Article on youth tackle football: Staci Fitzgerald, wife of NW Coach, has a 10, 13, & 14 year old playing ball
There is a solid Chicago Tribune article this afternoon dealing with youth tackle football.
LINK: How Stacy Fitzgerald — whose 3 sons play football and whose husband coaches at Northwestern — defends a game under siege [Note: I subscribe to the Trib, so I don't know whether or not this link will work.]
It is almost long form journalism, and there are quotes and conversations with many, both for and against youth football. Here is part of what Stacy Fitzgerald thinks:
Stacy tells parents who inquire about football: Come to a game.
“They’ll ask: ‘Is my son gonna get hurt? What’s it like?’ I say when they are younger, everything is low impact. That’s when you learn the proper technique,” she says. “They come out and watch it and say: ‘This really isn’t bad. They are learning and have a great time.’
“The camaraderie, being a teammate … you have to work as a group of 11 to make a play run. In basketball four can spread out and one can drive. But that’s the biggest seller — it really isn’t what they’re seeing on TV.”
Prawdzik [fellow football parent] says six players on Brendan’s team [Pat & Stacy Fitzgerald's 10 year old son] have suffered injuries — three from bike accidents, two from hockey and one from football.
This was our personal experience as well. Our 18 year old son, currently about 5'11" and 160 pounds, realized mid-high school that he just wasn't fast enough or big enough, which contributed to hanging up his cleats. But he absolutely loved youth football. Many of his closest friends played together on the same team for about 6 years.
Every parent has to make their own decision on what is best. But I definitely fall in the camp of believing that youth football does not have grave danger for kids. Here's a quip that I can verify from personal observation:
On a gray September morning, Stacy sits alongside a football dad named Chris Prawdzik. Her youngest son, Brendan, is playing fullback and defensive end for a featherweight team.
Kids this age look more like lollipops in their helmets as they bop around the field. Compared with the college and pro football you’re accustomed to seeing, the tackling appears to be in slow motion. And the whistle blows almost as soon as there’s contact.
I figured this was better content than yet another hand wringing post asking about QB play or coaching or why the offense isn't working.
October 9th, 2019 at 10:32 PM ^
Every sport is dangerous...
October 9th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
Vlad, you are ONE REMARKABLE ATHLETE.
I watched you serve that volleyball at least 30 times and you hit that reporter consistently---and with great velocity---each and every time, in the back of the head.
Great form, too, all the while wearing your suit and tie.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:08 AM ^
Doesn’t he score like 9 goals every time he steps on the ice, then go horseback racing bare chested?
Legendary athlete.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:18 AM ^
The golf match between Putin and Kim Jong-Un featured 13 holes in one. They must both be descendants of the Nephilim - warriors of old, men of great renown...
October 10th, 2019 at 10:15 AM ^
Little known fact about that golf match is that Shea was out on the course getting his 18 holes in before practice.
October 10th, 2019 at 4:52 AM ^
#VPK5H
... Allegedly.
October 9th, 2019 at 10:53 PM ^
We saw the worst of it at our high school. A few years after I graduated, we had a player die from an injury suffered in a game. It was on a kickoff before all the rule changes and why I support eliminating it from the game.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:05 PM ^
That's absolutely awful.
I would agree with you that kickoffs shouldn't have a place in the game.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
Where/when was this?
October 10th, 2019 at 8:45 PM ^
It was in 2001 at a little school about 30 minutes north of Columbus. I didn’t realize it was that long ago until you asked and I had to think about it. If I remember correctly, the kid lowered his head and went low. The returner’s knee hit him square on the crown of his helmet. He was awake and aware when he went to the hospital, but they had to put him in a coma and he died about a week later. It was truly awful. I can’t imagine what his family went through.
I think every high school should require football players to attend a safe tackling session given by their coaches or some association, if it’s not already being done. I would say players are more educated now than ever, but I still see a lot of the younger players putting their heads down to make a hit.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:03 PM ^
Get some of America's children into rugby and they'll learn safe tackling. Plus the Eagles national team might have a pulse someday!
October 10th, 2019 at 3:24 PM ^
Except rugby has all sorts of issues with concussions and spinal injuries.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:14 PM ^
I think it's fine for parents to help their kids come to a decision about what sports to play. I remember playing pee wee football until I got kicked in the head hard enough on a tackle I had a headache and figured it wasn't for me. Other people, it feels right and they go play as long as they can.
