I agree they are the gladiators of our time and we ( society) are getting our jollies by watching them die on the field. It does not happen overnight but when they are 40 and can't live a normal life and then die early. We as a society are OK with that for now ( we used to be OK with gladiators) but we shouldn't be OK with kids taking on that risk.

The average reported life expectancy of an NFL player is 55 years old. you are sacrificing at least 20 years of life expectancy to play in the NFL.

Play all you want after 18 knowing you are causing yourself permanent harm that could drastically effect your life but don't let little guys do it.

Actually studies show each concussion makes it easier to get the next one. And concussions can leave kids with severe memory problems and learning problems.

My wife does a lot of ACT and SAT tutoring. Often in top athletes. She has seen kids lose whole semesters because of the effects of concussions. We had one student, (Offered full ride to U of Oregon for Lacrosse), was poised to score really high on her Math ACT score, and after a concussion spring of Jr year, she barely was able to score high enough to get into U or Oregon. Cost her $1000s of dollars in academic scholarships, since most female sports don't provide full scholarships.

Everyone should watch the crash reel documentary

One concussion makes a second more likely

The teams interests and athletes interests are certainly not the same when the cost for the team is immediate and the athlete 20 years down the line

I strongly discouraged my kids from football. It wasn't the brain damage that concerned me.

What I did not like is the "athletic" culture of-
1) over-eating to bulk up
2) standing and sitting around
3) talking about how wonderful you are


I wanted healthy, active kids, pragmatic kids.

And yet you are a triathlete? :)

I totally agree. However, we are comparing vastly different types, scales, and impacts of injury than football. I certainly remember playing soccer with concussions years ago (this is before concussions were "a thing").

I do not remember getting concussions in basketball, baseball, swimming or running. Just if we are lumping sports into buckets.

Perhaps, it is the ratio of b.s. bragging vs actual training time that bothers me

Triathletes might talk a lot of b.s. but they often train a lot also.

Football definitely has the highest b.s. to actual training ratio.
It is so high that I usually can't even figure out if someone actually did the sport or not.

There is a father at our school, kids same age as mine. Played college football, thinks it makes him the greatest thing in the world. Hasn't said 3 words to me since our oldest kids started school together (first day of 5th grade was today) even though our middle sons started out as really good friends in K. Whole life wrapped up in his kids sports, and says crap at events like "OK son, you are going to do this yourself" when he doesn't like the mix of players on the field or court. The rub is, he went to Centre College. I think that's Div III and they were historically known as the "Praying Colonels". 2 of my best friends in the world played SEC football, and one almost crapped his pants laughing when I told him this.

I assume you are of ave size. I was above average in almost all sports, but was the smallest kid in my class (graduated HS at 110, 5'6"). I played Ice Hockey, Basketball, Soccer, Baseball, Lacrosse, Wrestling, Golf, Tennis, etc. As a kid I took many a hard hit in basketball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and of course playground football. I have no idea how many concussions I've had, but I do know it is too many. But I also accept that it was the price for playing sports and couldn't imagine my life without them. I got into cycling as off season conditioning for Ice Hockey, and Triathlon due to rehabbing a shoulder separation in my 30s. Even as an adult we sustain collisions in sports. It's part of the game.

I'm not saying CTE shouldn't be considered by parents and I think flag football is definitely an option, but as the small kid, I think you are always at risk and wouldn't tell my child they couldn't play if that is what they really wanted to do.

aside from the collision/concussion issue I agree that much of the problem with youth injury comes from parents (primarily Dads but not always) pushing their kids into sports and crappy coaching situations because of their own dreams and failed expectations

Football isn't going away any time soon. The NFL (in conjunction with the Army in some cases) has done a bunch of research on brain injury and that science and the ensuing changes to equipment, technique, coaching, rules are all trickling down through collegiate levels to HS and below. There needs to be and will be changes. Personally I think flag football up till HS is a great idea.

I love football and look forward to NFL and College season and enjoy every minute of it. I place great value on the lessons i learned about myself and working as a member of a team on the gridiron. In HS I was a very good player but at the collegiate level i was just average at best. However I learned tremendous lessons about what I could accomplish myself in very tough circumstances and what it took to work as a member of a team in very tough circumstances. I'd do it all over again. Played on the D Line. Made life-long friends. Played against some great opponents. Dan Marino; Hugh Green; Mike Singletary; Jack Thompson. I got Matt Suhey's footprint right in my chest once in Happy Valley.

I think our unofficial motto at Army back then was "We may not be big but we're slow."

Go Army Beat Navy!

/r

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Steve

Yes the kids are bigger today at the college and pro levels, however in little leagues they have weight and age limits. High School will be whatever the mean average of the population change is for most of players (ie not going to play in college).

