little boys, big hits . . . the dangers of youth football


BulldogM.Ed.23 said:
That's the same thing that I was thinking. I myself starting playing organized football when I was 8. In general, is this current generation really much faster and stronger??? (shrugging shoulders)
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Yes, they are much, much stronger and much more physically intimidating. I started playing 7th grade year and by the time senior yr of hs hit, I was full-blown head-driven try to hurt anything that moved on the field w/ an opposing jersey on. Sr yr, I broke a TEs 2 ribs, busted up a blue-chip's ankle <b>for life</b> :( (I actually grew to know him and he was walking w/ a limp when I last saw him :( ), this one kid walks w/ a limp (iknow him too :( ) because of what I did to his hip, and busted this one guy's knee up (ACL). Coaches praised me on Sat morn's film review as they called to "check on those kids" the night before. I was a loose pitbull canon and it's pitiful I was used like that to injure other kids. Because of all that + other stuff that went on prev yrs fball related, I opted for no more fball post hs. And I'm truly thankful I did.

I had my son lifting weights when he hit 12. He was a lil' skinny kid and me and his mom agreed to NO fball ever. Only basketball, track&field, and tennis. Hell, I'm terrified of baseball because I almost lost an eye to hardball in jr high, so no baseball either :(. Welp, kid grew to be a big boy (6'5" 239+lbs) but I promised him his sr yr of hs that he was going to lose a leg/ribs/head damage if he played fball, against my wishes. He did play. Landed a fball schol after only one yr of fball. But I was nervous as hell his sr yr because I just knew karma was going to rear its head and get back @ me, through him. I only caught 2 of his games sr yr hs and I was almost in tears whenever he'd reach high to catch a pass or whenver defenses were hitting him. :( Even now, I'm still scared for him for the next 3 yrs. Hope he med-redshirts for the next 3 yrs. :(
 
jsupop33 said:
Ken, calm down man. Some of us make it out without severe trauma.
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Yeah, but like I said earlier Chris Henry had CTE and was 26. Never was diagnosed with a concussion either. You play football or any contact sport for a number of years and it will have some affect on your body down the road.
 



MikeBigg said:
I've lobbied with my son to hold off on my 8 year old Grandson who really wants to play. I would prefer middle school but right now I'm working on getting him to at least wait two more years of basketball and baseball.


Off all the sports, I think you can play football the latest and still make the transition.
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After the experienced I had with my kid that I posted previously, I'm kinda thinking the same thing. I've been trying to get him into other sports too, but all he talks about his football. He ain't even trying to play anything else. :scared:
 
SAME OLD G said:
After the experienced I had with my kid that I posted previously, I'm kinda thinking the same thing. I've been trying to get him into other sports too, but all he talks about is football. He ain't even trying to play anything else. :scared:
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It's scary man. My 10 year old was gung ho about playing football when he was 7. I signed him up for the team nearest the house, and that was a mistake (or blessing in disguise). These mofos were going hard from June 1 (season didn't start until Sept) teaching bad technique and one day that August he wouldn't even get out of the car for practice. I was like "Oh well you tried it, let's go tell your coach and turn in your equipment." I felt I let him down by not researching the organization/league.
 
jag4life said:
It's scary man. My 10 year old was gung ho about playing football when he was 7. I signed him up for the team nearest the house, and that was a mistake (or blessing in disguise). These mofos were going hard from June 1 (season didn't start until Sept) teaching bad technique and one day that August he wouldn't even get out of the car for practice. I was like "Oh well you tried it, let's go tell your coach and turn in your equipment." I felt I let him down by not researching the organization/league.
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Unlike when I played when I was a kid, my son's league doesn't have weight requirements. I mean none. You should see the size of some of those kids out there. And us the parents be like, "I know dayum well that kid ain't 10 years old." And then someone would yell, "You're right, he's only 9!" WTF???
 
SAME OLD G said:
Unlike when I played when I was a kid, my son's league doesn't have weight requirements. I mean none. You should see the size of some of those kids out there. And us the parents be like, "I know dayum well that kid ain't 10 years old." And then someone would yell, "You're right, he's only 9!" WTF???
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Oh I hate that. The league my youngest plays flag football in has strict weight requirements for tackle (170 max). Another league I work for allows the 11-12 year old group to weight up to 230lbs, which to me is ridiculoous as well.
 