But there are real dangers to football. Same with other sports like volleyball, soccer, etc. You can get hurt, and you have to be aware of the limits. Even "good technique" cannot wholly mitigate the dangers associated with one human running into another at a decent clip. It's just physics and biology at work. So as long as that's understood. But what I assume we'll see is as more and more of the lingering issues with football become more prevalent, it'll either change substantially or become more niche.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:15 AM ^
I don't think its broken bones or sprained knees that parents are most worried about these days when deciding to let their kids play football or not, but instead its worry about potential brain damage to their childrens brains. Studies have shown that even among 9 and 10 year olds, brain changes have been confirmed even after just one season of playing tackle football. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181129084711.htm
Personally, I don't see how any responsible parent can look at the science coming out these days, and decide that it's safe for their kids to go out there play football. I don't see why anyone would take that risk with their childrens, unless they are uninformed or don't care.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:25 AM ^
I agree. A helmet is so important in football because your head may be involved in many plays. And your head is what you need in life to finish school, make good decisions, walk, eat, breathe, etc. I understand the team building, the camaraderie, the joy in playing. But I have young children now, and I can’t see the benefits of playing football outweighing the possibility of chronic brain changes that will affect their lifetime.
i once worked with a physician who played linebacker at Utah. He is now a very prominent physician nationally and he’s quite smart. I asked him if he would allow his kids to play football knowing what we now know about CTE. He said, “yes, the benefits outweigh the risks.” I was shocked, but I respected his opinion. Maybe it was his own CTE talking.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:22 AM ^
CT, Would you let your kid drive a car? If your answer is yes, I guess your'e irresponsible or you don't care. 1 million x more dangerous. If we really want to stop all the traffic deaths let's make all cars incapable of exceeding 25mph. That simple rule would stop all traffic deaths. Not gonna happen right?
October 10th, 2019 at 6:38 AM ^
That’s a terrible analogy. Playing football is entirely voluntary. Driving, generally speaking, is a requirement to get around.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
Not at all. Lots of Americans live in cities with public transit networks that reduce, if not eliminate, the need to drive. The danger is one of the reasons I choose not to own a car.
Using uber doesn't reduce the danger but is another way that I can function without my own. It's becoming more common, but I assume you don't live in a place that facilitates this.
October 11th, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
There must be 6.5 million parents in America who are either irresponsible, or don't care about their children. Personally, I think that someone should have the ability and tact to state their opinion without shaming the other parents in the MGOBLOG community. But then again, I played tackle football from 4th-12th grade, I probably have brain damage and can hardly function.
PSA: You are also a bad parent if you allow your children to eat most food, considering some studies show that literally everything we eat can cause cancer now..
Get off of your high horse Dbag
October 10th, 2019 at 8:28 AM ^
Headaches may never be eliminated from sports. Parents should take this into account before allowing children to leave the house. Lol
October 9th, 2019 at 11:18 PM ^
Here's an interesting article on the topic.
Youth football participation rates are down. My kids' HS no longer has enough kids to field a team and it's not a small school.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:32 PM ^
Of course her kids learned the proper way to play the game. They are probably in a rich school district or private school (i didn't read the article) where the coaches have the time and resources needed.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:37 AM ^
Always a good idea to make your mind up before you read the article.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:29 AM ^
Tackling privilege strikes again. Football is in danger of becoming a game only played by the rich. #sad
October 10th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
Maize, just speaking to facts: in the Chicago area, the youth leagues all pretty much follow the same rules. Here's a link to the Bill George Youth Football League:
LINK: https://www.bgyfl.org/
Coaches are better or worse by the team. Where we lived in the Western suburbs, the coaches were basically parents of kids on the team, or friends of the parent who was the head coach. The coach stayed with his kid and the team and went up a level year by year. Our son started tackle around the 3rd grade and went up to the 8th grade. (No school teams in the local junior high.) Of course there was a fee to play, but it was nothing like travel baseball or soccer or hockey, all much more expensive, let alone Olympic Sports.
