[Clickbait Title]

[boater]

Football, sure if he was in to it. But I would push other sports before football.

 

I would push rowing the most. That's a lifelong sport (and also where the scholarships if that is your thing). Peeps in Buffalo have a fantastic resource in the world class West Side Rowing Club.

 

Also, lacrosse. Just because that seems like fun. There are also scholarships.

[Simon]

[This is an automated response]

 

As a courtesy to the other board members, please use more descriptive topic titles. A better title will help the community find information faster and make your topic more likely to be read. The topic starter can edit the topic title line to make it more appropriate.

 

Thank you.

[MikePJ76]

  On 4/29/2025 at 7:44 AM, davefan66 said:

Mine did.  Also wrestled and played lacrosse.  Football and wrestling were his best sports by far.
 

Interesting part? Suffered his worst concussion wrestling.  Concussions were always a concern in football, wrestling was not.

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I got hit in the head during an at bat in an American Legion game, The guy pitching threw pretty hard and he hit me in the side of the head I turned as fast as I could...got hit square in the head....I blacked out and collapsed on home plate.   I ended up with a concussion.    Really weird feeling.

 

Ironically because I crowded the plate my whole life I got hit in the head 3 times...but that one particular at bat I just collapsed.

 

So they can happen in any sport.  

Edited April 29 by MikePJ76

[gonzo1105]

I’m a former player, HS Coach, and College recruiter and I am more than okay with my son not playing football. 
 

It does teach a lot of good qualities that I take with me to this day but a young kid especially playing tackle football to me is dumb and unnecessary which is why there is more flag football now but not all. The brain is still developing at a rapid rate at these ages and proper tackling, helmets hitting the ground hard is just an unnecessary risk. 
 

We all know of long term CTE but I wonder if there are milder effects for certain players on head injuries such as Anxiety and Depression.

 

All things considered I’d rather my kid play sports that are less violent and be like his mom who is very book smart and introverted than me living vicariously through him 

Edited April 29 by gonzo1105

[947]

Both of my sons started playing tackle football when they were in 1st grade, six years old. That was 10+ years ago, but at that time there were several 1st grade teams in the local in-house league alone. Numbers started to decline soon after that and nowadays they don't even offer tackle until 4th grade. I  spent 10 years coaching 2nd grade thru 8th grade, and it was amazing to watch the kids bond & grow. No sport brings a team together like football.

 

My oldest stopped playing after freshman year to focus on baseball. My youngest is a rising senior varsity QB & going through the college recruiting process.

 

It's been a great journey, no concussions or major injuries.

 

[Low Positive]

My son could have played any sport he wanted to play but he had to express the interest. He tried baseball and quit because of all the yelling. He played youth club soccer and then played in high school. He got at least 5 concussions playing soccer as well as a pretty serious knee injury. My daughter, who was a HS keeper, got multiple concussions and broke her hand twice and arm once. 

[MrEpsYtown]

Well, all the people who want a hulking nose tackle will probably teach them bite the ball head across and chicken wing blocking and all that old school garbage.

 

There is so much new technique and teaching, Seahawk tackling rugby style stuff that makes the game so much safer, and that is in addition to all the helmet science. If the coaches in youth in your town are no neck losers with barbed wire tattoos, beware. But if you have knowledgeable coaches who are open to learning new things, the game is safer than ever.

 

I'll be the bad guy here, but to me if your kid wants to play football and you would not let your kid play football, you should not be allowed to be a fan. You would be contributing to the eventual death of the game you allegedly love. 

Edited April 29 by MrEpsYtown

[eball]

I completely agree, this is an extremely vague title.

 

[Clyde Smith]

I taught my son to break ankles at 3yo. He's 13 now and still breaking ankles as a Receiver like his Dad was.

[WotAGuy]

  On 4/29/2025 at 1:03 PM, gonzo1105 said:

We all know of long term CTE but I wonder if there are milder effects for certain players on head injuries such as Anxiety and Depression.

 

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Players??  Players??   Hell, I’m just WATCHING the Bills and they give me anxiety and depression. 
 

 

 

Edited April 29 by WotAGuy

[US Egg]

When I played organized football we didn’t have any concussions. Just got our bell rung.

