Is football worth it

concussions:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflconcussions-miami

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/tag/lamar-campbell-special-to-cnn/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ben_glicksman/01/27/concussions.gupta.qanda/index.html

paralyzed:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333538,00.html

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/..._health-insurance-health-coverage-health-care

players suffering head trauma and getting paralyzed playing this sport. now, we have have HS school players losing their lives over this sport. grown men who are pros getting serious injuries that are life long along with HS players and college level . when players at the college level and HS level get paralyzed their insurance will stop soon and the heaviest of burden will be on the family. when you are a pro you will have the means along with the insurance.

questions:

is it worth subjecting your child to this sport?
if you are a christian or jewish would God approve of this sport?
knowing what you know now would you go back and play or watch/support the sport?
should public HS allow kids to play the sport due to costs and safety?

 

I watched a show on CNN just last night on brain injuries.

They were talking about the brain bank and the Dr who runs it. She is examining brains of young people with brain injuries who died. One family whose 16 year old died after he had a head injury in practice and the school let him play a few days later. He died of a fairly mild injury but because it was a re-injury so soon it was fatal. The family (player was Jacuan Waller they talk of several specifically in the show) donated his brain because they wanted to know what had been his injury history.

What they have been finding is old injuries add up and a lot of players are coming up with dementia and alzheimers at around age 40, younger then the general population. The reason they believe is all these injuries when they are growing. Your head/brain wasn't meant to take that abuse.

The special was called Big Hits Broken Dreams. Very good show.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/sp...1/11/gupta-big-hits-broken-dreams-trailer.cnn

 

yeah, that is what I based this thread on. It was very interesting. after watching it and really thinking of other things about football (at least at the HS level) it shouldnt be played

 

what can i say, football is football

my mom knew the risks before she let me play, and no student can play the sport without written consent from their parents. Concussions, injuries and possibly paralysis are just part of the sport. Weight lifting is such a fundamental part of the sport, so that you build resistance to injuries, among other stuff like building strength etc. For instance, we specifically used to do side arm dumb bell lifts to build resistance to injury (in the deltoid/upper latissimus/trap area), when going in for arm tackles.

boxing, which is another sport that kids start off young at, is also capable of these same situations. Injuries, conc., etc. No one really pays any attention to that, or anything. I think you just have a problem with schools providing talented athletes free organized sports. You weren't good enough to make the team or what?

 

LOL. yeah....OK. LOl
the weightlifting helps but its not going to keep you from getting hurt. the other problems occur when they do get hurt (paralysis and concussions) cost the schools deeply. one show had talked about a player get paralyzed and it killed the school and parents financially

 

If my son ever asks, I won't let him play. Too dangerous. Had a stepbrother whose knee gave out first college season.

 

your knee can give out in any sport, tbh

basketball players constantly play injured but no one cares..

sports are sports, and the moment you decide to play for a school, you're opening yourself up to a higher risk of injury

can't take it, don't play any

 

look at the number of football players being paralyzed

I didn't know any from my high school, and the only guy from psu that I know of was Adam tellafarro. in the span of all these years, I havent heard of anyone else from either school getting paralysis

youre more likely to get paralyzed riding in a car

the chances are slim

 

so rare that they started a nonprofit organization to fund their medical needs..(sarcassim)

http://www.gridironheroes.org/

and even if it was rare how would you like to be part of that rare number or your child

 

This is not the only sport w risks, motor cross, gymnastics, down hill skiiing, boxing and a plethora more have some serious risks with it. Should they be banned? I don't think so. If we are going to ban sports that are dangerous, we will only watch synchronized swimming - lol. However, better choices could be made so players risks can be minimalized as much as possible such as not putting them back too soon.

I did watch the Law and Order episode that portrayed an X foootballer that had football induced dementia, it was a very moving episode.

 

true to a point. hey, synchronize swimming should not be knocked

[YOUTUBE]rIgg0ZZJkPc[/YOUTUBE]

 

ive been telling you this from square one, but you finally listen after a woman repeats it

SMDH



all sports comes with injuries.

 

for starters...she is a woman. she gets a pass. fuck you LOL.

anyhoo.... motor cross, gymnastics, down hill skiiing are sports that have risks BUT they werent designed to be physical like football and boxing .

football and boxing is designed to hit people on purpose where the other sports listed are not. I will throw in basketball, tennis and baseball as more favorable sports for kids to play.

you can get injuries in track and field and tennis.

 

there's a certain rush/thrill that comes with knocking a guy off his feet

you know there's a certain element of danger associated with it, but the chance to demonstrate brute strength is howling.

i mentioned this before but I probably wouldn't have my kid playing football. Not because of the injuries and dangers associated with it, but because of how demanding it can be mentally and physically. So many kids are trying to get scholarships and stuff, that their sport consumes them, and they miss out on other things in life. It's okay to play a sport and be good at it, but to make it 'your life' is foolish more often than not. You need to have a backup plan.

 

Agreed.

One of my boys died of heart attack while playing ball at the YMCA (16 years old)

I never really understood what happened but while trying to make a dunk he hopped 3 feet off the ground and seemingly lost conscious in mid air and landed head first. Ended up bleeding through his nostrils while remaining unconscious on the ground. He died on the spot

But how i see it is simple: he died doing something he loved. Thats the thing about competitive and athletic people. Sports is not just a sport but a way of life and if we can make big money doing this thing we love, no amount of threat can deter us from doing just that.

The guy who said he'd disallow his boy from playing football: Tell me this, will you let him drive a car?? check the stats on auto injuries/deaths vs football injuries/deaths

 

seriously

 

I have a friend who became a tetraplegic doing gymnastics, not uncommon. My cousins best friend who did motor cross broke his back too.

I have another friend who slipped in the shower and hit his head so hard he became a hemiplegic, never recovered 100%.

Just very recently a woman pipe snow boarder died of her injuries, she was going to the Olymipcs, for their debut of the sport. Not really uncommon either for down hill skiers. Motor cross and down hill skiing probably have more severe injuries than football does. Playing chicken w earth pose more danger than another player. Earth doesn't flinch.

What I am trying to say is:
All you can do is do an educated decision and play your cards and minimize your risks. And that you take, everyday you get into the car. Your risk of getting hurt by another driver is bigger than severe injury during football.

Having that said, coaches should perhaps make better decisions in when they let players back, especially w younger players. Unfortunately for both boxers and football players (and others), its a balance w the almighty dollar.

 

I knew a chick who got neurological damage from running too much as a competitive cross country runner in college. A cop in DC died from drinking too much water in a bike competition.
Plain and simple shit happens and if people want to risk their own health its there decision to make.

 

yeah but that stuff there is unforeseen versus football

 

A knee getting blown out is one thing. Ending up a quadriplegic with a colostomy and a feeding tube is another. My late stepbrother never bounced back from his injury and ended up dying from a blood clot that resulted from the meds he was taking afterward. Not a direct causal relationship, but there was a connection.