The description of lollipops, running slow, is pretty accurate. Things were pretty highly segregated by weight. Of course, huge kids could play on the line as "stripers," but I never in 6 years saw a striper who could haul ass. Any team who had a fast and elusive RB had a huge advantage: if they could make it around the end, they rarely were caught. The kids just weren't big enough, fast enough, or coordinated enough to lay a huge lick on the other team. And line play often did look like a rugby scrum.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:12 AM ^
Sounds reasonable.
Checks Leonard Fournette’s instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1sAQ-jFk44/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Yeah, that’s a hard pass for me. Thanks.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:20 AM ^
man that kid got clocked
October 10th, 2019 at 12:21 AM ^
I've suffered three concussions, two separated shoulders and a dislocated kneecap from hockey. I'm so hesitant to have my son start playing but I've benefited from the sport in so many ways.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:38 AM ^
I've suffered three concussions, 1 each from basketball, soccer, and volleyball - the latter two from getting violently mashed in the head with the ball. I broke a wrist and rib playing basketball. I dislocated my patella twice playing volleyball. I can't tell you how many severe ankle and knee sprains I've endured in my lifetime. Despite the injuries, I love team sports. For some people, team sports are engrained in their body and soul. So I can totally understand why football players continue playing football.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:47 AM ^
I coach my kid's soccer team (5-6yr olds) and all 3 of my girls play. As a first time coach, I was surprised at first when the league organizer said that we do not allow kids to perform headers. He waxed poetic on the dangers of heading a soccer ball. And you know what? I get it!!
And yet, I was still left frustrated. Playing soccer is something I have done passionately since I was 5 years old (I'm 34 now). I have sprained more ankles, tweaked more muscles and endured more groin pulls then I can count. I have run my body into the ground. I separated my shoulder last year playing indoor rec league.
And I wouldn't go back and not play for anything.
Part of me thinks that, within reason, our lives are made for living. It's okay to make these decisions for yourself. If you love the game, go out and play. Just know that there can be consequences.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
I coached youth soccer for years. All the leagues I coached in frowned on heading. I refused to teach it until they were like 13 and told my sons not to do it. There is not much need for heading prior to that point anyway. Some leagues even made touching the ball with your head a penalty. That got a little silly and confused the kids into staying away from the ball in the air. A kid would take a ball off the face unintentionally and get clocked for a penalty as they lay on the ground in pain.
I also successfully campaigned to make slide tackling illegal in U10 and under. It is a very dangerous play that most kids can't execute or use correctly but looks super cool. One kid would do it and then everyone would try it. We just made it illegal.
October 10th, 2019 at 10:14 PM ^
The only sports related concussion I ever got was from running— slipped on some wet leaves. The other concussion was from walking my dogs on an icy day. Sometimes just leaving the house is dangerous.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:13 AM ^
Nice post Stephen. This is thought-provoking and insightful; truly an outlier for this board. Well done and thanks.
October 10th, 2019 at 4:56 AM ^
Does "learning good technique" at this level include clock management? If so, maybe Pat should get in on this.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:56 AM ^
Uh, and Harbaugh.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:17 AM ^
By coincidence, this week the New York Times carried an article on a study of cumulative risk to the brain from repeated hits in football.
(I'll figure out links after the semester but in the meantime, could someone add this? Thanks.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/sports/football/football-cte-study-risk.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
October 10th, 2019 at 6:37 AM ^
i have more sons playing football than fitz does, from college down to pop warner, and i have (and still do) coached them all and from pop warner to high school and the bottom line is: i agree. beyond that, oldest brother played B10 for 4 years and i played until i was 41 yrs old and we're doing just fine even though we're getting pretty old.
2 other points. first, of course i teach proper technique and was myself taught that way back when. for the youngest players, the ones she called 'lollipops', they literally never get injured and the physics make that almost impossible - they miss practice b/c of what happened in gym class, or because they fell of their bike, or goofing around at a teammate's house, things like that.
second, so many kids are from broken homes of one fashion or another, or have only ever played video games before they start. how they improve physically, emotionally, mentally, enthusiastically, and with discipline is like no other thing in their lives. many of them won't ever have another experience for anything else that gives them the intensity and focus of what we're teaching them on a football field. i tell them all the time that football standing by itself is unimportant, but the lessons they are learning, carried over to their schooling, jobs, marriages and other things will aid them the rest of their respective lives.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
It's been a huge positive for my son. Every year I ask if he wants to play. Every year I make it plain that it's his choice. Every year he chooses to do it; because he likes it; and he has friends, and he likes the discipline of doing tasks with his buddies.
