I’m not going to get into any Danny Kannell inspired “War on Football” arguments. I am not sure there’s a “war” as much as there is overhyped media predictions about the survivability of the game.
Sorta like how Y2K, and SARS and Avian Flu were all going to be global disasters. Not so much.
Football is going to continue for as far as the eye can see, because it’s simply TOO GOOD OF A PRODUCT to fail. The demand is too great. And there are TOO MANY KIDS who want to play it at a high level – despite the inherent risks.
The pundits who cite suburban northeast school districts that have dropped football, have no idea of the true landscape. Go to the deep south, Flordia, Texas and California. There’s more talent in those pipelines than we’ll ever need to fill the college and professional ranks.
At best, the quality of players *might* dip slightly, but I would say it would be so small you would never notice it. Besides, most of the BEST players, are too busy dodging bullets and gang members to worry about when they might get a concussion playing for the Cowboys.
All that said, I DO think there is a need for more people to SPEAK UP about the absolute BENEFITS of playing football. This article by Brad Schaeffer at The Blaze does a great job of pointing many of them out.
Toughness. Teamwork. Discipline. Male Role Models. Friendships. Physical fitness.
It’s a good read, and one worth passing on. Football isn’t for every kid, no doubt. But it has so many great things going for it, the mere chance for a concussion isn’t enough to say the game isn’t worth it.
