Is Football Safe for Children? League of Denial (Part 7 of 9) | FRONTLINE

As a person who absolutely loves the game... I have to say this is terrifying. I believe it, from my Pop Warmer years on... I saw kids subconsciously say they were okay and returned to the game because that was what was expected out of you whether being a 7 year old or 18 year old.

ASK YOURSELF HOW MANY NFL OWNERS/COACHES SONS PLAY FOOTBALL IN THE NFL???? THEN ASK YOURSELF HOW MANY US SENATORS HAVE SONS /DAUGHTERS IN THE MILITARY????

Human bodies simply aren't built to take such hits on a regular basis...evolution has prepared us to do many things, but getting frequent hits to the head isn't really one of them.

It shouldn’t even be a debate. If you think endangering your child is ok than it might as well be child abuse. My step dad is forcing my younger brother to play and I tried telling him why he shouldn’t and my step dad walks in and says “he needs a positive role model, don’t talk to him” yeah, I’m telling him that he can get seriously hurt and trying to protect him but yeah I’m the negative role model.

As much as I loved the game. I don't want my boy to do this to most valuable thing he has. His mind.

21 years old. So sad. My numerous concussions will probably catch up soon.

Well I guess my mother was way before her time refused to let my brother play and that was 40 yrs ago. Nothing good can come out of your head being hit like that she would say

I think that I now know why in my elementary only flag football was played.

My son is 7 and loves football, he’s been flag all his life and wants to play tackle so bad. He also plays soccer, basketball, baseball, and runs track. This is eye opening to say the least. I hope like hell he wants to play the other sports more as he gets older

I love to watch football and I played when I was a kid but my enjoyment of a game is not at all worth anyone suffering like this.

Growing up in North Jersey I remember being “hard nosed and tough” was a badge of honor. Nothing warmed the heart of old school coaches more than for a player to be glassy eyed and not want to miss a play. I’m very thankful now that I used my shoulder pads more than my helmet when making tackles. I’ve seen some of my teammates deal with those collisions even from high school and college level….

Any parent that signs up a child to play football is either in denial or has not done their research. After seeing this I can't ever support anyone who decides to put their child into this sport if told that they can or MOST LIKELY will get CTE because $ isn't worth it and the little child know's no better! It is the parents responsibility to due the research 1st before signing up for a contact sport.

There are rules to prevent concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. For instance, they make you tackle a certain way, and you are only aloud two concussions until they force you to quit.

Short Answer:  Absolutely NOT. I interviewed Bill Walsh for my film Football in America and he ABSOLUTELY said kids were not suited to contact football.  He wanted them to become athletes and then play in High School.  The is BILL WALSH... So no don't let your kids play and remember the CTE warnings in this film and it they Don't change the game then NEVER let them play.  The head is not suited to concussive and sub concussive injuries and it is NOT worth it. Watch this film folks.  I played in Division One btw.  My film Football in America won the Emmy for outststanding achievement in sports programming ion 1983.

I love football but I think it’s too dangerous for me to play

They have new Tech and train the players in a youth league to make a safer tackle. A lot of leagues at least around here is a 15 yard penalty if you hit higher than the chest

But that was old equipment... also these peoples brains that they measured problem play very dangerous positions.

I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot of really good kickers and punters soon.

Whenever they put footage of players having their heads hit, it was from the 70s. Helmets then were only made to keep your head from splitting open. People did not know very much about concussions. All sports have injuries. You can get a concussion in soccer, lacrosse, hockey, and other injuries as well. Football happens to have more concussions per year at the high school level, but if you look at the statistics for any other contact sport, the numbers are VERY close. Also, advanced helmets such as the Vicis zero1 did not exist at the time of this video. Technology is improving.

There is "No Safe" in football period.