was a high school and college player and eventually a high school head coach. That was a dream come true. My feelings changed when I visited one of my players who was hospitalized after a hard hit. The doctor's first words were, "We might take out his spleen." Thank God the player recovered but that was my last year of coaching football. It's a game that can exert such a hold on both boys and men -- but I'm finished with it and I would not recommend it. Good luck to Coach Jeff Charles, who is clearly a wonderful man.
79
High school football is revered. It should be abandoned. It is highly dangerous. This is a game that is based on collisions at running speed - over and over and over. Not necessarily head to head all the time, but when your body collides with another, your brain moves inside your skull.
These are kids. This "game" causes brain damage. These kids' brains are still developing. Some of these kids weigh 250 and up, and they can run like a deer. The pure physics of 200 - 300 pound kids running toward each other and colliding, over and over, is something that should have huge warning label all over it.
This coach is haunted by a player's death, but what he really should be haunted by is all of the early and extended dementia that is going be going on with the players who live into their 60's and 70's.
This part of the article is discouraging: "His opinion of the sport hasn’t changed, he said, and he’ll be happy to watch his grandchildren play one day."
So he still doesn't get it. Neither do the parents. Brains are not supposed to be bounced around again and again, but a constant barrage of collisions. But people see what they want to see. They can see a broken leg, they can't see the brain being damaged, so as far as they can see, it's all okay. And maybe they'll get a scholarship.
These are kids. This "game" causes brain damage. These kids' brains are still developing. Some of these kids weigh 250 and up, and they can run like a deer. The pure physics of 200 - 300 pound kids running toward each other and colliding, over and over, is something that should have huge warning label all over it.
This coach is haunted by a player's death, but what he really should be haunted by is all of the early and extended dementia that is going be going on with the players who live into their 60's and 70's.
This part of the article is discouraging: "His opinion of the sport hasn’t changed, he said, and he’ll be happy to watch his grandchildren play one day."
So he still doesn't get it. Neither do the parents. Brains are not supposed to be bounced around again and again, but a constant barrage of collisions. But people see what they want to see. They can see a broken leg, they can't see the brain being damaged, so as far as they can see, it's all okay. And maybe they'll get a scholarship.
172
yes these are kids, and their bodies are able to repair themselves more quickly and more completely than an older person's. Don't always be shouting "the kids, the kids", they are not more valuable or sacrosanct than anybody else.
1
Football is a barbaric "sport".
We do not permit cock fighting and bull fighting because it's cruel to the animals but this activity which kills and maims humans is OK?
Time to shut it down. Not by governmental action, (people are free to do as they wish), but by not letting your kids play, not attending or watching games, and otherwise shunning it.
We do not permit cock fighting and bull fighting because it's cruel to the animals but this activity which kills and maims humans is OK?
Time to shut it down. Not by governmental action, (people are free to do as they wish), but by not letting your kids play, not attending or watching games, and otherwise shunning it.
112
The sad thought I was left with at the end of this story - by going back to coaching 7th and 8th graders to have an "impact", the impact it will have on those kids is concussive, brain damaging impact. Depression and suicidal 20s or future ALS or Alzheimer's-type dementia. There's another calling for this coach out there that won't damage boys' lives - it's worth finding.
52
Given the passage of time, we can forget the valuable and painfully obtained (death of a child) lessons of experience and return to our previous self-destructive behavior.
21
Jeff Charles sounds like a compassionate, kind man. Just the type of person a parent would trust to treat their child fairly and keep them safe. I wonder if treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder would help him handle the grief he is still feeling over the tragic loss of young Ridge Barden.
30
Football is a sport that I consider to be so violent -- and players are encouraged to be violent while playing. Talking with a therapist likely helped even if Mr Charles isn't conscious of it. The headline "Walks away" (in the headline) is an interesting phrase: Walking is good for us.
Don't accept leaving as quitting, Mr. Charles. I hope you understand that you are walking toward something else and wish you peace in that choice.
