Would you allow your son to play football?

[BrntO4Life]

I don't think football is going anywhere. It's too consistent of a proven money maker for too many people in every economic class to just go away.

History is not on your side.

 

[Tailback U]

CTE is over exaggerated, though. It's become a hot topic but lets not act like a huge percentage of the total amount of people in this country that played high school football are going to suffer from CTE.

Yes, there is a higher risk compared to other sports but a very small percentage of the total amount will gt CTE. Whether or not that amount is too high for you to risk your sons health or not is up to you and I respect either decision.

It wont factor into my decision for my son because I just don't believe that the odds of getting it are that high. Especially since he would most likely play DB or WR if he is similar in size to me and chances are he won't be big enough or good enough to play in college.

Of course, as research continues if they find that people only playing high school football suffer from CTE just as much as anyone (or a high percentage) then if obviously change my stance on this and reevaulate the decision.

 

[FedEx227]

I bet you would find a large number of high school football players with CTE, the problem is they aren't dead yet so it's impossible to really look at. I don't have specific examples right now (I can look when I get home) but I believe in the past year or two, they've found a number of suicidal high schoolers with elements of CTE.

I agree until we have concrete evidence it's hard to say.

 

[cf24]

Yeah, I'd let my son play. If he really is my son, then he'll suck and be on the bench the whole time anyways :smug:.

And about the size of D1 guys, it's a huge fucking difference. I played high school ball against Everson Griffen (Went to USC, 4th round pick of the Vikings in 2010), and trying to tackle him when he was at RB fucking SUCKED. I'm 6'1 and weighed probably 140 pounds in high school while playing DB. My ass got ran over.
And even the guys I play against now in my semi-pro league are massive individuals. We have a LB on our team that played at Harvard, and another that played at Iowa State and i feel like a little baby when I stand next to them haha.

 

[ralaw]

I've noticed a great deal of players suffering from CTE and eventual sucicide are defensive players. This leads me to believe that the maybe the nature of having to play defense causes guys to feel the need to be tough guys that have little regard for their body. Are there stories of any offensive players that suffer from CTE and depression? Due to all of the lawsuits that will be continued to be filed I suspect that the way defense is played will continue to change,so it will become safer or you're better of long term being an offensive player.

 

[BrntO4Life]

What history are you talking about?

What were the big money sports 80 years ago? Baseball, boxing, and horse racing. Where are they now?

Just like that Grantland article states, only one was able to retain the popularity it had back then and football has some of the same issues boxing had... As civilization advances, bloodsport will hopefully diminish in popularity.

CTE is over exaggerated, though. It's become a hot topic but lets not act like a huge percentage of the total amount of people in this country that played high school football are going to suffer from CTE.

Yes, there is a higher risk compared to other sports but a very small percentage of the total amount will gt CTE. Whether or not that amount is too high for you to risk your sons health or not is up to you and I respect either decision.

It wont factor into my decision for my son because I just don't believe that the odds of getting it are that high. Especially since he would most likely play DB or WR if he is similar in size to me and chances are he won't be big enough or good enough to play in college.

Of course, as research continues if they find that people only playing high school football suffer from CTE just as much as anyone (or a high percentage) then if obviously change my stance on this and reevaulate the decision.

It's easy to say CTE results are exaggerated because the data is so new. But, typically, trending data like this doesn't turn out to be an aberration. There's no way to know for sure what the results will look like in 10 years time, but it's hard to imagine CTE becoming LESS prevalent.

And as for your son, defensive back is the tied for the most at-risk position in the sport (with lineman). Take that for what it's worth...

 

[FedEx227]

I've noticed a great deal of players suffering from CTE and eventual sucicide are defensive players. This leads me to believe that the maybe the nature of having to play defense causes guys to feel the need to be tough guys that have little regard for their body. Are there stories of any offensive players that suffer from CTE and depression? Due to all of the lawsuits that will be continued to be filed I suspect that the way defense is played will continue to change,so it will become safer or you're better of long term being an offensive player.

There's a lot of offensive linemen with pretty heavy CTE.

 

[BrntO4Life]

Hell, Chris Henry was diagnosed with CTE posthumously. He was 26 years old.

 

[EmpireWF]

It's not like the NFL will go bankrupt but there will be a time, perhaps relatively soon as within the next 15-20 years that it will take a massive hit over the brain injury issue. Revenue, TV ratings, sponsorships, attendance, perhaps all of it will decrease.

