Would you let your son play football?

[amfootball]

You quoted the link.  But here it is again.

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

This is skewed as it is just talking ER visits. Football has the most injuries of all the sports.

[jvan1973]

This is skewed as it is just talking ER visits. Football has the most injuries of all the sports.

Where do most parents take their children when they are injured? There are far more head injuries in baseball than football.

[amfootball]

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.

Very well articulated. I don't necessarily disagree but our number one job as parents is to protect our kids whether that be from physical injury, mental anguish, or emotional stress. I think the percentage of risk with a contact sport goes way up vs. playing at a play ground or riding a bike. Accident happens and you can't wrap your kid in bubble wrap but limiting his/her exposure to a harmful enviornment is part of being a parent.

[Synthetic]

I'll probably never ever have a child in my lifetime seeing I am far from a family person, but in short answer; no.

 

I've seen a lot of crazy sports parents that put their kids through a living hell just to see them play football or whatever, and the kids themselves really have no choice of it. It always bothered me, and even the ones that just let their kids in to have fun, the fun experience is easily ruined by the religious craze from the parents that take it way too seriously.

 

 

There's no way I would want to see my kid battle injuries and deal with the heavy stress of "you gotta win the game". I had a number of friends, and even a few coworkers that suffered through injuries playing football in their youth, and the alternative is always the biggest question. This is why so many retired players don't know what to do after football is over. Education is more important than sports, and sadly that is what seems to be more and more overlooked in today's world of sports obsession.

 

I would constantly be thinking about what I would do after football or what my kid would do if things don't go as planned. If I ever have a kid (and I hope I don't) I would want to push him more towards academics and pursuing something in education that he would want to do rather than the risk of their body being damaged forever by playing a sport.

In the end it don't matter how much money you have or how great you are at football. Knowledge is King. Living in Alabama, it's pretty much a common fact around here that the general public really could care less how our kids are doing in school so long as they can drool at the school boards of whatever teams are playing Friday night.

[Coltsince4]

no................

[OffensivelyPC]

Very well articulated. I don't necessarily disagree but our number one job as parents is to protect our kids whether that be from physical injury, mental anguish, or emotional stress. I think the percentage of risk with a contact sport goes way up vs. playing at a play ground or riding a bike. Accident happens and you can't wrap your kid in bubble wrap but limiting his/her exposure to a harmful enviornment is part of being a parent.

Fair enough.  We just have to agree to disagree on what a harmful environment is.  Like I said in my earlier post.  I'ts up to the parent, and whether they play football or not, doesn't make anyone a bad parent.

[bap1331]

With the game getting safer, id say yes. The technology is better and they can make better protective helmets and what not

[T Y Goodbye]

I quit playing organized football when I got a concussion in pee-wee football at age 12..Yet, I'd play pick-up games with no real pads, no matter what the weather.. We played on a basic ice field one time with -15 wind chill..I was running the ball back, slipped fell forward and my head hit my blocker's head.. I ended up with 6 stitches in my cheek and 5 in my eyelid because it was so cold my skin split. But other than the normal cuts, bruises, and such, I never really got hurt playing football.

 

I mainly concentrated on basketball, where I have had so many injuries I can't count..tore all the ligaments in my left ankle 2 different times. (this was before arthroscopic surgery). One time on my right, had my knee rolled up on and popped backwards, causing 2 severely bruised patella tendons, broken thumb, with bone chips they never removed et..etc....What's weird is the one knee I never hurt, is the one with bone on bone arthritis..go figure..

 

Injuries are a part of life. Things happen. When it does, you deal with it the best that you can. I can understand the want to protect your children..I know I still do with my 23 year old daughter...But if its something they truly want and love to do, I would point out the consequences, and let them make up their own mind. Now, if they had no athletic ability and were just like a tackling dummy, then yes I would intervene.

 

Sports can build character, teamwork, and give life lessons, especially if you have a great coach, and give you memories that will last forever. How many people are hurt in car accidents, bike accidents, etc. you can trip over a crack on the sidewalk from a tree and break your neck. Nothing is ever guaranteed in life.

 

Whatever activity my child would choose to partake in, I would be 100 percent supportive...

[Kyle]

i wonder how much of an impact a new brand of helmets will make.  They make padded protectors on the outside of helmets for people to wear who recently had a concussion.  Why not have all players wear them all the time???  I see no down side to it whatsoever and it has to take away at least a small part of the power of the impact.

[King Colt]

Pop Warner enrollment is down 12% this year.

 

"Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Let 'em be lawyers and doctors and such".

-Waylan & Willie

[BOTT]

Pop Warner enrollment is down 12% this year.

 

"Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Let 'em be lawyers and doctors and such".

-Waylan & Willie

To be fair, I have always thought Pop Warner football was stupid. If I would allow my son to play football, it definitely wouldn't start with Pop Warner.

