Playing American Football

J

Josiah

Senior Member
Location
50 miles east of Cincinnati, OH
Back in August I was chatting with a mother who mentioned that later that day she was taking her 13 year old son to the family doctor inorder for him have a physical which was a prerequisite for him to be able try out for the high school football team. I didn't say anything, but for the rest of the day I thought about whether I would allow a son of mine to play football in light of the recent studies indicating serious long term health consequences resulting from head concussions which are not that uncommon for football players.


As it so happened I played football in high school and was very proud of the accomplishment which I interpreted as something of a rite of passage in the process of growing up. In those days the ultimate honor you could bestow on the girl you were going steady with was to present her with a cardigan sweater to which your varsity letter was affixed. I count that as a real high point and would have missed not having that opportunity.


Throughout most of my adult life I enjoyed watching college and professional football, but a while back my interest started to wane. This was well before the recent publicity about brain damage. I just found the game too violent and the timeouts for injuries too frequent.


I realize that football plays an outsized role in America's sports culture and that's not going to change anytime soon, but I do know that if asked my counsel (which no one will) about whether or not to play football my advise would be to concentrate on tennis.
 

We have four grandsons (siblings) who all play/have played (two are now adults). Back when the oldest first started playing (he was 9) I was very much against it-not so much because of the concussion issue but because of a program on Dateline that I watched years ago regarding football and spinal cord injuries.

One of the teens who`s story they highlighted happened to attend high school in the town I grew up in,although not the school I attended. He suffered a spinal injury during a game and I swore at that time that none of my kids or grandkids would ever play that game. Well,it turned out that I had no choice as they wanted to play and my son in law wouldn`t listen to my arguments.

Two of my grandsons have the reputation of being very hard hitters. Neither are big kids. The oldest,at 22,has topped out at 5`8" and 160 pounds. His youngest brother (the other hard hitter) will be about the same size. Neither of them has ever suffered a concussion,but I`m afraid they may have caused a few. I don`t want to see anyone else`s child/grandchild hurt either.

The other two boys have both suffered concussions-although the older boy suffered his playing basketball when he was knocked flat on his back and his head hit the floor. The players are now required to wear the new helmets that provide extra protection against concussions and my daughter just got the high school player a new super duper protective helmet for Christmas.

I have to say that,as much as I enjoy watching them play,I will be very happy when the last boy finishes high school and they are all done. Thankfully,they are all following in their dad`s footsteps and going to electrical lineman college after high school,so no college ball.
 

I sometimes wonder about the quite pronounced change in my attitude towards violence. Beside no longer enjoying football on TV, I don't enjoy movies, TV or even books in which violence plays an important part. I recently had to set aside Shelby Foote's acclaimed "Civil War" half way through volume one. I have in short become a complete wuss.
 
I have always had issues with violence but I have to say that I don`t see football as necessarily a violent game-at least not at the youth and high school level. Yes,it is definitely a full contact sport,but violent says a whole different thing to me. That being said,I do see pro football becoming more and more violent, and certainly many of the players seem to be carrying that over into their private lives as well....
 
Don't worry Josiah9, we all become a wuss as we get older. It's natures way of stopping old guys starting bar fights [and getting killed] or something like that.
Our son used to play rugby at school, and I was always worried about that , as serious accidents did happen from time to time.Luckily he was always fine. He got such enjoyment out of playing too.
 
I love football. I played it in high school and college. We didn't worry about getting hit in the head. I don't remember anyone going after a player with their head down like a battering ram. I do remember seeing players on TV do it.
 
I think having proper equipment and protection from head injuries is mandatory. I never equated football with violence.
 
On the other hand,my girls had horses and rode without helmets throughout their childhoods. No helmets, as we didn`t know better then-even after my daughter`s bff suffered a very bad head injury and was in a coma for about a week when she was 7 years old. It changed her personality and even today,over 30 years later,she has issues related to that head injury. And still doesn`t wear a helmet when she rides. Then there are the motorcycle riders. Hubby and I rode for ten years (sold the Harley about three years ago when my back just couldn`t take riding anymore) and wouldn`t have ever dreamed of riding without helmets-although it is the law here in California. But some of our friends used to take long roadtrips to other states and the second they would enter a state without helmet laws,off they would come. I thought they were crazy....Anyway,my point is is that football isn`t the only sport where head injuries can and do occur.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top