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Would you let your son play football?

AllYouNeedIsLuck

By AllYouNeedIsLuck
in NFL General

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Would you let your son play tackle football?  

42 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you let your son play tackle football?

    • Yes
      37
    • No
      5

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AllYouNeedIsLuck Walk On

AllYouNeedIsLuck

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You could in real life have a son or not, but hypothetically would you let your son play tackle football?

 

I was thinking about it yesterday after hearing about Jermichael Finley's situation. I'm always hearing about ex-players having brain problems and dying way before anyone should (in 50's or 60's). I saw something awhile back about how easy it really is to get a concussion and how players still play with them during a game. This causes CTE and other diseases. 

I'm sure the talent in a couple decades will be dwindled down even a little bit because parents just wont feel comfortable putting their sons in such a contact sport. They'll probably choose basketball, baseball, tennis, etc as a sports outlet. My mom who's never even been slightly interested in football read an article about it in the paper. Really really really sucks, but I can envision less talent just because of overprotective mothers (and rightfully so, i guess). 

 

 

I love football more than anyone can ever imagine so just this possibility is really sad. 

 

I know your gonna say "they know what their getting into. they want to support their family and do something they love". Still, the cons outweigh the pros imo. 

 

Don't get me wrong. I want them to continue to not care and just play, but sadly I could see that not being the case to some extent.

 

Just playing devil's advocate here btw. I love love love football, but I wouldn't my future/hypothetical son playing tackle football. 

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OffensivelyPC Active Roster

OffensivelyPC

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As long as he wanted to I would let him.  Yeah, he can get hurt.  He can get hurt walking to chess club.  Doesn't matter what my kid would do, there's always a risk of something.  So might as well let him do what he's interested in and get the most life lessons he can, because he's not going to learn anything doing something he couldn't care less about.

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ViriLudant Walk On

ViriLudant

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To be honest, I will try to steer my son away from football.  One of my students, a freshman, had a concussion playing DE.  He was out of school for a month because of that concussion.  As a freshman.

Doesn't mean, of course, that it happens to all players, but the fact that the average lifespan of an NFL player is so much shorter than the general lifespan tells me that it's definitely not healthy.

I agree that accidents can happen anywhere, but it's far, far, far less likely to happen playing many other sports.

If he has a true passion for it, and truly wants to play, I can't see myself forbidding it, but I will certainly have long conversations with him showing him the repercussions of the sport.

 

Good topic, by the way.

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TAPLOOK Walk On

TAPLOOK

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Yes. I played and am 51 and still maintain quite a few of the relationships build through football from PeeWee, HS and college.

 

My oldest son wasn't into athletics but is a great young man and doing well for himself. The rest are girls so it's dancing and drama which is a lot of fun and also provides great experiences for the kids especially drama.

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Qwiz Practice Squad

Qwiz

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Yep. If the kid likes it enough forbidding him to play will only make things worse. He'll be playing street ball if you don't let him do it in school. Kids always find a way to do what they want. I don't have any yet(to my knowledge lol) but I'll start my kid off in several sports early. It'll be up to him if he wants to pursue one or none of them.

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ruksak Walk On

ruksak

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When I was a kid, I did backflips on my bike into an overflow canal. Landing on a submerged shopping cart. My lips turned blue and I couldn't remember doing it for several minutes. 

 

Boys will be boys. 

 

I've seen managers at grocery stores I used to work at, stress out and die from heart attacks. 

 

Life causes injury. Mitigate the risks as best as you can, but make no effort to pad every corner for your children. 

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Kyle Practice Squad

Kyle

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I have 2 boys.  5 and 2 years old.  5 year old is as athletic as a 5 year old can be.  He is in wrestling, soccer, and baseball.  He LOVES watching football with me and always wants me to explain the game to him.

 

In a few years we have to decide if he can play football.  This makes me want to say no:

 

 

I will not tell him he CAN'T play football if he asks but I will not be suggesting it and pushing for it like I have with every other sport.

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WastedColt Walk On

WastedColt

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A high-school junior here broke his neck on the field a few weeks ago. I would still let my son play if he wanted to. I would make sure that he understands the risks involved. I used to play football because baseball was boring to me and I sucked at basketball. I got my sports fix with football, cross country and tennis. I would want my son to have the same freedom to make those choices.

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oldunclemark Walk On

oldunclemark

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You could in real life have a son or not, but hypothetically would you let your son play tackle football?

 

I was thinking about it yesterday after hearing about Jermichael Finley's situation. I'm always hearing about ex-players having brain problems and dying way before anyone should (in 50's or 60's). I saw something awhile back about how easy it really is to get a concussion and how players still play with them during a game. This causes CTE and other diseases. 

