Improve football safety for young players

Sports columnist Nancy Armour

totally misses the mark (“NFL must act now on issue of head trauma,” Thursday).

The issue is not that the NFL must act, but that mothers and fathers whose boys play football must act, either by stopping their children from playing football or by changing the game so that their children’s brains are not knocked around in their skulls while playing a game.

The “dumb jock” football player in school is likely a function of playing a game that can affect his brain every time he tackles or is tackled.

Many of the boys who never make it to the NFL may suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. By the time one makes it to the NFL, it might be too late to prevent the damage.

Anita Heygster

Pasadena, Md. My son plays middle linebacker in high school, so the issue is very important to us. What I have not read is what are the lives of players who have CTE like in their later years? Do they suffer from dementia so bad that they are debilitated? How do the brains of players with CTE compare with athletes in other contact sports, such as mixed martial arts or hockey? We saw “Concussion,” and if the portrayal of player Mike Webster was even halfway accurate, it is a scary thought.

Lambros Balatsias

The deceased players chose the risk of injury to play the game they loved. Granted, this condition isn’t pretty. It strikes at the core of what makes a man a man: his mind. However, players today now know this risk and still choose to play. Hand-wringing is not going to change anyone’s mind about what’s at stake. Yes, some people don’t choose to live wrapped in a no-risk bubble. Accept it.

James King