[BullBuchanan]

Of course. Football is the greatest game ever invented and it shouldn't be denied to any healthy kid that wants to play.

[Augie]

  On 4/29/2025 at 7:14 AM, Doc Brown said:

As long as he vows to never play soccer.

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That’s actually very funny. 

 

My son could have played college football or soccer.  He played neither in college, but they played everything growing up. We didn’t let them play football until HS. While football was my favorite sport, I was always worried about injuries. It was a well founded fear, as he tore his ACL and MCL in Spring ball then got a nasty stinger as a senior. The stinger caused him to go to an orthopedic guy a decade later. That’s saying nothing about the ice baths on Friday nights. I can’t imagine the wear and tear on a body after a decade in the NFL. 

 

Oh, and soccer was my favorite sport as a parent. Basketball is everyone screaming at the refs, baseball and weightlifting will kill you with boredom, and football was the fear of injury for the QB who was the offense on almost every play. The soccer parents were very close and some became great friends. 

 

 

.

Edited April 29 by Augie

[Augie]

  On 4/29/2025 at 8:47 PM, US Egg said:

When I played organized football we didn’t have any concussions. Just got our bell rung.

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That explains a lot.

 

Do you still hear the ringing? That might be important.   

[947]

I'm an advocate of starting them young so they can learn tackling/blocking technique & how to absorb contact properly long before they'll ever face guys who actually hit hard. Having coached multiple seasons of every grade of football up until HS, there really aren't many injuries at the youth levels. When they're 6/7/8 yrs old they really can't move fast enough to hurt each other, they can barely keep their heads up with the weight of the helmet, all you see are maybe wrist or ankle injuries. It isn't really until 7th/8th grade when you get the early puberty kids who can be dangerous. Even then, most youth orgs have weight limits for playing anywhere other than OL/DL.

 

If a kid doesn't start playing tackle until HS, he's at a big disadvantage compared to the kids who've been playing for years. HS coaching at the freshman level is a joke in the majority of HS programs. It's usually 2-3 coaches with limited experience for 40-50 kids, there's no way kids can properly learn tackling & taking hits in a couple weeks before games start. I've seen lots of kids quit after freshman year because they weren't ready for the level contact or started playing scared- due to the limited coaching they received. If you go into HS with that experience already, you'll be ready for success.

 

 

[US Egg]

  On 4/29/2025 at 9:16 PM, Augie said:

That explains a lot.

 

Do you still hear the ringing? That might be important.   

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Explain what? 🤪

 

Kinda unreal you ask that. Going tomorrow for it. Been on meds for it for awhile. Vitamin B and Lamotrigine. Sometimes it’s unreal.

Edited April 29 by US Egg

[RobbRiddick]

I would but there are certain teams I will refuse to let draft him.

[Augie]

  On 4/29/2025 at 9:22 PM, US Egg said:

Explain what? 🤪

 

Kinda eerie you ask. Going tomorrow for it. Been on meds for it. Sometimes it’s unreal.

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Well, I guess I’d better not suggest anything else. 

  On 4/29/2025 at 9:25 PM, RobbRiddick said:

I would but there are certain teams I will refuse to let draft him.

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That happened to me in Little League with a crazy coach! My father wouldn’t stand up for me, so I quit football.

 

I signed up for baseball, and I’ll be damned if the same guy didn’t coach there too, and he drafted me again. I was not super special, I think he just liked to torment me. 😂 

 

EDIT: Not every kid needs a grown man to get in his face and scream at him and thump him on his earhole as a 5th grader. Please just tell me what you want. Wouldn’t that be easier? 

 

.

Edited April 29 by Augie

[MJS]

Why do you want to know?

[MJS]

  On 4/29/2025 at 1:48 PM, Low Positive said:

My son could have played any sport he wanted to play but he had to express the interest. He tried baseball and quit because of all the yelling. He played youth club soccer and then played in high school. He got at least 5 concussions playing soccer as well as a pretty serious knee injury. My daughter, who was a HS keeper, got multiple concussions and broke her hand twice and arm once. 

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The rates of concussions in girls soccer is alarming. They have by far the highest rates outside of football. My sister played in high school and got three really bad concussions that she still has negative affects from today, 10 years later. I played soccer but never had any concussions that I know of.