I'm sure the talent in a couple decades will be dwindled down even a little bit because parents just wont feel comfortable putting their sons in such a contact sport. They'll probably choose basketball, baseball, tennis, etc as a sports outlet. My mom who's never even been slightly interested in football read an article about it in the paper. Really really really sucks, but I can envision less talent just because of overprotective mothers (and rightfully so, i guess). 

 

 

I agree...... there is no way to protect the brain..head trauma is likely to shorten his life

....football people are trying to limit head trauma but they cant do it

Its not his choice when he's 10 years old because he doesn't know the risks.

I'd encouarge any other sports

I love football more than anyone can ever imagine so just this possibility is really sad. 

 

I know your gonna say "they know what their getting into. they want to support their family and do something they love". Still, the cons outweigh the pros imo. 

 

Don't get me wrong. I want them to continue to not care and just play, but sadly I could see that not being the case to some extent.

 

Just playing devil's advocate here btw. I love love love football, but I wouldn't my future/hypothetical son playing tackle football.

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King Colt Hall of Famer

King Colt

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First off I would let my girls play and boys if I had them. We cross our fingers every time the little ones leave out the front door. I would set everyone down at the table and go over what the concerns are and go over them more than once but I never would consider depriving my kids of something they truly want to do. Swimming, horse riding, skating etc., etc.- just go with it and hope for the best.

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OffensivelyPC Active Roster

OffensivelyPC

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Actually, that is far from the truth.

Actually, basketball is the worst, followed by anything a kid might do on a bike.  Baseball is the highest, fatality-wise.  Head injuries most commonly associated wtih bicycling, skating, or skateboarding.  Football is a "dangerous" sport, but its mostly broken bones and cuts. And like I said before, you can't protect your kid from everything.  Kids die in swimming pools all the time because their parent turned there head for 5 minutes.  So, cut the slack a little bit.  Let your kid grow and flourish the way he knows how.

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amfootball Walk On

amfootball

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http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/orthopaedics/stats.html

 

If you want to split up cycling, skating, and skateboarding, fine.  But i'ts all really the same type of sporting.  So, I disagree with you.  Rolling on wheels/blades is more dangerous than football.

Injury rate in football is almost double of any other sport wheels or not. What makes football so dangerous is that its objective is to enforce will. Basiclaly, kill the man with the ball. It is what it is. As a parent, we put up walls all the time for our kids. It is part of being a parent. Whether it is keeping them off of the Internet, blocking certain TV channels, monitoring their friendships. Playing a sport that can ruin their lives is a no brainer for me. But I have no issue with parents that let their sons play. I just would never do it.

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OffensivelyPC Active Roster

OffensivelyPC

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Injury rate in football is almost double of any other sport wheels or not. What makes football so dangerous is that its objective is to enforce will. Basiclaly, kill the man with the ball. It is what it is. As a parent, we put up walls all the time for our kids. It is part of being a parent. Whether it is keeping them off of the Internet, blocking certain TV channels, monitoring their friendships. Playing a sport that can ruin their lives is a no brainer for me. But I have no issue with parents that let their sons play. I just would never do it.

It's right there for you to see.  If we're talking head related injuries, no, football isn't the worst.  If we're talking miscellaneous injuries that send kids to the hospital, basketball exceeds football, bicycling by almost 200,000 hospital related injuries.  If we're talking fatality, baseball is the worst.  I mean, if you have other statistics, I'm open ears.  But you can't just sit there and say football is the worst in the face of at least some evidence that it's not.

 

And tha'ts not a shot at parents who don't want their kids to play.  You're the parent, it's your decision.  I'm okay with that and I don't criticize any parent who says "No, because I said so."  All kids are different and all parents are different. 

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amfootball Walk On

amfootball

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It's right there for you to see.  If we're talking head related injuries, no, football isn't the worst.  If we're talking miscellaneous injuries that send kids to the hospital, basketball exceeds football by almost 100,000.  If we're talking fatality, baseball is the worst.  I mean, if you have other statistics, I'm open ears.  But you can't just sit there and say football is the worst in the face of at least some evidence that it's not.

 

And tha'ts not a shot at parents who don't want their kids to play.  You're the parent, it's your decision.  I'm okay with that and I don't criticize any parent who says "No, because I said so."  All kids are different and all parents are different. 

Where are you getting your information? If we are talking youth sports football leads in injuries and second is not even close.

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Thewholefnshow28 Walk On

Thewholefnshow28

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Thankfully I do not have to worry about this as I do not want kids, but if I did have a child it would be hard either way.  If they really want to play how do you stand in their way to tell no you cannot play a sport you enjoy?  Also, knowing what we know about head injuries so how do you just stand there and watch them go off and play?

