I agree with Obama: My kids may not play football either

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This past week, President Barack Obama made national headlines when he said in an interview that he would “think long and hard” before letting a son of his play football.

The comment sent tremors across the sports landscape and raised a lot of anger among sporting fans across the globe.


I’m about to do something I’ve never done before – I’m going to side with the president on an issue.


Like Obama, I, too, would be very weary to let my future little Case play football at a young age.

Football is a great game – no doubt. I am a huge fan. I live glued to my TV all day every Saturday and Sunday during the fall.


Away from the entertainment value for fans, the game also gives a lot of people opportunities to get a college education – a chance they may not have otherwise received.


It also teaches young men self-discipline and life lessons that they can carry with them in places of employment down the road in their lives.

So with all of this said, I’m sure you’re asking why I’m concerned about my future kiddos, right?


It’s simple. It’s all about safety.


In high school, college and the professional levels, football equipment is scientifically tested and is 100 percent state of the art.

The helmets and pads the players wear are geared to absorb contact and to protect the body from the blunt of the blow.


That’s why these 300-pound gladiators can absorb 50-60 clean licks a game without being physically destroyed on a given Sunday.


But at an early age, the same science isn’t readily available because of funding.

The NFL game’s shiny and durable helmets are traded for second-hand or third-hand equipment that is second-rate and not conducive to protecting a small child’s fragile skull from a monstrous hit.


Studies show that one of the biggest problems football players face when they are battling head injuries is the accumulation of hits.


Sure, the hits players absorb in college and the NFL are bad as-is.

But they are made 100 times worse when one factors in the thousands of licks a life-long player receives in his early years playing.


Here’s an example of just how quickly small-scale erosion can become a serious issue.


Assume a small child plays football 100 days per year between practices and games.

Assume the same child takes just 12 hits a day during this period.


If the child starts the sport and plays until he’s 14 (the age he’d enroll in high school), he would have taken 10,800 more hits than the child who begins playing the sport for the first time when he enrolls in high school.


That’s thousands of blows to multiple body parts – all while wearing substandard equipment. And all while the child is going through a vitally important period of growth in his life.

Those numbers don’t even count the numerous bumps and bruises every kid will gather just running around and being a kid – those add up, too.

I don’t know about you guys and gals, but if I can keep my youngster from being punched, hit or kicked more than 10,000 times in his lifetime, I will happily do so.

Another reason why football makes me nervous for youngsters is because of coaching – or a lack thereof.

I’m not trying to sit here and bad-mouth the intellect of youth coaches. I am one myself.

But we are in no way, shape, nor form professionals and in a contact sport like football, that can be a dangerous thing.

Be honest with yourself when reading this scenario I present. If you are honest, you will not be able to debate this is true.

Player A is 8-years-old.

Player A is the biggest kid on his team and one of the fastest.

Anyone who knows youth sports knows that winning takes too large a priority in the minds of the coaches.

Because of Player A’s prowess, he may play quarterback and run the football nearly every, single play.

I once officiated a youth football game where a 9-year-old boy accumulated 52 carries.

Sure, he got countless yards and scored a half-dozen touchdowns in the game. But his body also was dinged up and pounded on 52 times.

By the time Player A is old enough to play high school ball, there’s a high probability that he will have been injured multiple times or will have burned out on the sport altogether because he is tired of feeling sore and bruised.

It’s just not worth it.

Nothing the kids learn at age 9 or 10 is worth the risk.

True talent will still remain true talent at 14 or 15 when kids walk onto the doorstep of their respective high school.

Some of the best football players of today picked up the sport in their teenage years.

So when the day comes and little Case Jr. is running around asking his dad if he can put on the pads and helmet for the first time, my family will have a very difficult decision to make.

At higher levels, football is a wonderful sport. I welcome my future children’s participation once they become 9th graders.

But too much hitting at too early an age is a bit much for me.

I’d prefer my first child to have his first concussion when he’s at an age advanced enough to where he can physically spell concussion.

Obama got this one right.