[ViriLudant]

basketball, baseball, and cycling.

Uh, no.

So wrong it's ridiculous. A baseball player almost never gets hurt. Being hit by a pitch is rare, and almost never does any major damage.

I've coached baseball now for 13 years. I have a former player currently at Vandy who will be drafted in the top 3-6 of the MLB draft. Baseball is nowhere near as dangerous.

Please explain why so many former NFL players are dying so young. That's not the case for former MLB players.

[ViriLudant]

Where do most parents take their children when they are injured? There are far more head injuries in baseball than football.

Wrong.

How many concussions have injured NFL players this year alone? Nowhere near the same # in the MLB.

[Thewholefnshow28]

To be fair, I have always thought Pop Warner football was stupid. If I would allow my son to play football, it definitely wouldn't start with Pop Warner.

 

The problem with that is they start out learning the game at a point where the game is more violent so in way it makes them more vulnerable.

 

At least with Pop Warner they can get the basic downs and understand the game before it starts to progress into junior high and high school where it gets much more violent.

[jvan1973]

Wrong.

How many concussions have injured NFL players this year alone? Nowhere near the same # in the MLB.

Little league pitchers aren't as accurate as MLB pitchers, and pop Warner line backers don't hit as hard as nfl players. I played baseball basketball and football. Two players left the diamonds in an ambulance, zero left the football field

[BOTT]

The problem with that is they start out learning the game at a point where the game is more violent so in way it makes them more vulnerable.

 

At least with Pop Warner they can get the basic downs and understand the game before it starts to progress into junior high and high school where it gets much more violent.

In our school district we weren't even allowed to played tackle football until middle school. We had to play flag football. It didn't hamper anyone's development.

[Colts_Fan12]

Of course if he wanted to I'd be all for it with me breaking my leg I never got to play and it still saddens me so I would want him to possibly feel the way I do by not letting him

[OffensivelyPC]

Uh, no.

So wrong it's ridiculous. A baseball player almost never gets hurt. Being hit by a pitch is rare, and almost never does any major damage.

I've coached baseball now for 13 years. I have a former player currently at Vandy who will be drafted in the top 3-6 of the MLB draft. Baseball is nowhere near as dangerous.

Please explain why so many former NFL players are dying so young. That's not the case for former MLB players.

I posted the stats for you.  I think I'll trust statisticians who at least try to inject a little objectivity as opposed to one person imposing personal experience as if it is the experience of everyone else in America.

 

As far as NFL vs. MLB injuries, please read the title...we're talking about kids, not professional sports...so MLB and NFL doesn't apply to this conversation.

[OffensivelyPC]

Little league pitchers aren't as accurate as MLB pitchers, and pop Warner line backers don't hit as hard as nfl players. I played baseball basketball and football. Two players left the diamonds in an ambulance, zero left the football field

What are you talking about?  7 year old linebackers hit like Ray Lewis...

[ColtKangaroo]

I'd take a couple ankle sprains over repeated consussions any day

[BOTT]

I'd take a couple ankle sprains over repeated consussions any day

Contrary to media reports, not everyone who plays football suffers a concussion, let alone multiple concussions.

[Poster X]

I have no children, and don't intend to have any. My youngest nephew played football for his school though, and on a fluke play on defense fell and broke his wrist. It took a pin to help keep it together. None the less he was ready to go back the next year... but that was put on hold.

And that is why I played baseball. There is less of a chance of something terrible happening.

[Flying Elvis]

I got concussions falling out of trees but never on the football field. I played running back and safety. I did sprain my ankle once. My son played football in high school but was never injured. I got injured more running track.

[MAC]

Those insisting that other sports are more dangerous than football are being a bit disingenuous. A baseball player getting beaned is an accident. Accidents happen in any sport, and there are certainly activities (cycling, etc) where said accidents can be horrific. That is far from the point.

 

The problem with football is that every moment of every game (and practice) involves one person imposing their will on another as violently as possible. Often there are vast size and strength disparities which put certain players at a disadvantage. Add on top a culture in which you are expected to sacrifice your body in order to maintain any level of prestige, and the odds of long-term problems developing (if you play long enough) is approximately 100%.

 

In other words, yes, kids are at risk. I've cycled down many a hill as fast as I possibly could with cars and trucks screaming past and threatening obstacles (gravel, grates, glass, uh, groundhogs) appearing randomly at any moment. Never wore a helmet either. One bad driver not paying attention and you are gone. Sometimes I wonder how any of us survive childhood. Getting tackled is FAR FAR safer.

 

However if you play football long enough, you WILL suffer brain damage. It's inherent in the activities required to succeed. If you DON'T suffer brain damage, you probably aren't trying hard enough, or aren't very good. There is nothing like it in the sports world other than boxing. Any parents eager to sign their kids up for that? 

