Opinion piece from Kelly Lytle, Rob's son

a few years ago they had Rob Lytle's helmet on display up in the suites. This was from after the Rose Bowl his senior year. It was beat to hell and had chunks missing.  He lead with his head as a matter of course.

My 1969 UM vs OSU program (yes, I'm that old) lists Michigan's largest player at 227 lbs. Football was never meant to be played by players of todays speed and size.

BTW, thanks for posting.

Football is like smoking at this point. We know the risks. (I played college football and smoked for 11 years)
 

That being said I cringe at youth football leagues. Viral videos of young kids laying out other kids. We know better, or we should. 

A bit of a contrast to today's game (I say "a bit"--no one was making a snow angel), this is the hit by Jack Tatum that Kelly mentions in the article. Notice how they stand there arguing the call while Rob lay motionless on the ground.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it someone like Fritz Crisler who objected to face masks on helmets? 

He believed it change the nature of the game and how players hit?  

He conceded there would be broken noses and lost teeth, but it would pale in comparison to the concussions and all the damage we are seeing in today's game? 

Rob Lytle is probably one of the best players in Michigan history that isnt talked about enough. What a beast. Made All American as a fullback!

It is a brutal sport, and can only be made so safe, but some people/kids will always play it. 

I probably wouldnt let my kid play tackle until high school though. 

Football is a very rough and physically demanding game to say the least. 

And first off, it is a criminal SHAME that the NFL does not provide lifetime healthcare to older players and I hope that has changed or will change as we all know the league can easily afford it. 

Secondly, I am hoping that all the recent awareness over the last few years regarding concussions, and proper protocols, will reduce the long term percentage of players who either meet an early death or suffer debilitating injuries and/or shortened lifespans.  We hear way too many stories how in the olden days players just got up, dusted themselves off and went back out there.  

This is a bit tangential ...... but I heard this AM on the radio that my current home state (California) is making girl's flag football an official high school sport for the 2023-24 academic year.  California becomes the 8th high school federation to do so (AL, AK, AZ, FL, GA, NV, NY).

Football IS a very popular sport amongst fans --- and that fandom is growing.  But participation numbers are down considerably in most states at the high school level, and the CTE reasons are at the top of the list as to why.  

Growing fandom and shrinking participation are contradictory to each other and that's arguably unsustainable.  As such, I can see more and more of a push for flag football at the high-school level for boys also in the decades to come.

I love football, but if my father passed away at a very early age, directly due to football, well…I may feel VERY differently about the game. Like Kelly. That was a good read. 

There sure are a lot of political posts in here for a “no politics rule”

Not that we were blessed with the physical gifts to be successful, I'm glad my dad didn't let my brother and I play football growing up.

I love to watch the game and thrill at the skill and courage of its competitors. But there's no way in hell I'd let my own child play either.

Does this make me a hypocrite? Perhaps. But I think it just makes me someone with a different risk assessment. To each his own.

When I finished HS football in the late 80s I was disappointed that I couldn't continue playing in college.  Football had been my life from 8 to 18, but no one wanted a 5'9" lineman and I definitely wasn't going to play at Michigan.  My parents tried to console me telling me that old football players could barely walk and that they all died early.  It was best a life left to others.  

It is weird that the dangers of football are just now coming to light with CTE.  Maybe it is something that is hard to see without having seen the effects on your friends and family over decades.  It takes something dramatic like Junior Seau or Mike Utley or Demar Hamlin.   

It sucks that everything I love,  Football, Bacon, man-sized portions is really bad for you.  I miss the days of whole milk, steak and smashmouth manball.  

My son played flag football and then when it turned to tackle, decided he didn't want to play any more, sometime in middle school. He already played baseball so he wasn't giving up sports altogether. He played quarterback so he would've gotten hit a good amount. As someone who loves football, I would've liked to see what kind of qb he might have developed into, but as someone who loves my son more, I'm glad he didn't like getting hit. That's also why he stopped playing hockey. 

Don’t like it or it makes you feel guilty?

Don’t watch it.  If you can’t imagine someone you love doing it then don’t feed the beast, let the Gladiators do their thing.

I have no idea why this is so hard for people to grasp.  It’s like there’s a large group here just begging for someone to come along and solve this problem for them but not actually wanting to take any action on their own.

Football is a risky sport, but people are working really hard to make it safer.  Coaching and awareness has improved in terms of head injuries.  Personally, my son plays football and he loves it and I can’t imagine telling him not to play it because I am worried about him as I see all the good things he gets from it and remember all the good things I got from playing football, even as I am grateful that there’s better awareness around head injuries than there was when I played z Same thing goes for wrestling and watching him wrestle makes me so much more anxious than watching him play football.  But wrestling has been amazing for my sons self confidence and I can’t imagine a life where that gets taken from him because I just wanted him safe and wrapped in a bubble.  

The good comes with the bad, yes there’s risk, but there’s more and more information about how to mitigate it every year.

I boycotted watching football for a few years maybe a decade ago. at the time, bill simmons said something along the lines of "yeah it's bad but you don't know a single person who's stopped watching," and my friends sent it to me because i was the one. 

i compare football to the modern version of the old roman gladiators/coliseum games. it is especially dark when you see how many players come from unprivileged backgrounds and see football as a way out of poverty for them and their families. 

that said, then it happened. in December of 2014, Jim Harbaugh walked into a press conference in Ann Arbor, and I've been all aboard ever since. 

so i understand Kelly Lytle's perspective in the piece. I recognize the harm in modern football but for some reason i can't stop. 

we need a national awakening of conscience on this. myself included.

I don't think it's a buzzkill. I can understand that position. 

Each parent has a choice to make, and each kid's situation is unique. 

My son loves football. It's unlikely he'd play D1 ball. He is also dealing with severe anxiety and football helps him with that. He likes the kids, he likes the sport, he has fun with it. When he plays, he's happier and healthier. The lockdowns didn't do him and his buddies any favors when it came to mental health (I'm not arguing against them, just that they had consequences we had to deal with). So, for him, I see it as a net gain, and that's okay. Heck, I remember reading about a neurosurgeon and another neurology expert who viewed it the same way. But if you are in a different situation, I totally get not wanting a kid to play football and would support your decision. And if my son was good enough to play D1 my concern would ratchet up.  You have to look out for your kid.  

As for D1 ball... I think alot of these kids know the risks going in. I think it's on adults to try to mitigate that risk as much as possible. The game can offer them alot, and certainly offers us alot. but we as fans and alums can do our best to ensure the players have the best safety and access to healthcare they can. I think UM is pretty good about that (though I'm not connected with the program, I'm just basing that on what I see). 

I can think of how difficult it become for Dan Dierdorf to walk. He wasn't able to do many of the away gems the last few years of his U of M broadcast tenure.

Some are saying that Tua Tagovailoa should leave the game....to name a few.

Thanks for posting. Rob Lytle was playing when I was at UM and this makes me sad.
Football is brutal but I watch it anyway. If I was a friend or relative of Tua's, I'd want him to retire. And I wouldn't want a child of mine to play the game. On the other hand, if a child of mine wanted to be an entertainer, I'd encourage them. 
 

There are a lot of sports that you can participate in lifelong, running, tennis, swimming, volleyball, basketball, even hockey with modified rules. Does anyone play recreational football as an adult, even in your thirties?

There may be a way to make football safe, short of 7 on 7 rules, but I am not optimistic.