Illinois Lawmaker seeks to limit tackling in HS Football Practice

Good grief...

Today must be MGoControversy day.

Kinda of a knee jerk reaction. I know its a serious issue but why even have the game at that point?

We need to limit lawmakers not make more laws.

There seems to be solid/intuitive anecdotal evidence that practicing tackling from an early age is critical to preventing improper and dangerous techniques from risking players when they get bigger and the hitting gets harder.

But at the same time, I don't think it is useful or correct to dismiss growing concerns about the safety of football with the ole' "wussification of America" concept...

MMA/UFC/"Gladiator" people arent killing themselves (EDIT: and others) and donating their brains to science.

People don't understand that many kid's instincts if they're never taught to tackle at full speed in practice is to lunge with their head down.  This is a poor idea.    

Some crappy defense will be played in Illinois. 

It would make for an easier beat down.

it is not suprising for society to let fly a tiny minority of crazy people doing crazy things (x-games, mma, etc.) while at the same time show concern over the safety of average people doing mainstream things (football, biking with no helmet, etc). on top of that, i wouldn't be surprised if people are a lot more concerned about x-games now that a person died during competition...

This would be a terrible mistake. Many coaches feel only practicing tackling once a week will lead to more injuries, not less. Players simply won't drill nearly enough to learn how to tackle the right way.

I don't think this bill is the answer, but many people feel there is a need to change football, to avoid youth head trauma. I have to wonder if there is something to be said for changing or removing the helmets, so that players are less likely to lead tackles with their helmet and head. My personal observation (at the Pop Warner level . . . son playing football with 11 & 12 year olds) is that there have been few to no concussions at that level.

There is something crazy about our society. On the one hand, you see more and more risk taking behavior in sports. Think, for instance, of the X-Games, or MMA, or other gladiator type combat. On the other hand, you can't ride a stinking bicycle around the block without the helmet police getting after you.

Won't this continue the problem of the lost art form of tackling?

Finally!

/s

....and we sittin here talkin about practice man....

in all seriousness, i think football is just buying time right now with all these rule changes, more protection and fines. The size and strength of the players is obviously much different than the past, mainly due to science. Nothing will impede the science, and if PEDs are created they are going to be used whether we like it or not. The sport can control speed though, through alteration of pads, shoes and field of play. Weighted pads/shoes? Playing in ankle high grass? Making the actual football heavier? The field marked with "push out of bounds" zones, "blocking" zones, "tackle" zones?? who knows

Politicians jump all over stuff like this to make a name for themselves. They also have tendencies to avoid really important decisions to not hurt their reputations.

Suddenly, Gerg style defense is en vogue.

Our defense tried the limited tackling method in actual games during the Rich Rod era.  It didn't work so well!

Limiting tackling in practice makes a game more harmful to the athlete. There is a lot of fundamentals on tackling, you take that away and kids start tackling like corners do in the NFL vs the bigger guys of the NFL.