Old Pro's Bashing Football

You have to remember that Terry Bradshaw will say ANYTHING to get attention.

And he's a giant douchebag.

Yup, and without the opportunities football has provided him, he'd have done jack $hit with his life. His IQ is about 80. It's disappointing that he's bad mouthing a game that has provided him with a steady job and income.

I agree we're going to need to spread the good word fantom, but I'm worried that we will end up being insufficient. We can't stand up against the media frenzy especially when they have NFL hall of famers on their side. I've always wanted to become a head varsity football coach and I'm legitimately afraid that high school football will become a thing of the past before I get my shot.

Strictly as it relates to the NFL I agree with you. The fact is it's our problem now. John Knight (I think it was) posted an article about a school director who proposed banning HS football. She won't be the last. Let's face it, Mama never wanted Junior to play football. Now she has an excuse.

All of the tough talk about choice and how it's healthy for a kid to do risky things? I agree with that. That will NOT win the argument, though.

Be ready to explain it then.

Coaches

Us youth coaches are counting on you to fix this. You all have a much bigger platform because the kids that can play are already roaming your halls. At the youth level, anyone that isn’t currently playing, we cant get at.

A Point / Counterpoint discussion on a HS football forum will do nothing. How many parents read this forum. Maybe 10?

Time to go public. Cant any of you get into your local reporters ear? The NFL has its problems because it’s the NFL. The HS game is way different. Heck, by rule you have to wear a simple mouthpiece. How many NFL players would have avoided yet another concussion if they had just worn a mouthpiece?…or even a hard cup chinstrap?

Bradshaw is a fool…but 2 million parents just heard what he said and are gathered around the water coolers at work as we speak making it even worse.

A youth coach from Chicago just got the attention of the Christen Science Monitor and will be doing a story that counters all of this Chicken Little Syndrome from the youth level perspective. That is a start.

Plus ESPN and SI doing a counterpoint article is only an bandaide. How many moms subscribe? They are the ones making the call more times than not. We need Redbook or Better Homes and Gardens doing a story....like that will ever happen.

How about 60 Minutes? If they get blasted with phone calls and emails from 100's of HS coaches they have to at least put an intern Producer on the story. Right? At least its of some national interest these days.

Strength in numbers. Like fantom suggests….we are all missionaries now.

If any of us think differently….well?

Coach

I read that article and I personally believe this attitude will gain a foothold.

Where I coach ( youth since 1983 ) one of the largest school districts pulled all funding for all MS sports in the late 80’s. So the youth orgs had to expand to 14u to cover for the kids. Twenty-five years later there are no MS sports of any kind in the public school system Metro wide.

They did this for budget reasons. Currently the school district I live in is $40M in the red. The kids have to pay $1 per day just to ride the bus to school and back.

Ice Hockey, LAX and Soccer are all 19u leagues run by private orgs. In HS the kids still wear their colors and represent and use the schools facilities but the districts fund nothing. Now they collect rent instead. On the outside it seems normal, behind the scenes it’s a different way of playing HS sports. All kids pay to play and its expensive. With the districts out of the loop the private orgs now foot the bill for coaches salaries, uniforms, equipment etc.

One school district just killed Freshman and JV baseball and softball so the youth orgs now expand to 16U for baseball and softball. Gold Crown basketball is now expanding to 19U and is sponsored by the NBA so it’s beginning to happen in basketball as well but I don’t know much about those details.

Football cant be that far behind. If enough people like Patty Sexton pipe and play the safety card that is so easy to do right now, then I believe Board Members really aren’t going to act on the safety issue but rather look at it as budget relief. It’s a no brainer for the bean counters if you think about it.

So kids will no longer be able to sign up and play for free or even for a nominal fee. The registration fees will be high so all participation will naturally shrink.

My kids are grown. I have 6 grandkids with the oldest in 2nd grade. I have to wonder if any of them play HS varsity sports will it be for the district or for a private org. My money says that most if not all HS sports will be privatized by then…around here anyway. Maybe a good thing…maybe a bad thing I don’t know but after reading some of the threads on this forum it might be a good thing. Still I feel for all of the young HS coaches just starting out right now. Things might be very different in the future.

Best of luck to all of you. Times are changing fast in many areas that cant make 2+2=4 anymore.

