How do you feel as a parent about your child playing football?

[BruceVilanch]

I played tackle football from 6th grade through senior year. It was such an amazing experience and teaches you a lot of valuable lessons. That being said, I suffered an open compound fracture of my ankle, and had several concussions, now being almost 40 my body just hurts all the time and I get debilitating headaches, some of my issues can be attributed to the military but most of it was football. Me and my wife are still undecided on kids but I am not sure if we'll sign off on football if we have one.

[BuffaloRebound]

Dudes are too big and fast now.  Way too much force and violence once they reach puberty 

[TheBrownBear]

Just now, RoyBatty is alive said:

How about a line drive to the face.  Being a pitcher is a scary proposition imo.  

I took a line drive to the face while pitching a high school game.  No permanent damage, but I was more than content to play center field after that...lol.

[BRH]

16 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Still doesn’t bother me 

 

You can get hit with a line drive in baseball and die

 

Very true, but the opportunities for that to happen are infinitesimal compared to football, where there is the possibility of serious injury on virtually every play.

 

My wife made it clear early on that our son was not going to play football, and I was honestly okay with that.  I didn't play organized football growing up, so it wasn't a hard thing to go along with.  Our son is 20 now and plays college baseball.  He has had his share of injuries -- hip, back, ankle, knee, elbow.  He's an outfielder now so he's run into a couple of fences as well, which is ironic because I worried more when he was a third baseman.  I've seen kids get hit the face by pitched or hit balls and sustain serious injury -- broken noses from curveballs that didn’t break, broken orbitals from a bad hop and from a hole in the BP net.  It's never good to see that happen to your child.  Or to any child.  But I can't imagine what it would be like watching him play football.  I love watching the game but am so glad he never played it.

. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by BRH

[Buffalo716]

Just now, BRH said:

 

Very true, but the opportunities for that to happen are infinitesimal compared to football, where there is the possibility of serious injury on virtually every play.

 

My wife made it clear early on that our son was not going to play football, and I was honestly okay with that.  I didn't play organized football growing up, so it wasn't a hard thing to go along with.  Our son is 20 now and plays college baseball.  He has had his share of injuries -- hip, back, ankle, knee, elbow.  He's an outfielder now so he's run into a couple of fences as well.  I've seen kids get hit the face by pitched or hit balls and sustain serious injury -- broken nose, broken orbital.  It's never good to see that happen to your child.  But I can't imagine what it would be like watching him play football.  I love watching the game but am so glad he never played it.

As somebody who grew up with the game of football and it’s been a huge part of my life since I was a child

 

I just would have to let my child make the decision

 

I have seen serious injuries in a lot of sports… If my child wanted to play football… Well I wanted to when I was a kid because my dad Coached

 

Maybe modified football in seventh grade would be the first time… not 6 like me

[msw2112]

The Damar situation is a freak thing that could happen at any time.  You could be a spectator at a baseball game and take a line drive right in the exact spot and have the same thing happen.  You could also be rear ended at a stoplight and have your body hit the steering wheel at the exact same spot.  Or fall off a bicycle and land in the wrong way and hit that spot.  So I would not let the Hamlin injury stop me from letting my kids play.

That said, the head injuries, spinal injuries, etc. WOULD influence my decision.  And it would be a difficult one.  I played in HS and loved it.  Decades later, I still have very fond memories of playing.  It also was very good for me at the time - helped me stay in shape, be diciplined, manage my time, face adversity, work as part of a team, build friendships with guys I didn't know that well, etc.  I have daughters, so it's not a choice I have to make.  That said, my wife doesn't want our daughters playing soccer because of concussions from heading the ball.  Instead,it's swimming and basketball.  A poorly executed dive into the pool, a fall and hitting of her head on the hardwood, etc. could also cause a serious or even fatal injury, so nothing in life is truly safe.

Edited January 3, 2023 by msw2112

[BRH]

Just now, Buffalo716 said:

As somebody who grew up with the game of football and it’s been a huge part of my life since I was a child

 

I just would have to let my child make the decision

 

I have seen serious injuries in a lot of sports… If my child wanted to play football… Well I wanted to when I was a kid because my dad Coached

 

Maybe modified football in seventh grade would be the first time… not 6 like me

 

I don't judge people who let their kids play football.  And I completely understand that you have to let your kids choose their own path.  I got lucky because my son played the sport I love the most.  If I'm being honest, though, that was partly because of me.  Young kids do what they think will make their parents happy, and then they make their own decisions around middle school.  Fortunately he was always really good at baseball and loved it enough to make it his own thing.  If I had grown up in a football-playing family, maybe I would have steered him differently.  But maybe not.  My wife *did* come from a football family and what she saw -- multiple concussions, steroid use among her cousins back in the day, etc -- turned her off enough from it to insist that he never play.