Don't accept leaving as quitting, Mr. Charles. I hope you understand that you are walking toward something else and wish you peace in that choice.
38
I attended Midwood High School (Brooklyn) in the 1960s. After a student died of blunt head trauma during a football practice session; the football team was cancelled for a few years. The they started it up again.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
69
Do they consider the possibility that football might not be an appropriate sport for high-school?
47
I stopped watching almost football games long ago, long before the issue of brain damage became front and center. I still tune into the final minutes of the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl if I'm near a tv and catch replays of the latter's halftime show on YouTube. I'm not a fan of boxing, either.
For me, the damage people are willing to inflict on each other's bodies and minds overrides the wonderful displays of courageous athleticism.
For me, the damage people are willing to inflict on each other's bodies and minds overrides the wonderful displays of courageous athleticism.
23
This touching story about Mr. Charles should be a must read for parents and kids playing football. Thank you Malika Andrews for this informative piece.. My heart goes out to the family of Ridge Barden. I'm glad to hear Mr. Charles is now coaching softball and is able to continue teaching young people about sportsmanship and integrity.
10
I have never been a big football fan, but not opposed to it, just not interested.
That said, I recognize that it is a very important part of people's lives and of deep cultural identity. The deaths of so many young men along with CTE must be factored in the future of football from Middle School to the NFL. That would be a tribute to all players, parents, coaches and fans.
That said, I recognize that it is a very important part of people's lives and of deep cultural identity. The deaths of so many young men along with CTE must be factored in the future of football from Middle School to the NFL. That would be a tribute to all players, parents, coaches and fans.
High school kids shouldn't be allowed to play. They aren't old enough to really understand the risks and know if the game is worth it to them. Their parents are too much a part of the equation at that age. Older men are responsible enough, and free enough from their parents to make their own decisions.
17
Do they consider that football might not be an appropriate sport for high school?
22
The problem is people hitting too hard when they do not have to. It is also intentionally injuring someone (in various ways) in order to knock them out of the game. Some players feel, and may even be taught, that "you want to win at all costs" is what it is all about.
Thoughtfully reported tragedy. Thanks.
It took a good long while for people to learn that "getting your bell rung" is not the medically insignificant event that the term implies. If tackle Football in its current form is not radically transformed or abolished, we will need to make peace with the fact that we as a society are no better than the Romans. Our gladiators generally just take longer to die.
Same with boxing.
Same with boxing.
26
Paul, even the ancient Greeks understood that "getting your bell rung" led to dementia in younger men. The physician Hippocrates noted the mental declines that resulted from concussions. Greek athletes used little or no protective gear; "punch-drunk" boxers were very familiar to them.
The problem isn't that we don't know. It's that we don't care. Head impact is like radiation -- an invisible poison that is cumulative over a lifetime, and once it reaches a critical point, it kicks off an unstoppable and irreversible process of cell destruction.
It grieves me that this coach would knowingly return to a sport so damaging to the young people whose lives he values. Our brains contain not just what we know, but who we are. To lose that is to lose everything.
The problem isn't that we don't know. It's that we don't care. Head impact is like radiation -- an invisible poison that is cumulative over a lifetime, and once it reaches a critical point, it kicks off an unstoppable and irreversible process of cell destruction.
It grieves me that this coach would knowingly return to a sport so damaging to the young people whose lives he values. Our brains contain not just what we know, but who we are. To lose that is to lose everything.
4
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has compiled a list of high school injuries incurred during sports games. Basketball tops the list at 119,589 injuries, with football close behind at 118,886 injuries, while ice hockey resulted in 12,336 injuries, and track & field incurred 8,194 injuries.
https://coachad.com/articles/which-sports-cause-the-most-injuries-to-hig...
Sports are exercise, but they are also rites of social bonding. The issue is which rites of bonding are worth risking death or permanent injury. The football-obsessed culture has determined that death and permanent injury may be unfortunate they are nevertheless excusable when weighed in balance to the factors of entertainment and social bonding.
