Heads in the game
The dangers of football-related concussions are indisputable and put our young at risk.
David Eagleman’s recent public TV series, “The Brain,” intricately explored what we know and, perhaps more important, what we don’t know about the squishy gray matter between our ears. Eagleman, a best-selling author and neuroscientist at the Baylor College of Medicine, described the brain as “the most complex machine in the universe” and encourages viewers “the next time you see a person moving, take a moment to marvel, not just at the beauty of the human body, but the power of the unconscious brain that is orchestrating it.”
This time of year, especially in Texas, we consciously marvel at our children in motion as they race down a football field, leap into the air to snag a pass and elude tacklers. The question is, are we looking the other way when it comes to knowing what happens to these young bodies and brains while playing a sport that requires them to ram into each other while moving at full speed, thereby exposing that complex machine to blunt-force trauma?
That’s the question the concussion-challenged NFL needs to take even more seriously than it has, given the fact that the pros set the tone for everyone else, from college and high school programs down to the peewee leagues. It may be time for the NFL to change the game as we know it — eliminating dangerous kickoffs, for example, or continuing to expand player-safety rules .
It’s the question, also, that parents need to ask themselves, even as they consider alternatives to a sport that could lead to serious damage to their children.
Of course, it’s almost sacrilegious in the Lone Star State to question a sport so wildly popular that thousands gather under Friday night lights to watch youngsters compete, to root for their school, to support their community. And yet, the facts speak dimensions for themselves. Since the start of the high school football season this fall, 11 players — the equivalent of a team — have died from direct football injuries, according to statistics compiled by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. Between 2005 and 2014, 92 high school football players died from indirect football injuries.
Football is fun to watch and, for those so inclined, fun to play, and yet those statistics suggest that it’s time for football-loving Texans to reassess the object of their affection.
Parents, coaches and trainers are increasingly aware of the dangers of repeat concussions. Those dangers may be more serious than we thought. We now know that a child who endures just one concussion can suffer from diminished cognitive ability.
It’s one thing when adults, college-age and above, willingly play football and, in the case of the NFL, get paid millions of dollars while risking debilitating injuries. NFL officials now admit that 30 percent, one in three, of all retired NFL players suffer from long-term cognitive problems due to years of head injuries. It’s quite another thing to send children as young as eight onto a football field, knowing there is a good chance they will sustain serious injury.
Sony’s soon-to-be-released film “Concussion” starring Will Smith, several recent books and volumes of recently published research questioning the logic behind youth football may be having an effect. We suspect they’re helping to create a more open climate for parents and school officials, even in Texas, to speak out about keeping our children safe.
Change happens when the big dawgs at the top take action. We’re pleased, for example, to see the NFL promoting flag football, a game that celebrates all the aspects of the game we love, minus lifelong debilitating brain and body injury.
Of course, the obvious way to prevent death and long-term brain damage is to do what a handful of school boards across the country have had the courage to do — that is, to ban the sport altogether, particularly among middle-school and younger children. That’s not likely to happen in Texas any time soon, although more and more parents worried about their youngsters’ health may bring an end to the game as we know it sooner than we think. Fortunately, there are less dangerous alternatives, whether flag football or soccer or rugby, to name a few.
We understand the allure of the game, particularly during a week when the Cougars are 10 and 0, the Texans have just won a dramatic come-from-behind victory and high school teams are caught up in the drama and excitement of state playoffs. Excitement aside, though, we want our children to be healthy, to be active, to be involved in team activities that challenge the body and the mind. We don’t want them risking injury to the most complex machine in the universe.
We now know that a child who endures just one concussion can suffer from diminished cognitive ability.