Question for those who wouldn't let their kids play football
In only two weeks, we will see a whirlwind of satellite football camps. If I'm counting correctly, there are now 35 or more separate camps Michigan is involved in. Harbaugh has been very upfront about his purpose. He wants to help spread a love for the game of football. He believes that football is a great arena in which to teach many things, from teamwork to hard work to physical exercise to a host of other things. I happen to agree. In fact, I agree to the point that my son is gearing up for summer football, in preparation for the Fall season. While I seriously doubt my son will play in college, he is more than good enough to play in high school, and really enjoys the game.
However, many of you, while fans of Michigan football, would be strongly against letting your own children play football. This question is for you.
How can you justify being a fan of football if you are completely against your child participating in it? This just doesn't make sense to me. I don't mind those who hate football, and I understand that there are many people who for whatever reason, aren't capable of playing ball. But if you are a Michigan football fan, but won't let your kid play ball, help me understand how you reconcile that.
(Note: this question isn't about whether or not football is dangerous, or whether or not there is a threat of CTE or concussion in playing ball. It is solely about being a fan and at the same time being against familial participation in tackle football.)
My dad told me, "Son if you don't want to play then you don't have to, and I will fully support you. And if you do want to play then I will also fully support you, but I give you forewarning about football, it's a tough sport, and people get hurt a lot. So you have to ask yourself the question, am I willing to accept the chance of injury or not?." I did accept the chance of injury, and after my playing days were over (high school) I don't think I would of changed a thing. Football taught me valuable lessons about sacrifice, discipline, and teamwork that I still carry with me to this day, and they are lessons that you can't learn from watching a YouTube video. People are right, it is a big risk and as a parent it is a terrifying thought that my child might get injured playing a sport that he will probably never get paid for, but my point is that the pros outweigh the cons, if ever so slightly. I hope this helped, or maybe it didn't and I am just talking to much on a Michigan sports blog and should try to get some sleep even though insomnia is a motherfucker.
I played 3 sports through high school, and the lessons I learned in football were more impactful than they were in basketball or baseball. Something about the martial nature of the sport and the fact that it's so team-oriented (as in, moreso than, say, basketball; you're only as good as your weakest link on the football field) really seemed to make the lessons stick-- things about mental toughness, perseverence, the ability to endure all manner of physical pain and not give up, teamwork, relying on others, working toward a difficult and painful goal with a group/shared sacrifice and the rewards it can reap, etc.
ETA: You can learn these same lessons in other sports-- again, I played other sports. But not the same way (for me, at least) as I did in football. Something about being smaller than the guys you have to go against as a freshman/sophomore (when you're going against the varsity in practice) builds a toughness that I couldn't get anywhere else. I would explain it like this: in basketball, when you get owned, you're embarassed-- the guy has driven by you and made you look silly by crossing you up, etc. In football, when you get owned, more often than not (and part of this is due to the type of drills run in practice), the guy's not only embarassed you, he's physically imposed his will on you and taken a piece of your manhood, so to speak. It affects you in a more deep way, and you have to draw from a deeper well of resilience to stand up for yourself and not give up.
a kid's brain is not a teenagers brain is not an adult brain. Kid's brains (<12 y.o.) on football are demonstrably susceptible to potentially life limiting damage caused by repetitive and possibly singular head / body trauma (you don't need to get hit in the head to have brain injury.) This has nothing to do with 18 to 25 year olds playing football. What is the question again? Do you still have one? I hope not.
Here's a question for you. How does a Michigan fan justify letting his son play football by his love for Michigan football and not his judgment on the safety of the game? I think you sir are clouding your judgment if you think a love for the game is justification to put your child in harms way. I say that because you can't fathom one without the other. I know that is not exactly what you are saying or perhaps what you are doing, but let's not pull punches. What do you think your son is getting out of the game that he couldn't from one that is less risky? You don't need to play youth football to play football in high school. Tom Brady didn't.
There is very likely cause for concern even in high school. Your son is probably like me. He wants to do what his Dad did, what his Dad wants him to do...maybe even play the game his Dad spends so much time blogging about and watching. What are you doing Steve? There are other ways to get your locker decorated than playing football. A kid is not an adult. Your likes and dislikes have nothing to do with your son's as an adult. Let him find his path unhindered by your collegiality. People have known for ages it's not smart to bang heads. We are getting data to show that. What the ef are you doing man? God bless your parental rights... but what the ef are you asking questions about? Certainly not ones you want to answer.
I enjoy boxing. That doesn't mean I want my kid doing it. How is that hard to reconcile? FWIW I would let my son play football, but I'd have to battle my wife over it.
So that there are some actual statistics involved, there are .6 - .7 concussions per 1,000 athletic events (an event for the case of football is a game or a full contact practice).
