In the past nine years during Commissioner Roger Goodell’s tenure, the impacts of head injuries, most notably concussions, has been brought to light. There was a lawsuit, class-action, against the NFL in which a settlement was reached. People have had myriad mental health conditions as a result of playing football for several years, growing up, in college, and/or in the pros. In recent years the NFL, NCAA, and high school and below have made strides to make the game safer. But it is not enough. To make the game truly safe, there has to be changes in the development of foorball players and technique used to tackle and block.
Let’s start with Pop Warner football, Head injuries at a very young age in a persons life can adversely affect their cognitive development in future years. This issue does not happen in high school or beyond. Therefore, we have to abolish tackle football for players who aren’t in high school, college, or the pros. Flag football is recommended for this age group.
In the three groups I just mentioned, all that needs to be done is if a player makes a helmet to helmet hit, the penalty for that should be an ejection and a subsequent two-game suspension. If the offender does that again, he should receive a season-long suspension. If that isn’t enough, a lifetime ban should be in order.
I also would recommend that players not lead with their helmets and practice rugby-style tackling. Wrap-up tackling is recommended. The quality of tackling right now is pathetic, so instead of trying to “blow someone up” and make the highlight reel, let’s begin mandating lesson be taught in training camp on the right way to take down a ball carrier. This would serve two purposes. 1, Defense will be more effective; 2, The risk of head injuries that could make life miserable later on decreases exponentially.
Let’s hope for a head-injury-free football in the future.