SAME OLD G said:
Unlike when I played when I was a kid, my son's league doesn't have weight requirements. I mean none. You should see the size of some of those kids out there. And us the parents be like, "I know dayum well that kid ain't 10 years old." And then someone would yell, "You're right, he's only 9!" WTF???
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Kids are so big now at an early age that parents walk around with their birth certificates at youth games.
 
CEE DOG said:
Man we use to flip off of houses and land on our heads everyday. Weak. Weak is all it is.
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Did you take hundreds of blows to head for 10, 15 or 20 years?

It's not weak. It's not weak when elite professional athletes suffer from depression, memory loss, chronic headaches, dementia and other ailments as a result of sustaining blows to the head over a long period of time.

Go on YouTube and look at the video about former NFL great John Mackey. He can't function as a human being without the assistance of his wife.

Dave Duerson, part of that great 1985 Bears defense, killed himself because he didn't want to face the prospect of living the rest of his life with debilitating affects of brain damage. He shot himself in the chest with the sole purpose of having doctors examine and study his brain. A college football player killed himself as a result of advanced CTE.

Jim McMahon can't remember anything these days.

You have hockey players, the tough guys, who fought and took no prisoners on the ice during their careers, now struggle every day dealing with the post concussion symptoms. Keith Primeau has been living with those symptoms for the last six years.

Kids have died after suffering back-to-back concussions during football games. This is real. Not weak.
 
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jag4life said:
Oh I hate that. The league my youngest plays flag football in has strict weight requirements for tackle (170 max). Another league I work for allows the 11-12 year old group to weight up to 230lbs, which to me is ridiculoous as well.
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Man weight requirements was the reason I never played football. I use to play backyard ball everyday with the kids in the neighborhood that were on the city team. They told me to come out..I went out that there and they weighed me and told me I couldnt play with he JV team and that I would have to play with PeeWee. I couldnt take that embaressment..and left football alone. I was at home sad while my mom was in the living room happy as eva.

Whats crazy is you will see kids up there working out hard or eating all week to make weight for some youth city team.
 
SAME OLD G said:
Oh, I believe it. The league my son plays it requires it before the season even starts.
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Whats crazy is when the illegals show up with these photoshopped birth certs and try to play. They claim they cant get the real one with the seal on them because mexico won't relase them or arizona cant find the vital records........I'm like dude translate to mom that your 16 y/o butt cant play with these lil kids!!!
 
Make sure you find out about the organization and discuss with the coach his philosophy. My sons played with a top notch organization BREC and for one of the top teams/programs in BR known as the Bandits. I attended the practices and after talking "football" with the Coach was asked to come out and work with the Offensive linemen. The first thing I did was eliminate the "Bull in the Ring" drill and other "things we did in high school".

The coaches gave water breaks, but I implemented a policy of having water in squeeze bottles that the kids could get to drink whenver they wanted as opposed to "water breaks". Also, finally convinced the coaches to have off Mondays (were already off Friday for high school games) and limiting hitting to Tuesday and Wednesday only...Thursdays were in shells (helmets, top pads, and shorts). There was some "what are they doing?" from some of the dads who swore we would get killed and that we were making them soft. We went undefeated two of the three years, I coached out there and the kids played fresher and faster.
 



MikeBigg said:
Make sure you find out about the organization and discuss with the coach his philosophy. My sons played with a top notch organization BREC and for one of the top teams/programs in BR known as the Bandits. I attended the practices and after talking "football" with the Coach was asked to come out and work with the Offensive linemen. The first thing I did was eliminate the "Bull in the Ring" drill and other "things we did in high school".

The coaches gave water breaks, but I implemented a policy of having water in squeeze bottles that the kids could get to drink whenver they wanted as opposed to "water breaks". Also, finally convinced the coaches to have off Mondays (were already off Friday for high school games) and limiting hitting to Tuesday and Wednesday only...Thursdays were in shells (helmets, top pads, and shorts). There was some "what are they doing?" from some of the dads who swore we would get killed and that we were making them soft. We went undefeated two of the three years, I coached out there and the kids played fresher and faster.
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:tup:
 
SAME OLD G said:
Hey K, if you don't mind me asking...how long has your nephew played? Did he play when he was a kid?
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He started in the 11th grade. He played TE and DE. He played basketball throughout his middle school and high school days. He played basketball 4 years in high school and football 2 years.

