HS Football players dropping like flies - would you let your son play football?

[DeadlyDynasty]

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/1...d-recent-death

3rd death in less than a week. Couple this with all the CTE awareness lately and is looking grim for the future of the sport--longterm

Would you be ok with your kid playin dat fooseball? If so, is there an age limit? My kid wouldn't play Pop Warner ball, tbh. He'll still be in private school during MS years, so I'd be ok with him playing there, far away from the 23 y/o Jamals of the world. HS (public) it's his choice, unless the wife steps in and nixes it.

[The Reckoning]

lol america will turn into a pussy soccer nation

[lefty]

lol america will turn into a pussy soccer nation

Yeah because wearing a load of protections and a helmet is really manly

[JoeTait75]

I have a son and I would absolutely let him play HS football. He has my genes and I'm a lousy athlete, so I have a pretty good idea he wouldn't play beyond HS. So the odds would be against him sustaining any permanent physical damage. I'd be happy to see him play because it's a great experience. I played two years of HS and although I frankly wasn't very good I still got a lot out of it.

That having been said I would not let him play youth football. I think you need to achieve a certain level of physical maturity in order to be ready for the contact. And I don't like the way a lot of youth football programs are run.

[Infinite_limit]

lol america will turn into a pussy soccer nation

But toned with more proportional legs?

Playing only in High School is sufficient enough, if you aren't good enough to make it in basketball or baseball.

OP is correct. NFL is in serious because look at how tiny their talent pool already is. Nearly every single player came from American Universities. No successful Global expansion = NFL is currently in decline.

[cantthinkofanything]

But toned with more proportional legs?

Playing only in High School is sufficient enough, if you aren't good enough to make it in basketball or baseball.

OP is correct. NFL is in serious because look at how tiny their talent pool already is. Nearly every single player came from American Universities. No successful Global expansion = NFL is currently in decline.

Get ready for black NHL, black soccer, black tennis, and black baseball.

[The Reckoning]

But toned with more proportional legs?

Playing only in High School is sufficient enough, if you aren't good enough to make it in basketball or baseball.

OP is correct. NFL is in serious because look at how tiny their talent pool already is. Nearly every single player came from American Universities. No successful Global expansion = NFL is currently in decline.

NFL is still king. It's not going anywhere for a loooong time.

[lefty]

NFL is still king. It's not going anywhere for a loooong time.

of course it's not going anywhere

Thanks to so many fat s in Murica who would rather sit through 4 hour games because they are afraid of going out and meet people

[KoolAid Mans Brother]

Your son has a better statistical chance of getting injured or dying in a car accident than he does playing football. Where is the outrage for parents who let their teenage sons get their drivers license?

[DJR210]

of course it's not going anywhere

Thanks to so many fat s in Murica who would rather sit through 4 hour games because they are afraid of going out and meet people

you're on a rampage

[The Gemini Method]

My better half asked me if I'd let any of my future kids play football and I said it would be hard to allow him, but I'd be supportive if it were what he chose. However, I would monitor him closely and if he were to be one of those that continuously showed signs of concussions, I'd have to probably err on the side of caution and have him retire from the sport. Hearing that whole Jovan Belcher incident and the impact that CTE might have had in that situation--though CTE sufferers rarely exult violent tendencies (Chris Benoit)--it still is something to be concerned with.

[The Gemini Method]

of course it's not going anywhere

Thanks to so many fat s in Murica who would rather sit through 4 hour games because they are afraid of going out and meet people

you're on a rampage

Lefty has been on a rampage ever since the almighty Canadiens re-upped the Based P.K Subban, tbh.

[Trill Clinton]

track,soccer, baseball and basketball for my son.

[lefty]

Lefty has been on a rampage ever since the almighty Canadiens re-upped the Based P.K Subban, tbh.

PK

[Cry Havoc]

My better half asked me if I'd let any of my future kids play football and I said it would be hard to allow him, but I'd be supportive if it were what he chose. However, I would monitor him closely and if he were to be one of those that continuously showed signs of concussions, I'd have to probably err on the side of caution and have him retire from the sport. Hearing that whole Jovan Belcher incident and the impact that CTE might have had in that situation--though CTE sufferers rarely exult violent tendencies (Chris Benoit)--it still is something to be concerned with.

Good answer.

Also given the number of kids who are pressured or feel pressured into using steroids to get that elusive DIII scholarship, I'd have some reservations these days. I went to a small high school that wasn't very compe ive in sports, and several guys on the team were juicing. Kind of ridiculous.

[KL2]

I wonder if kids are simply getting too big, they're getting bigger/stronger/faster which'll lead to violent hits. It's waaay easier to get jacked these days thanks to the internet, so much knowledge and info.

[spurraider21]

there's no way i'd let my kid playing football. unfortunately he will have armenian gees, not ideal for football.