October 10th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
My son is mostly uninterested in athletics or anything that takes him away from a screen or hanging with his buddies. But, put on the gear and play football? Yes, he'll have some of that. He loves it and it challenges him in so many ways. I couldn't stop him at this point.
He's got good coaches so far (CYO league) and hasn't had any serious injuries. I'll monitor it and see where it goes ... if he has any real injuries or concussions in the future, we may rethink it, but for now, I'm just damn glad he's found something that inspires him other than fortnite. (Plus, they're 7-0 so far this year and there's a strut in his step that I like.)
October 10th, 2019 at 6:45 AM ^
I coached Hs football for almost 20 years and played college at the division 3 level, and I really believe there should be no tackling until kids are in 7th or 8th grade.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:48 AM ^
That was the same opinion given by Chris Hutchinson (former all American, physician and father of Aidan) gave on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast recently.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:33 AM ^
Didn't Fritz Crisler or some other legend object to facemasks because in lieu of broken noses and missing teeth there would be consussions, paralysis, and CTE?
Of course he couldn't have foreseen CTE, but he ended up having an interesting point.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:20 AM ^
This was JoePa's (enabler) stance. No face mask less hits to the head as guys wouldn't want broken noses and teeth and faces. He said take the face mask away and the game would be safer.
Of course his opinions on what makes a safer environment do come with a huge disclaimer...
October 10th, 2019 at 8:15 AM ^
I'm not going to read this, simply because her husband has made what, $20-30M from football? Likely more?
October 10th, 2019 at 8:33 AM ^
Exactly, her relative privilege renders her opinion worthless. She has zero victimhood capital, and I will not read her dumb thoughts.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:08 AM ^
Wait, if she was a poor mother, then people could just call her desperate that her sons excel to get a scholarship somewhere.
Of course maybe she is just trying to increase football participation so that he husband has more recruits to choose from in 10 years.
Let's look for a reason her opinion is invalid!!!!!
October 10th, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
Just so you know, the article doesn't revolve just around Stacy Fitzgerald and her kids. It definitely quotes and cites those with a very different perspective than her. One thing I found interesting: her sons all want to play, and like the "physicality" of tackle football. When asked if she considered flag football, she quipped, "you mean in addition?" We all are busy and have other stuff to read, but I represented the article incorrectly if I suggested this was just a puff piece on the opinions of Stacy Fitzgerald.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:26 AM ^
(neither a parent nor an ex-football player) The risk-benefit ratio is different for every kid. I wish that parents had more data for an informed choice. What is the risk ratio for kids who play small time high school football 99% on the bench? An every play high school lineman on both sides? After the first concussion? What about college ball without NFL? etc.
The NFL wishes to be the ostrich for liability reasons, but really the NFL should fund large prospective cohort studies--yes it could take 30 years to get results but I'm guessing football will still be around then.
October 10th, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
The best advice I can give is the same as Stacy: come on out and watch a game. The crowds are small, basically made up of parents, siblings, grandparents, and maybe a few friends or people in the football world. Without actually seeing kids on the field playing, it is hard to really grasp.
I will completely agree that the danger and risk goes way up in high school, as kids get bigger, stronger, faster, more gifted. But like all sports, that's why kids eventually drop out. My son, as I said, realized he just wasn't fast enough or big enough to see the field. He got clocked a few times. One time we went through concussion protocol and went to the hospital, but there was no concussion. And not being a lineman, the incidence of CTE was lower.
Perhaps if we did it again, with some changes, he would have made it through high school. But he would very unlikely have been a starter, so the risk was fairly low. (His sport would have been baseball, which he gave up too soon. As a natural lefty, that would have carried him through high school, and possibly beyond.)
October 10th, 2019 at 8:41 AM ^
I have always loved the "proper technique" line from football parents. We have no idea what damage is being caused with youth playing any high contact sport. When the top neurologist in the world state playing high contact sports is not good, I'll go with the neurologist, not a coaches wife.
After 13 is the age the neurologist seem to agree one can play.