I actually thought he would choose basketball in college. :lmao:
 
kellis said:
He started in the 11th grade. He played TE and DE. He played basketball throughout his middle school and high school days. He played basketball 4 years in high school and football 2 years.

I actually thought he would choose basketball in college. :lmao:
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Those be the players who's careers last longer and they end on a better note than others, cause their bodies isnt all jacked up once they finish.
 
MikeBigg said:
I've lobbied with my son to hold off on my 8 year old Grandson who really wants to play. I would prefer middle school but right now I'm working on getting him to at least wait two more years of basketball and baseball.


Off all the sports, I think you can play football the latest and still make the transition.
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You sound like me. :tup:
 
SAME OLD G said:
Unlike when I played when I was a kid, my son's league doesn't have weight requirements. I mean none. You should see the size of some of those kids out there. And us the parents be like, "I know dayum well that kid ain't 10 years old." And then someone would yell, "You're right, he's only 9!" WTF???
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They need weight requirements. Reason #2 I won't let my skinny son play. :lmao:
 
Well, I for one am glad the topic was discussed. I never said anything to the wife and I certainly never said anything to the my son, but since that day when I saw him laying on the field not moving, I have not fully recovered from it. He may not play again until middle school or even high school the matter...if he really wants to play.
 
SAME OLD G said:
Well, I for one am glad the topic was discussed. I never said anything to the wife and I certainly never said anything to the my son, but since that day when I saw him laying on the field not moving, I have not fully recovered from it. He may not play again until middle school or even high school the matter...if he really wants to play.
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I don't even want to imagine your feelings or emotions when you saw your son laying on the field. :bawling:
 
SAME OLD G said:
Well, I for one am glad the topic was discussed. I never said anything to the wife and I certainly never said anything to the my son, but since that day when I saw him laying on the field not moving, I have not fully recovered from it. He may not play again until middle school or even high school the matter...if he really wants to play.
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Yeah, I'm sure that incident was just as traumatic for you as it was for you son. But I'm glad he came out ok. :tup:

I have a nine year old son myself, and so far all he's wanted to play is baseball, and that's ok with me. As much as I love football, and would like to see him play football, i'm not gonna press the issue - especially at this young age. If he chooses to never play football, that alright too. I just want what's best for him, and his health, as I'm sure everybody else on this board wants for their kids.
 
First of all I want to say that a generation of wusses have been born. That said I can say that I was a baseball player and I wrestled in my youth. I can say that foot is the is the sport that makes a man out of you more than anything. It test your character. Your will. Your dedication. Having said that I believe that you shouldnt play contact football before 9 years old. I think that is crazy. Whenever anyone ask me about what I think about thier child playing football, I always say that they should ask the coach about how he teaches fundamentals. If you dont agree, then pull your child. I do believe that safety comes before toughness.
 
emptyright said:
First of all I want to say that a generation of wusses have been born. That said I can say that I was a baseball player and I wrestled in my youth. I can say that foot is the is the sport that makes a man out of you more than anything. It test your character. Your will. Your dedication. Having said that I believe that you shouldnt play contact football before 9 years old. I think that is crazy. Whenever anyone ask me about what I think about thier child playing football, I always say that they should ask the coach about how he teaches fundamentals. If you dont agree, then pull your child. I do believe that safety comes before toughness.
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There are a lot of things in this post I don't agree with.

A generation of so-called "wusses" doesn't have anything to do with the affects long and short term affects of football players sustaining blows to the head. Neither does age, weight, strength or speed.

Offensive and defensive linemen -- no matter what age or how big they are -- take more hits to the head than any other group of players on the field just as a result of how the game has been played for 100 years.

There is really nothing coaches or leagues can do to prevent football players from taking blows to the head during games or practices.

Playing football doesn't teach you how to be a man or to be a better person. No sport does. That sounds like some coach speak rubbish.

Football is dangerous because it's football. There can be safe guards put in place, rules changed and new equipment that promises safety. The sport, by its very nature, is dangerous and always will be.
 
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