Frontline - 'Football High' - Not much new - but "good" exposure for HS injury uptick and issues...
Frontline picks out the facts that they have at hand and weaves them into a story. There are several points here and not all are made equally well. This has been told in many forums. Frontline is a fairly important one in terms of exposure.
Not much new here. If I had a son I would do everything short of telling him no to get him to play a non contact sport.
Football is going the way of boxing. I don't see getting beyond some of these issues without gutting the game we all love.
We have talked about this before...but this is a good link and story that needs to be retold until we get some basic rule changes at least.
game I love, played for years, and coach. As I hear more, the more I worry about my own health, and whether or not I should really be a part of it anymore as a coach. The game did a lot for my life, and there are risks in everything, but it makes me think.
is great journalism. Thanks.
I remember (when I was young) kids whose Moms told them they couldn't play football and thinking that the Moms were overprotective, almost a little nutty. Now many parents make the same call, and understandably.
That partly explains the growing popularity of soccer.
April 13th, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^
there's a higher risk of head injuries in soccer than it is from football.
relatively clean before Classic kicks in...there is risk everywhere no doubt.
I was huge (6'1") in 6th grade if not talented. I took a beating that can only be harmful in retrospect. Had I played soccer I don't think I would have taken the pounding that I did in football... but that is only my take. Headers in soccer are rare in pre HS ball if only because it takes so much skill to place a corner kick or make a header to begin with.
Pop warner on the other hand leaves many avenues for helmet to helmet collisions that it's hard to coach out of kids. I personally recall multiple collisions as a Jr. Wolverine - that in retrospect cost me CTE margins, I'm sure.
I love football BTW. I won't ever give it up in my lifetime...short of a Cosell moment...we just need to insure safety first... especially with developing minds.
April 13th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^
Excellent piece by Frontline, as always from them.
It may not be news to people on this blog who pay a lot of attention to football and recruiting in particular, but that was news to a lot of the general public, especially the scope of the problem if not the problem itself. What was news to me was the danger from contact that produced non-concussive symptoms. They actually detected a gradual memory deterioration in players over the course of a season where no concussive symptoms had manifested. That is scary.
It seems these high level, super-intense programs really serve no purpose other than to boost the egos of everyone involved, including coaches, parents, and the whole recruiting service/consulting industry. I doubt it adds anything to college football. We see year after year less touted recruits turning into stars while most of the top rated ones don't.
For starters, if a high school player is hurt in any way sit him.
April 13th, 2011 at 11:07 AM ^
Brian Kelly disagrees.