[spurraider21]

Your son has a better statistical chance of getting injured or dying in a car accident than he does playing football. Where is the outrage for parents who let their teenage sons get their drivers license?

in some places driving is a borderline necessity to function. football is not

[Malik Hairston]

I wonder if kids are simply getting too big, they're getting bigger/stronger/faster which'll lead to violent hits. It's waaay easier to get jacked these days thanks to the internet, so much knowledge and info.

Yep, it's also much more common to find kids juicing these days at 16-17, from what I hear..

Current athletes are just way too big and strong to play football, the body isn't meant for this , tbh..

Football is a dangerous sport regardless, as people were suffering from CTE long before they became too big and too fast for the game, but it's only getting worse with the increase in size/speed..

They really need to make advancements in PED testing and begin to implement this IMO..

I don't think the NFL is going to suffer, though..yes, they'll lose on the rich kids of the future that have the option to pursue other sports, but there will always be the poorer kids that need football to make money and save their families from poverty..

[Clipper Nation]

But toned with more proportional legs?

got: confirmed

Playing only in High School is sufficient enough, if you aren't good enough to make it in basketball or baseball.

OP is correct. NFL is in serious because look at how tiny their talent pool already is. Nearly every single player came from American Universities. No successful Global expansion = NFL is currently in decline.

The talent pool itself isn't the problem, the problem is when CTE/concussions (which arise from football not being a pussified "sport" like povertyball) begin to severely limit the talent pool as less and less parents allow their kids to play....

[Clipper Nation]

Yep, it's also much more common to find kids juicing these days at 16-17, from what I hear..

Current athletes are just way too big and strong to play football, the body isn't meant for this , tbh..

Football is a dangerous sport regardless, as people were suffering from CTE long before they became too big and too fast for the game, but it's only getting worse with the increase in size/speed..

They really need to make advancements in PED testing and begin to implement this IMO..

I don't think the NFL is going to suffer, though..yes, they'll lose on the rich kids of the future that have the option to pursue other sports, but there will always be the poorer kids that need football to make money and save their families from poverty..

I don't see the link between PED's and CTE, mainly because CTE isn't necessarily caused by roid-fueled "big hits," it's caused by the ac ulation of smaller and less severe hits over time....

[The Gemini Method]

Good answer.

Also given the number of kids who are pressured or feel pressured into using steroids to get that elusive DIII scholarship, I'd have some reservations these days. I went to a small high school that wasn't very compe ive in sports, and several guys on the team were juicing. Kind of ridiculous.

For sure. I had a friend, well a younger friend, who was already being scouted by Paul Hackett at USC and many thought he was juicing but he vehemently denied that he was on the juice and as a friend of his at that point of more than 5 years I gave him the benefit of the doubt. However, the pressure he was under from his dad and the male members of his family was extreme. They were white and middle to upper middle class so they weren't exactly down and out. He went on to play for the Trojans and did have a brief career with the Lions I believe. I believe he quit the game because he couldn't stay healthy. Being that my gf is mixed, I sometime dream if our kids would have any athleticism. I know on her side she was a track girl in high school and half of college but on my side I played freshman football and stepped away from the game after a pretty non-descript sop re year. So if there was a TGM jr. I'd hope he choose basketball or baseball but I wouldn't discourage him--just be vigilant.

[Cry Havoc]

For sure. I had a friend, well a younger friend, who was already being scouted by Paul Hackett at USC and many thought he was juicing but he vehemently denied that he was on the juice and as a friend of his at that point of more than 5 years I gave him the benefit of the doubt. However, the pressure he was under from his dad and the male members of his family was extreme. They were white and middle to upper middle class so they weren't exactly down and out. He went on to play for the Trojans and did have a brief career with the Lions I believe. I believe he quit the game because he couldn't stay healthy. Being that my gf is mixed, I sometime dream if our kids would have any athleticism. I know on her side she was a track girl in high school and half of college but on my side I played freshman football and stepped away from the game after a pretty non-descript sop re year. So if there was a TGM jr. I'd hope he choose basketball or baseball but I wouldn't discourage him--just be vigilant.

I'll take heat for this on this forum for sure, but I'd encourage my kid to play soccer if any sport. There isn't as much compe ion, the level of contact is lower, being 260lbs can actively hinder you (thus taking away the incentive to dope for DEM GAINZ), and it's a sport that's due to explode in the US. It's already becoming one of the major sports in the Pacific NW, so I feel it's only a matter of time until it starts spreading.

http://analysefootball.files.wordpre.../panorama.jpeg

It's also a sport you can play well into your 30s at a high level.

[Aztecfan03]

I'll take heat for this on this forum for sure, but I'd encourage my kid to play soccer if any sport. There isn't as much compe ion, the level of contact is lower, being 260lbs can actively hinder you (thus taking away the incentive to dope for DEM GAINZ)

It's not quite the same, but a lot of track people have gotten caught for PED's.

It's also a sport you can play well into your 30s at a high level.

Unless you are Landon Donovan.

[Avante]

Absolutely!

No thought about it at all.