Not long after he began the ground-breaking research linking football-induced head trauma and CTE, Dr. Bennet Omalu was confronted by a physician employed by the National Football League. The physician pointedly asked Omalu if he understood the implications of what he was doing.
“I’ll tell you,” the NFL employee said. “Your work suggests or is suggesting or is proving that football is a dangerous sport, and if 10 percent of mothers in this country would begin to perceive football as a dangerous sport, that is the end of football.”
There has been no such sea change to that effect. But little by little, there is an awareness and an accounting of the damage that repeated head trauma can cause. Give you an example:
A study published Wednesday by the Aspen Institute suggested that kids should play flag football only until they get to high school.
This is not an alarmist, hair-on-fire manifesto. As a matter of fact, the Aspen Institute — “a nonpartisan forum for values-based leadership and the exchange of ideas” — noted that:
“Last year, in a milestone development that flew beneath the radar of national media, flag football surpassed tackle football as the most commonly played form of the game among children ages 6 to 12, according to annual survey data by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.”
On behalf of the national media, no offense taken. Let’s continue:
“Last week, the LA84 Foundation, a major grant-maker to youth sports programs in Southern California, announced that it would no longer fund programs that offer tackle football before age 14.” In addition, according to the Aspen Institute, “Youth and high school (football) participation rates fell in 2017 for the fourth consecutive year.”
Here’s where it gets interesting. The Aspen Institute doesn’t advocate burning down the house. Rather, it advocates transforming the game while preserving its stature as a cultural touchstone in this country. To that end, the Institute made some recommendations.
The previously stated goal of making kids wait until high school to play tackle football;
Supervising children, starting at age 12, to practice the fundamentals of the game — blocking and tackling — to prepare for the transition to tackle football at age 14;
And limit non-game contact in high school and college.
The thinking being, those steps could result in just not greater safety ,but greater participation that would expose more children to reap the benefits of “values and character traits instilled in traditional sports.”
From the Aspen Institute report: “We suspect that flag football could prepare children for the world ahead no less readily than tackle football, and other sports, especially if delivered by coaches trained to work with youth.”
Meanwhile, Omalu continues his research. This week he agreed to perform the autopsy of a 47-year-old CEO of a $50 million business in Dixon. The man, Jason Hairston, never played in the NFL, though it was his dream. He did, however, play football in high school and college. Shortly before taking his own life on Sept. 4, he claimed to have “all the symptoms of CTE.”
The greatest hopes of doctors such as Omalu will never occasion the worst fears of football lovers. The game will endure. It’s not asking too much to have it evolve as well.
