Helmet Contact

Whether you realize it or not all of football is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea based on the NFL's latest response to helmet-to-helmet contact. If the NFL wants to change its mind on the ferocity of the game that will be tolerated then it must be done at all levels of the game. Taking that as a starting point youth football should not "require" a change in this area. There already should be a ban on H-T-H contact at those ages. In fact, I feel kids should not play contact football at all until high school. I didn't and I also played in college.

Football basically exposes players to as many as 60 "car crashes" per game. It is insane to put kids younger than 16 at risk to this. With what research is finding out about concussions, if a young player is so injured, he should stop playing with one. A concussion at that age is much worse than one at 25 and, so it is concluded, and no one should have more than 3 in an entire lifetime or risk permanent brain injury. So if a player starts with a concussion at 10 it would be most prudent to then stop playing contact sports altogether.

For the NFL, they have advertised for decades on the basis of hard hits. Watch the highlight reels; you don't see anyone playing patty-cakes. So, now, how do they step back from that position without looking hypocritical? More realistically, how do you enforce such a ban? Are defensive players only subject to fines/suspensions. Running backs and pulling guards put a real hurt on DBs at times. Having played I know it's possible to tackle without using the helmet. Jack Ham, a Hall-of-Famer, probably didn't make a helmet tackle in his entire career and he didn't miss many tackles without doing so. I really have to see where this all lines-out but it's going to be a holy mess for some time regardless of the outcome.