[LanderPoke]

I will encourage my two boys to play 7 and 5 right now

[ghostwriter]

I think football builds character and it teaches a lot of life lessons. I wouldn’t force my kids to play football, but I wouldn’t say no if they wanted to play either.

[Greg S]

Just don't let your kids grow up to be Jets fans. That would be one of the worst things a parent can do to their child.

[LanderPoke]

40 minutes ago, TheWei44 said:

My son will never play football because of CTE concerns, among others.  Nothing to do with what happened last night.

The game is 10,000 times safer in that regard than when even I was playing. I am only 35. The kids nowadays hit like one time per week plus gameday. We used to hit every day in practice and do drills like "bull in the ring" and "Oklahoma" each practice too. IMO the risk of concussions and CTE in football now is maybe a little more than soccer, basketball or other sports and football is way cooler. I'm of the opinion the positives of participating in football outweigh the negatives. Boys need this type of thing

Edited January 3, 2023 by LanderPoke

[Success]

I always think of "Finding Nemo," and the whole idea that you can protect your kids too much, and prevent them from experiencing some really important things in life.  

 

There is always a balance there.  Of course there are situations where the risk outweighs the experience they could get.  But as others have stated, a lot of sports they play carry some risk.  My kid played lacrosse & got a concussion, which made me 2nd guess everything.  But it was such a rewarding experience on so many levels for him to play that game.  For me, it's worse to think of what he would have missed by not playing it.

 

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

 I was sick to my stomach last night. But as pointed out, the same thing can happen from a line drive or an errant puck. 

 

I legitimately don't know if I'll ever have this conversation with my son. 

[Buffalo716]

8 minutes ago, BRH said:

 

I don't judge people who let their kids play football.  And I completely understand that you have to let your kids choose their own path.  I got lucky because my son played the sport I love the most.  If I'm being honest, though, that was partly because of me.  Young kids do what they think will make their parents happy, and then they make their own decisions around middle school.  Fortunately he was always really good at baseball and loved it enough to make it his own thing.  If I had grown up in a football-playing family, maybe I would have steered him differently.  But maybe not.  My wife *did* come from a football family and what she saw -- multiple concussions, steroid use among her cousins back in the day, etc -- turned her off enough from it to insist that he never play.

Most women I know never want their children to play football

 

It’s a protection thing 

 

But again letting your kid play football is not like enabling him to do drugs… So for me it’s his choice

[IBTG81]

I coach youth baseball and football. My son is 12. 
Generally, before they hit HS, they don’t hit each other hard enough to cause severe injuries. He played flag when he was younger and had more injuries doing that. 

[dorquemada]

52 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

My kid is only 7 so I have awhile where I think I have time before impacts can hurt the body.  I know what happened yesterday has never happened in the NFL and is extremely rare.  But I will never forget about Damar Hamlin...ever.  My son plays every sport and man, I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable seeing him take a big shot, it will happen, those who have played before knows this.  

 

Again, I know it's a one in a hundred million but it's also your child.  I'm going to let him play what he wants to play but last night was just so scary.

 

 

My mom was a school psychologist.  She forbade me from playing football, and I had a batting helmet that make me look like the Great Gazoo.  She had seen too many young men getting concussed and having awful downstream consequences.  This was the 1970s when 'getting your bell rung' was a sign that you were playing hard.  I was mad about it at the time, but I get it now.  

 

 

[BRH]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Most women I know never want their children to play football

 

It’s a protection thing 

 

But again letting your kid play football is not like enabling him to do drugs… So for me it’s his choice

 

Well, thankfully, we never had to have that conversation.  Even though he had a great arm, he was stocky and slow as a child so he knew that if he played football he'd end up on the offensive line, and he had no desire to do that, so it was never an issue.  He never once asked to be signed up to play football.  

 

Truthfully, though, I was more thankful that he never wanted to play soccer either  

[machine gun kelly]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Most women I know never want their children to play football

 

It’s a protection thing 

 

But again letting your kid play football is not like enabling him to do drugs… So for me it’s his choice

Right.  I did my best to let Royale know all the other examples of injuries in other sports. Concussions, broken bones, soft tissue injuries, torn ligaments, etc all not from football.

 

I won’t repeat.  Just do the hw. On soccer, lax, and other sports like mine in wrestling and powerlifting on multiple injuries.  All the technique in the world can’t remove injury risks.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

Sure it teaches you physical and mental toughness as well as team play in a way no other sport really can.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

This event has nothing to do with football. Can happen in baseball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse and other sports with far less contact. It's an accident that occurs very rarely. 

Judge football for long term cognitive and or orthopedic issues, not sudden cardiac death from blunt chest injury.