I learned these grim realities from direct observation very early on in my high school days and consciously rejected football and joined the swim team. Forty years later I still love swimming, and I think it maintains my good health. I would not be able to say the same for football.
https://coachad.com/articles/which-sports-cause-the-most-injuries-to-hig...
Sports are exercise, but they are also rites of social bonding. The issue is which rites of bonding are worth risking death or permanent injury. The football-obsessed culture has determined that death and permanent injury may be unfortunate they are nevertheless excusable when weighed in balance to the factors of entertainment and social bonding.
I learned these grim realities from direct observation very early on in my high school days and consciously rejected football and joined the swim team. Forty years later I still love swimming, and I think it maintains my good health. I would not be able to say the same for football.
31
My guess (with no information other than years of watching basketball) is that basketball injuries, while numerous, are not life-altering or life-ending brain injuries. Basketball players break a lot of fingers and wreak havoc on their knees. But that cannot compare to permanent brain damage.
6
I love the game and played in high school. Our family has multiple state chames and college players in it across generations but if my own young son doesn't gravitate to it as he gets older I will consider it a blessing.
13
YOu would dare allow your son to play the game? I grew up with the Lombardi teams, and found myself at Lambeau many times over the years. My parents attended the Ice Bowl. Fortunately, I have left the game in my rearview mirror at all levels, and rarely watch any of it.
I kind of feel the same way. Football turned an angry teenager who was going through his second family divorce (me) and very depressed into someone who could channel that anger in a disciplined environment. I loved the camraderie, the victories and the losses. I remember doing two a days in the california heat running until we puked. It definitely made me a better man and I still carry the leadership principles I learned into my business career to this day. It's a game of managing risk and sacrificing for the team that is sorely needed in today's society. My personal view is that it made a lot of us better men, but I also firmly respect the right of others to keep their kids out of it. Honestly though, for le the benefits were life lasting. My depression went away without any drugs and I was only involved in a fight about twice in four years of high school. If it wasn't for football I would have been in a lot more fights and probably started abusing drugs with a lot of the wrong people.
2
Heart-breaking. Not clear to me why Charles is considering returning to coaching football if he believes the sport is particular dangerous. Was his stepping aside only ""emotional" or also a rational response to this tragedy?
Another ethical question arises, remembering the high level of attention the Times gave to the Superbowl yet again this year. IF football poses special risks for players, would reducing coverage be a form of suppression, censorship even of a news event, or is heavily covering the Superbowl publicizing, for commercial reasons, a potentially dangerous activity?
Another ethical question arises, remembering the high level of attention the Times gave to the Superbowl yet again this year. IF football poses special risks for players, would reducing coverage be a form of suppression, censorship even of a news event, or is heavily covering the Superbowl publicizing, for commercial reasons, a potentially dangerous activity?
16
This sad and tragic story reminds me of the similar death Liam Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, died from due to a skiing accident. I understand the potential of all tragedies that come with any sport - regardless of what that sport is. In this case, the question of better helmets and head gear would be a crucial one to inquire about for the players. I see this accident in the same vein as the high school athlete who dies from an undiagnosed heart issue. These are accidents - every one of them. And these kids were doing what they wanted to do. They enjoyed the sport and their teammates.
What is most moving and heart wrenching is the head coach who is still grappling with the tragic event which lead to his ball player's death. I don't ever recall reading about an individual who was so moved and distraught by the death of one of his players or students. All I know is that I think every student who is under his care could not find a better role model or man of courage or honor than Jeff Charles. His strength, his empathy, and his character makes me want to be a better person, in every way imaginable. I think he is an incredible man. I wish him the very best in coming to full terms with the situation he witnessed and felt responsible for in October 2011 and that one day he will find his own peace.
Thank you NYT for sharing this painful yet poignant story.