A Boston University study released last week provides scientific data to suggest what many parents across the nation have grown to believe, that youth football is too dangerous. The findings show that NFL players who began playing football before the age of 12 express more cognitive difficulties than colleagues who began playing football later. Studies like this one have contributed to a national stigma attributed to the visibly violent though increasingly popular sport, leaving parents uncertain as to how they feel about their children participating.
The study, conducted by Dr. Robter Stern, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery, examined the cognitive abilities of 42 ex-NFL players between the ages of 40 and 69. Bifurcating the groups at age 12, Stern evaluated the players learning, memory, IQ, reasoning, and planning abilities.
The results show that players who began playing football before age 12 did “significantly worse” in several cognitive areas. In addition to memory impairment, those players were found more likely to have a lower estimated verbal IQ, lower reasoning ability, lower problem-solving ability, and lower decision-making ability. While showing significant implications on what effect youth tackle football programs may have on cognitive ability in later life, some critics have pointed out important flaws.
Dr. Julian Bailes, chairman of the medical advisory committee for Pop Warner football, pointed out to ESPN’s Outside the Lines some of the flaws inherent in the study. First, he noted that the study sample of 42 NFL players is simply too small to draw any meaningful conclusions from it. Bailes also criticized the lack of information on the players’ number of concussions and cumulative exposure. Bailes doesn’t believe the age of first exposure to tackle football is as important, suggesting “what probably happened is lots of them get no concussions in youth, but three in high school, five in college and 10 in the NFL.” As Dr. Bailes points out, the study only addresses the cognitive impairment of youth football players who made it to the NFL level, questioning the studies applicability to the wide majority of youth football players who do not.
The study may not directly represent the increased risk of playing tackle football at a young age to the average kid, but it does add to the concerns many parents have expressed lately, which is how old, if at all, is old enough for tackle football?
Identifying brain trauma in youth sports as “a growing public health concern,” Dr. Stern’s study directly contradicts previous theories that claim the greater plasticity of the adolescent brain allows it to recover better from trauma. Stern writes that further evidence is necessary to determine just how well an adolescent’s brain recovers from injury, especially considering the recent attention youth football has been receiving. Dr. Cantu, a neurosurgeon at Boston University, is not surprised by the results. He believes young brains are more vulnerable to trauma because they lack coating on their nerve fibers and many connectivity networks are still developing. Cantu’s belief draws support from this recent study as well as the traumatic injuries that seem to only plague high school football players.
The latest football season has been tragic and alarming not just for the NFL and it’s many domestic abuse issues. High school football teams across the nation were stunned in October when 3 football players died in the span of one week. The third football player to lose his life, Tom Cutinella, collapsed after colliding with an opponent, suffering a serious head injury. He was rushed to a local hospital, and could not be saved. The incident was eerily similar to an incident occurring just one year prior where Damon Janes also died after suffering several hits to the head during a high school football game. Janes’ parents, sharing in the growing concern over the safety of football, have brought a lawsuit against all of the parties involved: the schools, the emergency responders, and the state athletic association.
Dean Janes and Penny Gilbert, Damon’s parents, say they “don’t want to take away football,” they “want to make it safer. [They] don’t want Damon to be just a statistic.” The lawsuit looks to change the way football is played across the nation at the youth and high school levels. The lawsuit essentially tires to hold responsible the schools and the state athletic association for not making the game safe enough. They claim the equipment was inadequate, there was no safety policy, concussion education for parents and coaches didn’t exist, and there were no trainers at the game. Additionally the complaint argues that the rosters were too small, requiring players to play both defense and offense, and that the teams were mismatched, pitting a team with small players against a team with big players. These novel claims raise interesting questions into the way high school football is run. No high school football leagues across the nation classify teams based on size or weight, but, the lawsuit suggests, perhaps they should.
The recent deaths to high school football players are staggering on their own, however, when compared to professional, semi-professional, and collegiate football-related deaths, the statistics are very telling. Eight high school football players died in 2013 and another five died in 2014, yet no players in any other age range have died in the past two years. High school players suffer three times as many catastrophic injuries according to a 2007 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. The catastrophic injury center estimated a death rate of 0.19 per 100,000 football players at all levels in 2013 and 0.73 per 100,00 playing at the high school level.
The ramifications of these heinous statistics and this recent youth football study manifest in confusion for parents as to whether they should allow their children to play football. According to a Bloomberg Politics poll, though the NFL’s ratings and merchandising thrive, 50% of Americans don’t want their sons to play football. Accordingly, youth football participation has dropped significantly. From 2010-2012, Pop Warner saw a 9.5% decline in football participation. Taking note of the hysteria, and fearing for its future viability, the NFL has joined the fight to solve these injury issues and make football a sport safe for kids to play.
With protecting the kids who play football at the orefront, many suggestsions have been offered to change the way the game is played. Some changes include removing the 3-point stance, implementing safety procedure and protocol, requiring medical presence, and disallowing tackle football until high school or later. The NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell vowed six years ago to launch an extensive lobbying campaign and pass laws in every state protecting kids suffering head injuries in sports after Washington passed the first such bill in 2009. Washington acted after Zackery Lystedt, a middle school student, almost lost his life in 2006 when he returned to the football game too soon after sustaining a concussion and suffered a brain hemorrhage. The law, acting as amodel for similar laws in the other 50 states, includes requirements in several key areas: education for coaches on concussion symptoms, removal of players suspected to have concussions, written clearance for their return to the game, and concussion information provided to and signed by parents and players. However, an Associated Press analysis of these laws suggests the other states’ laws are inadequate as many of them are missing some of the key principles included in the Washington law. NFL senior vice president of health and safety policy Jeff Miller stated that the first concern was to get something in place. The laws can always be amended and made better, but the first concern was to get laws enacted.
With the NFL, Pop Warner, and Congress trying to tackle the problem, local legislatures are also getting involved. Two weeks ago, the New York City Council held a hearing on bills written to require doctors at all games and trainers at all practices. Considerations like this and improving helmet technology would require a substantial amount of money to be implemented, however, the costs may be crippling to smaller programs. Regardless of implementation or feasibility, the conversation about the dangers of youth football has begun and the statistical data is beginning to pour in. With new legislation and private litigation, the dedicated and passionate national fan base of American Football has begun to act to protect its young and future players, hopefully securing its pastime from collapse.