 

Ironically I think that it would be safer for younger kids if they just played 7 x 7 - without helmets or pads. Those don't protect you as much as encourage you to hit harder, and sometimes serve as weapons. If you want to keep players safe it would make more sense to cushion the OUTSIDE of a helmet, and make the inside as uncomfortable as possible. If you got stuck with a pointy object, or got an electric shock every time you exceeded a certain level of force, maybe you'd learn to protect your head. .  Just have fun - play against kids VERY similar in weight - don't try to replicate the pro game. Those videos of little kids playing in full gear always reminds me of that vibrating table game they used to make. Largely pointless and boring, but never-the-less already starting the relentless daily cumulatively damaging blows to the head. How about saving that until kids turn 16 or so, and make it a requirement that before "real" football starts they pass a seminar (independent of their "win at all costs, ego manipulating kill kill kill coaches") that explains both the risks inherent in the sport, and techniques that will protect you.

[ViriLudant]

I posted the stats for you. I think I'll trust statisticians who at least try to inject a little objectivity as opposed to one person imposing personal experience as if it is the experience of everyone else in America.

As far as NFL vs. MLB injuries, please read the title...we're talking about kids, not professional sports...so MLB and NFL doesn't apply to this conversation.

Please, I've coached high school sports for over a decade.

The types of injuries that baseball players receive are 99.9% of the much less severe than football injuries.

Compare the two sports, and you'd agree. Concussions knock out high school students for weeks/months at a time. That not only affects their health, but their academics as well.

[mo0nlighting]

My BFF and I were talking about this the other day.  

 

I love the game of football.  More pro football than anything, but I love it.  The gender thing prohibited me from playing, but that doesn't stop me from being a couch-scout/coach/ref.  With that said, I would never be the parent that puts a football in the crib, nor would I push the game on my imaginary children.  

 

I would let them play it, if they wanted to.  I know football is a violent sport.  It has been a violent sport.  Had I popped out children 10 years ago, I still would have known what I know now--violent collisions can/do cause injuries.  It's not a sudden revelation, ya know? The NFL screwed the pooch by saying the game didn't cause concussions, because duh.  

 

With all that said, if my kids wanted to play, I'd let them, but I (personally) would hold off until they were a teenager (13).  They can go play soccer like every other kid in this country in their younger years...and then if they decided they wanted to go hit and be hit by somebody, that's their prerogative.  If they get hit, and decide they don't want to do that anymore, then that's their prerogative too. 

[Boilermaker]

If/when I have a son, I'll let him play the game if he so wishes. Sure, you may say that it's ridiculous to expose a child to potential concussions/brain damage...but the bigger tragedy is essentially teaching your kid to play it safe in life. Death is inevitable; it's not a question of "if," but "when." Consequently, I'm shooting for quality, not quantity. I'm not going to walk along a line cautiously my whole life..and if I die at a young age because of it...so be it..because I know when I'm on my death bed, reminiscing the time I had on earth, it's going to be much sweeter knowing that I lived my life to the fullest, with no regrets...rather than living to 90, and thinking about all the what-if's. With that said, am I saying that I'm okay with the current concussion "epidemic?" No. We should try fix the problem (which the NFL, etc are doing). However, meanwhile, I'm not going to fret over the "what if's" in the game.

[T Y Goodbye]

I just saw this video. If my son had to play high school ball against this young man, I would not let him play. This is totally ridiculous. I'm not knocking the huge kid, but to play at 175-250 lbs as a back or safety trying to tackle 6'5 400 running back is just asking for an injury.

 

http://youtu.be/0X9WwxzZ8E4

[Bravo]

I would for sure! There is risk yes, but Football is so much more than just a sport!

[BOTT]

If/when I have a son, I'll let him play the game if he so wishes. Sure, you may say that it's ridiculous to expose a child to potential concussions/brain damage...but the bigger tragedy is essentially teaching your kid to play it safe in life. Death is inevitable; it's not a question of "if," but "when." Consequently, I'm shooting for quality, not quantity. I'm not going to walk along a line cautiously my whole life..and if I die at a young age because of it...so be it..because I know when I'm on my death bed, reminiscing the time I had on earth, it's going to be much sweeter knowing that I lived my life to the fullest, with no regrets...rather than living to 90, and thinking about all the what-if's. With that said, am I saying that I'm okay with the current concussion "epidemic?" No. We should try fix the problem (which the NFL, etc are doing). However, meanwhile, I'm not going to fret over the "what if's" in the game.

That's a huge stretch

[Cow Pattie]

I voted YES, only because I would let him decide if he wants to play or not. In fact, any organized team participation helps the young 'uns develop social skills and the concept of teamwork.

[Poster X]

What about girls? There was the one Sam Gordon girl who figured out how to avoid injury by out running everyone.