While there are people out there bashing and jumping on the bandwagon SI ran two studies that didn't show these assumed conclusions, also, Marshall Faulk came out and said what amounted to what a lot of us have said, that NFL is a choice and isn't prep ball and he pretty much called those suing the NFL out on to the carpet.

That said, there very well may be a real need to ease parents fears and the best thing we can do is show them what we do to prevent injuries, how we treat injuries, and find other things such as what Emptybackfield was talking about. It may be unfortunate but to me the time invested in putting together a "defense" is well worth it.

"Now, I generally agree with what you are saying, but I am pretty sure what the NFL guys are saying is that the NFL knew about the risks and didn't inform anyone, kind of like the tobacco companies and cancer."

I have problems if this is what the NFL guys are saying. If they truly didn't know about the risks, their mental problems were apparent before any concussions. They ALL know there are risks!!!!! Physical, mental and emotional risks are part of the game. I absolutely agree with the soldiers reference as well.
On a different note, When the impact testing came out for our high school our trainer held out 7 kids after the first day of contact. I never got them back for 3 weeks. I have 3 players coming up to varsity that have already had 2 concussions, none from football. These last 2 years I've had no concussions but wrestling has had some and soccer. and hockey. Am I just lucky? I teach chest to chest tackling and have for 15 years. Has anyone else who has the impact test at their school had any concerns with the program? Also I have 14 kids that have spent $350 for helmets which is fine by me but the parents think they won't get concussions now. Just venting I guess.

The other element to differentiate is that just because someone critiques the sport of football there is no real reason to personally internalize that opinion.

The ad hominem against Bradshaw or Dave Pear or anyone else advocating player health in a game that has risks is short sighted.
These critiques should compel us to just examine how we can improve the game (not necessarily eliminate the contact) to focus on the real issue (not just knee jerk our way out of focus)

Terry Bradshaw, bless his heart* is diagnosed bipolar disorder.
So, he's nuts and will say or do anything. If you are dealing with a child or loved one with bipolar disorder, you know the terrible difficulty this condition is. I've had to deal with this condition in others, and it is NOT a pretty sight.

* in the South, when we say "bless his heart" it is NOT a term of endearment nor considered a good thing. It means that person is an idiot and can't get out of their own way. It's "southern code."

I think another point to consider is this: most of us "regular Joe" football coaches (for the most part) aren't going to have children that wil play at the highest levels of football. Many will, but most won't. The average person who isn't a football coach probably isn't going to have a child with the talents to play major college or pro football. But, the guys who play in the NFL have a much greater chance of having a child play professionally or at a major college. (I yell at my dad all the time for passing on 5'11 215 lb. genetics to me). Just from a genetic standpoint, those guys have a much greater chance of having children who will possess the abilities to play at a high level. So, from their point of view, it's a risk because no father is going to tell his child, "No, you probably shouldn't enter the draft after you're done at Ohio State." To those guys there's a much larger chance that their sons will be put at risk like so many players before them. I think all of our points of view are very different becaus our perspectives on life and the possibilities of our children making the NFL aren't really something we see as realistic. For those guys, it's something they actually have to really consider because the chances of their children making it are greater.

What pisses me off is the only people who are coming forward are the ones who have had problems due to concussions and injuries, and not the ones who are perfectly fine. It's like the fear of flying....people that are scared to fly are that way bc when a plane crash happens, it's plastered across the media...well, what if the media gave an everyday report on the number of flights that landed safely? Same goes for football....the silent majority are the ones that need to start coming forth.

personally, I think another element that is important to recognize when dealing with degenerative brain conditions in athletes is the way you end up wiring yourself when you compete......

The compulsive, thrill-seeking, adrenaline-junky stuff that leads contributes to many of these former athletes depression and self-destructive behaviors when they leave the sport (that may compel someone to mind altering substance abuse)

I'm not suggesting that brain trauma doesn't contribute to neurological damage, that leads to physio/psychological issues, just that there are also other factors that at play (because highly-competitive physical athletes aren't necessary trained to function in everyday Dick and Jane society).


I DO think we ought to embrace people advocating for the safety of the sport. Otherwise, you end up with knee-jerk NFL types that part-and-parcel eliminate large chunks of the game that make it impossible to actually "play" it.