LINK: http://www.headcasecompany.com/concussion_info/stats_on_concussions_sports
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There's a growing body of evidence that repeated impact to the head, can lead to changes in the brain -- even in the absence of any concussions.
of the recent discoveries. It's far easier to take precautions regarding concussions.
Because I know by the time my hypothetical kids will probably be making the choice to play football, the game will have been forced to change to such a degree that it will be safer--or obsolete because it didn't change.
We're going to see a far different game 10-15 years from now. The momentum and discussion is too great not to see some serious shifts in technique, equipment, rules, etc. And that doesn't mean worse football--it means a game we can support and know isn't killing people in the long run.
I remember that Taylor hit vs. PSU and it was scary. The kis are just getting stronger and faster, essentially making them stronger weapons as evolvement continues. Records are being broken every year as to speed and strength and it has become so damn big dollar, they are afraid to do anything, even to address the widespread and blatant cheating, the continued refusal of the football team to pretend to be studends at TN, etc. Saban going from a so-so coach to the grreates that ever lived by accepting the Bama job. Come fhe fuck on people. That almighty dollar, unless it forces you to turn the light in the right direction might just be the end of this sport.
Bando, while I totally agree, their refusal to address the above issue with at least a "Jaheeezus, Emmert, Nick do you have to make is so transparent or a Hugh?? WTF, man. We allow you to buy a few playrs a year. Don't you think it wiser to spread that money out a litttle and buy say 3 4 stars instead of one 5 star. Your incoming class looks goofy with 15 3 stars and 3 5 stars, makes me wonder when it will happen.
Right now their in the paper chase and its not of the movie variety. Until they are willing to tackle this out of control issue with the SEC, I don't think they'll tackle the increased safety measures necessary. TN forcing tenured professors out, not just of school, but the community with death threats duing the Fulmer days and now acting just as badly. Buying of players, being copied by other conferences is not good. I really don't think the unholy and obvious marriage between Emmert and Saban is doing anything other than what they want. They simply are saying, F.U. We're too big, protected and so far they're right.
The SEC is not fooling one damn person, but until forced to change, it won't happen. Then it'll be, What, we had to give up cheating, not you want us to spend money on safety to. just when the hell will you be satisfied? They'd better take care of the obvious and that would start with removing Emmert immediately.
That's actually how I got my start in coaching. And I say this with full belief a volunteer, whether successful or not is twice, maybe three times the fan(depending upon that fan's abilities) than those who belittle to effort of same but will not get involved. But I watched my son in his first year and thought, "Oh this is bad. Didn't want to interfere, and actually limited myself to showing them how to execute a correct center, qb exchange. O.K., yes I was a former qb, and it drove me nuts." Next year, I took over, learned i was good at it, and a lot of others thought so too. But, because I totally agree with you, unless I knew my son's love for the game was much larger than a chance of injury outside the norm, and that would have to be almost guaranteed, like through some medical condition. I say this because so many at that young age would look at me and say "too small" which just pissed me off. So I felt it my duty when I got the ball and got a one yard lead to let them know who was disabled or possibly "too large."
In total agreement with you. A coach, at every level, should show you how to minimize neck injuries by proper shoulder rolls etc., that with all other aspects of form tackling should become second nature. My question is why the force? I could tell within thee practices, after pads which kids acually watched football, which kids had a love for the game and which would rather be riding their bikes, surf boards or anything but getting their ass kicked on the fb field. This always lead to the inevitable. I knew the kid was out there because the parents thought him "soft," and obviously such thinking is wrong:, that contact, in the way of football would toughen the boy up. It's our duty to teach our kids to not fear that which they'll never see, like the boogeyman, etc., but they way to teach your son to take care of bullies, and that day will come is not to have him legally take hits that he'll fail to prepare himself for by doing everything wrong because their interest is not in listening to the coach. It's to survive another day of practice.
So Hell yeah, I would protect him. I wasn't going to make him go one on one vs. the toughest kid on the team to watch the inevitable outcome. If a kid the same size, but with the love of the game that is necessary, no problem. But the day always came. "Coach, can I talk to you a few minutes?" Mom & Dad together, so they had practiced and the litle one right beside them. "Coach, we've noticed you aren't allowing Chad to do what you do with most of the others. Chad and a few others boy are left off to the side in certain hitting drills. Why is that?" "Simple. Chad doesn't want to play football. Neither do the other kids I hold out of drills. He would rather be riding bikes or something else. Isn't that right, Chad? And his head would start bobbing up and down, agreeing with me, and then the, "Tell Coach what you told us yesterday." "No Chad, tell me, do you want to play football or would you rather do something like ride your bike?" He would of course answer me honestly. "I know you think forcing him into contact will make him stronger, when just the opposite is true. There is nothing wrong with being leary of a kid twice your size. This could change in a few years,but I would suggest soccer or something because I believe all kids should exercise daily. Eventually, they would see it my way, but damn, there is a lot of confusion out there on that topic.