Don't act like the big bad NFL will be impervious to this and be an unchallenged business for the rest of our lives.

 

[BrntO4Life]

Football doesn't just generate revenue on the NFL level.. my HS just got done with a >$1 million day renovation on their football stadium in order to recruit kids and get on TV. Colleges shell out more than that on a practice facility and then... They make all that money back and then some to put towards other endeavors.

People have made livelihoods around football that has nothing to do with what takes place on the field and for me to believe that will all be wiped away as quickly as a one-on-one winner take all sports like boxing and horse racing is going to take some doing.

I went to HS in Texas. I think I understand how big the reach is...

Again, don't act like just because the money is there today, it will be there tomorrow (figuratively speaking). Unless the NFL takes some very real measures to at least work on this issue, it's going to rob them blind eventually.

 

[BrntO4Life]

If the grassroots go away so will the NFL. But as I see football become more and more heavily invested in at the grassroots level even as this news comes out it's hard for me to buy your doom and gloom theory.

You aren't making a good case by saying that football is growing in popularity in the wake of CTE research. People are always incredibly slow to react to these sorts of developments because everyone wants to believe it won't affect them or those they represent.

What happens if a 12 year-old dies from head trauma directly related to football and CTE accumulated since he was 6? It doesn't seem crazy to me to think that Pop Warner and optimist leagues would shut down entirely.

 

[FedEx227]

I agree. The intelligent base of America may transition into soccer, lacrosse, basketball and less contact sports but I think it'll be quite awhile until small towns, the South, California, Texas, Florida, etc. let go of football.

 

[BrntO4Life]

Yeah that could probably happen.. But it hasn't yet.

I'm not taking a hard line stance like you guys about this either way. Just saying that the trend right now is for more money to go into these sports because they are a way for schools and communities to make some cash to can be applied elsewhere. If that starts to break down, the whole system will collapse and fast.

I'm still very much in wait and see mode but IMO it's going to be a long, long time for football to go away.

I don't want to throw out any definitives either, but pretend these trends are on a graph...

If football's popularity and CTE-related injuries both increase at an exponential level in the next decade, which side wins out? Do you really think money is going to solve those sorts of problems? I want to believe it won't.

 

[BrntO4Life]

I think if they find a way to test for CTE that they can perform while people are still alive, there is a very real chance at football coming to a quick end.. But until then, I don't even see how you prove CTE is happening at lower levels unless kids start dropping dead allowing their brains to be tested.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5569329

Is 21 years-old considered young enough for you?

Owen Thomas started playing at 10 and died as a 21 year-old Junior in the early stages of CTE. His death was a result of a disease caused by 11 years of football played almost exclusively at the lower levels. Only 3 of those years were spent above the HS level.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

I grew up playing hockey and so did my brothers. None of us had an interest in football. Not to say my future kids won't but we are a hockey family. I think I only had one cousin play football.

 

[1ke]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5569329

Is 21 years-old considered young enough for you?

Owen Thomas started playing at 10 and died as a 21 year-old Junior in the early stages of CTE. His death was a result of a disease caused by 11 years of football played almost exclusively at the lower levels. Only 3 of those years were spent above the HS level.

Not trolling, or trying to sound grimm, or like a huge dick. But its one kid. Yes its horrible. I guess what Im saying is, how many played pop warner with him, that are living fine?

 

[BrntO4Life]

Not trolling, or trying to sound grimm, or like a huge dick. But its one kid. Yes its horrible. I guess what Im saying is, how many played pop warner with him, that are living fine?

It's one kid right now. We've been studying this disease for 5 years and BU has only been able to study a handful of brains. The point is that no one alive can know that they have CTE. One day, you just snap because you can no longer control your impulses.

Right now, we can only detect it through posthumous examination. Hopefully a test will eventually be developed to diagnose those still living.

 

[Youk]

Honestly, I would let them play. The dangers are there, even at a young age, there is no arguing that. Would my opinion change if I actually had a child and not just a hypothetical one? Possibly.

 

[Cornelius]

Yep

 

[EmpireWF]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/27/health/big-hits-broken-dreams-brain-bank/index.html?iref=allsearch

Rough to read about stuff like that...Sports Legacy Institute has a bunch of others ranging from high school to the pros in football and other athletes, too (amateurs, hockey, pro wrestling, boxing).

http://www.sportslegacy.org/cte-concussions/cte-concussions-sli-legacy-donors/