 

I think I would let them play the game they want because ultimately you can get severely hurt in any sport they play.  They could take a line drive to the head in baseball or suffer head injuries in soccer or basketball.  Heck, if they are into the BMX or skateboarding stuff they are going to get hurt at sometime.

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Valpo2004 Active Roster

Valpo2004

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I would discourage him from playing but I think if it's something he really wanted to I would probably let him.  

 

He could play kicker though, I think I'd be ok with that. 

 

Although boxing and MMA would be strictly forbidden.  Without getting too deep into it I have a personal/religious objection to these sports.

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supremecoltsfan300 Walk On

supremecoltsfan300

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Well it's still too soon for me to really imagine even having a son, but if I did, I don't think I would let him.  I certainly wouldn't suggest it.  Football is by far my favorite sport to watch, but the reality is, we're seeing a lot of guys mess themselves up for entertainment purposes.  Concussions/head injuries to me are honestly the worse kind (short of being completely paralyzed).  You screw up your head and later down the road you're mind isn't going to be the same, to the extent where you might not still be "you" or you won't be able to enjoy/appreciate the nicer things/moments in life.  I don't know if I could specifically disallow it, but I'd do what I could to steer him away from it.

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TAPLOOK Walk On

TAPLOOK

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What else? Boxing?

I grew up in a boxing city (Brockton) and back in the day we had a few very reputable Boxing Gyms and lots of kids in JHS and HS and beyond boxed. No one ever got hurt as far as I can remember. I played D1 football and was also offered scholarships in baseball and basketball. The only sport I'd suffered a serious injury in was basketball twice.

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jvan1973 Ring of Honor

jvan1973

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Anything athletic can be dangerous. You can't let your kids grow up afraid of their shadow. I think that is part of the problem with the up and coming generations.

Some of the best friendships i ever made in my life were in a locker room.

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Nadine Ring of Honor

Nadine

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I don't know.  I have two brothers that played football and they have a lot of physical issues now........shoulders that pop out of socket.....knees that are not right

 

And the older you get......the more these injuries come back to haunt you

 

My dad played in highschool and college.........and while he is in excellent health overall....no blood pressure problem,no cholesteral problem, always intellectually engaged because he is so smart

 

But he has had multiple small strokes........that have really destroyed his memory.  Doctors said it was probably football.......but then he played with a leather helmet

 

Hard to really impress on kids the impact that is possible as you age.  Seems like a lot to give up for a few years on a team

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OffensivelyPC Active Roster

OffensivelyPC

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Anything athletic can be dangerous. You can't let your kids grow up afraid of their shadow. I think that is part of the problem with the up and coming generations.

Some of the best friendships i ever made in my life were in a locker room.

Yeah, I'm with you.  There's just much to be learned in sports.  I mean, that's not to bash intellectual competitive groups like chess club or something.  Everyone's got their niche.  And while safety is a concern, I think that the vast majority of injuries are things that kids get on playgrounds - cuts that require stitches, broken arm that needs a cast, etc.  Yeah, there's an increased risk of more severe trauma in contact sports, but the risk isn't as bad as some make it out to be.  In most cases, it's no worse of a risk than other activities that parents find perfectly acceptable, such as playing basketball or riding a bike.   

 

In the grand scheme of things, and really the only point I'm trying to make is, can your kid get hurt?  Yeah,  But kids hurt themselves doing anything.  How many times you seen a 4 year old lose balance and run their face into the bottom of the dinner table or something?  So when it comes to extracurriculars, let him or her do something they want to do and will be interested in.  The lessons learned and the potential for growth will be far greater than essentially limiting the field for the kid based off safety and them being forced to do something that they wouldn't have otherwise wnated to do.

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amfootball Walk On

amfootball

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I don't know.  I have two brothers that played football and they have a lot of physical issues now........shoulders that pop out of socket.....knees that are not right

 

And the older you get......the more these injuries come back to haunt you

 

My dad played in highschool and college.........and while he is in excellent health overall....no blood pressure problem,no cholesteral problem, always intellectually engaged because he is so smart

 

But he has had multiple small strokes........that have really destroyed his memory.  Doctors said it was probably football.......but then he played with a leather helmet

 

Hard to really impress on kids the impact that is possible as you age.  Seems like a lot to give up for a few years on a team

 

I too have seen the effects of football. My friend's dad hurt his knee in high school and was never the same. He had pain his whole life and eventually had it fused.

 

I love sports but football IMO is a whole different can of wax. Having an eight year olds head slamming up against the helmet repeatedly is not a chance I would take. I was very happy my four brothers never played football.

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