But the rules have changed as well as equipment. The players today wear much less padding outside of the helmet than when I played 80s and early 90s. From the 70s to 90s the game was played with more hard contact points that could be used as "weapons" head, elbows, shoulders, and knees. But the game was more physical then. Targeting was definitely alive and encouraged then. Today targeting is a big penalty that could change the outcome of a game. So the blindside hits are being eliminated from the game.

Today's game is more spread out and contact is limited based upon the rules. As a result scoring is higher. The pads are smaller and lighter outside of the helmet.

Regular head trauma is very much position dependent. WR and DB limited hits and certainly less head contact. But they get a lot more big collisions, than say lineman who get the play in and play out hits. Linebackers, running backs and tight ends get a mix of both.

I am not sure if anyone noted that the subjects in the study were D3 college players. As noted 90+% of kids will never play at that level. They will not be subjected to as high of impact as a college player routinely has and certainly not 20,000 hits as the seasons, practices, and games are not that long at lower levels.

Overall yes football is a high risk sport, and it is not a sport for every kid. For most it will be a fun experience with a lot of life lessons learned. For a few it may not be a good experience. Like most things in life. I think the CTE conversation is not a major conversation 95+% of the kids who play the game.
And for those who talk about about the jokes of the big dumb football player. Graduation rates for football players (all athlete's have a higher rate of graduation) is higher than the general student population at most universities.

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2017 Cervelo P2
2017 Cervelo S2
itraininla.com
#itraininla

The first part is a myth. NFL players live just as long as other men. http://rstudio-pubs-static.s3.amazonaws.com/...4890c8d2b234629.html

The study did nothing to quantitate the damage. They saw some stuff on an MRI in a few kids playing college football. We have no idea if banning kids from playing football would have any long term positive effects.

you may want to read the last sentence of the article you posted.

The study proved brain damage is occurring in D3 level college players and they are sustaining hits to their heads upwards of 20,000 times a season and up to 25gs in impact force. Its not that hard to read it. To brush it off as "they saw something on a few MRI's" is naïve at best and sounds like shilling for the NFL at worst.

Good thing many in the country are waking up to the science and football participation among youth has dropped again this year and more schools are shutting down their programs.

We do know for certain banning kids age 18 and younger from football would stop them being exposed to brain trauma that occurs in the regular course of playing the sport. That is significant enough.

for those saying they learned life lessons, comradery, toughness, team spirit etc....you can learn those through many other sports that don't cause brain damage.

You ever play football?

I think if you’ll look around on the internet you’ll come to the conclusion that the average life span of an NFL player is a lot closer to 75 years than it is 55.

I also think that the overwhelming majority of people who play football as a kid don’t end up with any clinically diagnosable brain disease. That’s just common sense. But l played football through HS, so maybe I’m not that smart.

Last thing. I’m all for putting out as much info as possible so people can make informed decisions. I like some of the recent rule changes and I like the “heads up” campaign teaching coaches and kids the proper way to tackle. But you asked a question and the answer is NO, we can’t all agree that kids shouldn’t play tackle football. There is nowhere close to definitive evidence that making such a decree is necessary, or even beneficial.

OP not interested in a reasoned discussion

If it can save just one child's life the whole "insert passionate belief" must be banned

Think of the keiki you monster!

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Steve

A long time ago I made a post on FB that I still laugh at (it's kind of true, but not really):

I blame Eric Lindros for concussions. Prior to him getting lambasted by Scott Stevens and actually fighting with the team about how serious it was, we didn't have concussions. We got our "bell rung" and we took a hit of smelling salts, rubbed some dirt on it, and went back out on the next shift. Fuck you Eric Lindros!


hahaha. Still makes me laugh.

I agree they are the gladiators of our time and we ( society) are getting our jollies by watching them die on the field. It does not happen overnight but when they are 40 and can't live a normal life and then die early. We as a society are OK with that for now ( we used to be OK with gladiators) but we shouldn't be OK with kids taking on that risk.

The average reported life expectancy of an NFL player is 55 years old. you are sacrificing at least 20 years of life expectancy to play in the NFL.

Play all you want after 18 knowing you are causing yourself permanent harm that could drastically effect your life but don't let little guys do it.[/quote]

“We found the players in our study had a much lower rate of death overall compared to men in the general population. This means that, on average, NFL players (77.5-year life expectancy) are actually living longer than men in the general population (74.7 years).”
Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Study (NIOSH)


HS Woman's soccer has a higher concussion rate than HS football.

  

“We found the players in our study had a much lower rate of death overall compared to men in the general population. This means that, on average, NFL players (77.5-year life expectancy) are actually living longer than men in the general population (74.7 years).”
Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Study (NIOSH)


HS Woman's soccer has a higher concussion rate than HS football.

[/quote]
The point of the OP and the study was that it's not just the concussions, but rather the repeated lower level head traumas that add up to brain damage over the course of a season or multiple seasons of playing football.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)