The variance in coaching at the younger levels makes this simpler for me. I'm not qualified to coach football, and the coaching pool is so varied that I feel I would be putting my sons in unnecessary danger by allowing most of the youth coaches to control my kids' welfare.
I've seen great coaches, but they are not a majority of who I see out there. I see more people trying to live through their kids, or being ignorant of the dangers of football. We have local high school coaches who openly promote chop blocking as a way to compensate for lack of size of their players. And while proper tackling is more frequent than it was, I still see plenty of dangerous technique out there. If the likes of Wolfman as coach were the norm, I'd be a lot more comfortable with my sons playing football.
For context, my sons both play soccer, and one is still at it in a very competitive club setting. He's been hurt (thankfully not head injuries), and probably will be hurt again. By about age 16 most players look like full grown men, but a few are still reckless and a few will play to injure. And at least one local club has a total "sweep the leg" mentality. Even if players play the game correctly players get injured. It's a contact sport. So despite the attitude of many to soccer, it's a game with plenty of opportunities to get hurt and get hurt bad.
Soccer is my son's passion, though, so he plays. That stated, we've been attentive to the coaching he's received (I've coached him also when he was younger), and are satisfied that the coaches in his club "get it". I don't feel I could have that comfort in football, so I'm glad my son is focused on soccer.
So, SRK, you raise an interesting question, but IMO it's nowhere near as black-and-white as you imply.
I was going to respond to your post because you were making a ton of sense. I am not doing so just because you used my name. However, I was very honored with all the controversy taking place, this thread being an excelent example, of a thread started on facebook. These kids are now between the ages of 35 and 38, but one started a thread with a photo attached of a perfect form tackle that said, "This is how Coach Wolfman and another coach, now living in Clakston on the east side of the state taught us how to tackle." By time the thread was done, I think there were roughly 22 players who I and my partner taught who had commented on it. All very positive comments and extremely touching.
I don't see the kids often, but when I do, it's always, as I look up at them, with a hug and smile. We built something really strong many years ago, and it's still alive. I don't blame anyone for their views. In many cases I can't fault the logic at all and now believe it as much a part of the time I grew up in, my son and the other kids and we were just doing what we knew and trying to make it safe as possible. None of the kids, all the way through high school, suffered anything other than the bruises and those damn knee injuries that will forever be a part of this sport.
A simple thread like that, knowing I might be on the others side today, made it all worthwhile.
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But it was asked with malice and snobbery.
Quit drinking and go to bed.
Just showed up today on crutches! The world is dangerous! Ahhhhhhhhh!
People are fans of lots of things they wouldn't want their child to participate in. If you can't think of any examples (there are so, so many), it's because you've made up your mind not to.
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All of those actors are highly trained on how to give and receive "blows". Getting "hit" with chairs is very carefully staged. It still amazes me that the masses enjoy that shyte. Its fake, they are actors, any real injuries are not anywhere close to the severity of impacts in actual contact sports.
I bet you thought the Three Stooges were really hurting eachother, too, huh?
No, you're just flat-out wrong. They're trained, alright, but they make mistakes all the time, have to resort to painkillers to push themselves through 250+ nights of shows a year, and break down physically at a rate at or higher than professional football players. Being a WWE wrestler is a terrible way to make a living, all things considered.
Not sure if you're serious, but I think you'd rather have your kid play in the NFL than WWE. Or, at the very least, it's a very, very close call between the two.
http://www.wrestlerbiographies.com/dead-wrestlers-list
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2016/04/21/death-of-former-wwe…
http://deadspin.com/tag/dead-wrestler-of-the-week
Wait a minute uhhhh .......
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debauched?
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yeah, but you can't. (which I'm sure was your point).
Now whether or not parents and players have all the facts regarding brain injuries or they are rushed back from injury to play...that's a different question entirely.
And it also comes to risk and reward. Learning experience, friendships, mental toughness, college scholarship, etc...
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Parents chasing millions of dollars force their kids out there earlier and earlier.
I put my kids in soccer.
I loved/love football, but mostly got killed at it as I had barely borderline enough frame for the game.
My kids have had real nice careers playing soccer. One has played some at the college level, another will likely play a lot of college soccer with all the advantages that come from that type of thing. None of my kids had a shot at college football.
As for the injury thing, we've had broken bones and concussions as recently as last month. Injury is part of competitive athletics and not just football. The worst injury I ever saw first hand was a snapped leg in a soccer wreck at a showcase in Vegas this winter.
I will say I beleve that peak football is upon us, that the game is definately under attack and likely in decline. Both Gruden and Harbaugh have referenced this lately. Feel free to downvote me on this one, but i attribute and lament peak football as just another step in the pussification of America. Ain't no safe places on a football field for a pussy, regardless of your plumbing.