Saw this tragic story this morning & thought of this thread:
I played football starting in the 8th grade (parents wouldn't let me play before) thru my senior year 1967. I was 6 foot 185 lbs and went both ways in HS as a junior and senior., fullback and nose tackle and all special teams except their extra point. As mentioned in a prior post I was sore as hell the next day and loved it it. My mom said I looked like I was an old man on Sat mornings. Though we didn't call it that back then it was truly Friday Night Lights. It was fun! I was knocked out in the 9th grade, helped off the field, did the smelling salts drill and back out I went. I was very fortunate to have not had any other serious injuries while I played though I'm sure the accrued negative effects from numerous "minor" hits to the head over time have taken their toll. I stopped playing after HS where it still felt like you were playing with your buddies from the neighborhood. I looked at the injury aspect and decided college ball wasn't worth it. Though my knees have loosened up and are now constantly reminding me of my playing days I have no regrets. Neither of my 2 sons played the game, one played soccer and the other baseball. I made it a point to discuss the pros and cons of playing football with them. They made their own decisions.
Regarding the future effects on pro football my thought is in the not too distant future the NFL is going to have to transition to creating and sustaining a true minor league farm system. They've been cutting a fat hog for decades using the college system to develop and feed the gladiatorial machine they have created. There will always be guys who want to play regardless of the consequences.
In the last three years the youth leagues and Jr High participation have fallen off a cliff around here. I'm of the opinion that youth (6th grade and below) needs to be flag football. I look at my kids Jr High team and there are a lot of starters who never played youth football including the two best players.
I live in a football-centric area and it is alarming how much the Jr High's have been hit. At my son's school they always average around 100 kids for Jr High football. In 2014 they had around 55 and even less this year. I've seen other teams that usually have good numbers with 20-25 kids on the team.
The wave of the future?
The august New York Times chimes in:
I think eliminating football because of head injuries and replacing it with soccer where hitting the ball with your head is common is a great idea. ;o)
Originally Posted by lionbaseball:
I think eliminating football because of head injuries and replacing it with soccer where hitting the ball with your head is common is a great idea. ;o)
I think I know the head of that board, my previous contact with them was when they explained to me they had to spank their kid to teach them not to hit.
Sounds like the typical press fed over reaction.
We are just so silly as a society.
Follow up on this topic, and I think this will become more common, particularly in well-off districts: www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-p...20151023-column.html
Key quote: "The big question is, how can a school with more than 2,500 students start the season with only 27 varsity players?"
I had no idea that there was a new Will Smith movie called "Concussion" coming out this Christmas. Here's the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io6hPdC41RM
Will Smith has had some duds lately (e.g., After Earth), but if Concussion is a big hit (no pun intended) it will accelerate these trends in high school football, IMHO.
Originally Posted by 2019Dad:
I had no idea that there was a new Will Smith movie called "Concussion" coming out this Christmas. Here's the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io6hPdC41RM
Will Smith has had some duds lately (e.g., After Earth), but if Concussion is a big hit (no pun intended) it will accelerate these trends in high school football, IMHO.
Looks l Ike it has the potential to be really good... and really bad for football. I just make the decision to let 2020 play as a freshman and now this.
I've been coaching youth football since I was 20 and the director of our youth league since 28. I'm 42 so I've seen quite a few ebbs and flows of participation. This recent decline worries me as a football fan because it's not up and down drastically it's a slow decline.
I do believe it has more to do with kids playing less sports in general as well as some for concerns of safety. I don't believe it's because, as mentioned earlier, it's due to footballs lack of manditory playing time. In fact I believe that is what's slowed footballs participation drop more that the other sports. Kids still have to earn it. In our league which consists of 20 different towns the 10 that still have tryouts are the ones holding the numbers the best even though 8 of them are the smallest in population. Kids want to be a part of it. It makes them special.
I'm noticing a similar trend with HS football. The successful programs still have good participation but more kids are choosing not to deal with the pain of football for a losing season.
I'm also on the board, a coach, or an active volunteer with our youth baseball/softball, soccer, and basket ball league.
-Our biggest decline in participation in soccer and basketball. As it is for our neighboring leagues.
-Football for us has dropped slowly same with most neighboring leagues but those that have dropped have dropped a lot.
-Baseball/softball has grown but they had a really good board and ran a great league. The board turned over last year and I fear a big big drop next year. All of our neighboring leagues have been cut in half in the past few years. Our town of 1,500 has more players in our league than our two neighbors both over 20,000 in population.
Oh and the fact that we've experienced an almost equal decline in our cheerleading participation as our football participation makes me believe further that it's not just an injury fear decline.
I do believe it has more to do with kids playing less sports in general as well as some for concerns of safety. I don't believe it's because, as mentioned earlier, it's due to footballs lack of manditory playing time. In fact I believe that is what's slowed footballs participation drop more that the other sports. Kids still have to earn it. In our league which consists of 20 different towns the 10 that still have tryouts are the ones holding the numbers the best even though 8 of them are the smallest in population. Kids want to be a part of it. It makes them special.
I'm noticing a similar trend with HS football. The successful programs still have good participation but more kids are choosing not to deal with the pain of football for a losing season.
I'm also on the board, a coach, or an active volunteer with our youth baseball/softball, soccer, and basket ball league.
-Our biggest decline in participation in soccer and basketball. As it is for our neighboring leagues.
-Football for us has dropped slowly same with most neighboring leagues but those that have dropped have dropped a lot.
-Baseball/softball has grown but they had a really good board and ran a great league. The board turned over last year and I fear a big big drop next year. All of our neighboring leagues have been cut in half in the past few years. Our town of 1,500 has more players in our league than our two neighbors both over 20,000 in population.
Oh and the fact that we've experienced an almost equal decline in our cheerleading participation as our football participation makes me believe further that it's not just an injury fear decline.