OH MY GOD!!! The HORROR!!!
I was just reading a newspaper article, I know right? Who knew they still made newspapers? Anyhow, there’s this movement across the country, or at the very least in Florida, where parents will not allow their children to play full contact football anymore. They blame the Junior Seau suicide.
I have a problem with this line of thinking. First and foremost, have they proven that Junior’s problems in life had any direct connection to the impact of the game of football? I understand that head injuries are super-serious business. I understand that today’s parents are sissified and try to protect their kids from every single thing there is. ”Don’t insult my child at school, that will hurt his feelings. His feelings are more important than your feelings because he’s a special little snowflake.”
It’s the continued sissification of our youth that’s going to lead to dark days in the future. Bullying is a serious thing, but if you don’t learn to DEAL with bullying, rather than running to an adult to solve your problems, how will you survive in a global economy where other countries don’t give a flying shit about how you feel at night? Do you think they care if you die tomorrow? They don’t, in case you still didn’t know the answer.
Back to youth football. Yes. Football is a dangerous sport. You know what else is dangerous? Living. Being a human being out in the world is dangerous. You can get crushed by a car tomorrow and it would ruin your weekend plans. You can get slapped in the head by a crack head in the wrong part of town. Nobody other than YOU is going to care.
Let these kids play sports. Let them experience the game. Sure, it’s a risk, but so is getting out of bed. Quit sheltering your children from anything potentially unpleasant and they’ll grow up to be the next GREAT generation.
The path we’re on now is leading to the pussified future that people are afraid of. It sucks. Pure and simple. Life is shit unless you learn to deal with shit and get past it. There’s plenty of great things going on in the world, one of them is youth football.
I coached Pop Warner football for 5 years. I taught nearly hundreds of kids how to play the game properly and safely. Did any of them get hurt? Absolutely, it’s the nature of the game. Do I honestly believe that any of them will have suicidal tendancies due to injuries sustained in a game? Nope.
See, the way I see it is that Junior had some demons in his life and they were exacerbated by his injuries…and that’s being generous. I think it’s horrible what happened to him. I wish that he didn’t do that, but I don’t blame the game he played and I don’t blame the injuries from that game either. I’m sure if he could, he would tell you the same thing. He LOVED the game. He enjoyed the impact and the hits and the brutality of it. That’s what he lived for.
Parents, if you don’t want your precious little snowflake playing the game, that’s your call. But don’t blame the game or Junior Seau for your apprehensions. That’s on you. That is YOUR call. The game in and of itself is fine. Look at the history of players that have retired from the game, long before the latest safety changes. The vast majority may deal with knee, back, etc injuries, but there have been precious few fatalities from it. And they’ll even be the first to tell you as much.
Grow up, be a smart parent not an asshole parent who feels the need to end a sport because you’re uncomfortable with it. My sons have played a combined 10 years of football between them. My 12 year old has played since he was 4, and played contact since he was 6. He’s a center, a guard, a tackle, a nosetackle and a defensive end. He’s involved in impact EVERY play and he’s perfectly fine. My 9 year old played 4 seasons worth, 2 of them in full contact ball.
He’s also fine. My youngest, 8, played flag football and 1 year of full contact. He’s fine. That’s a 100% success rate. And if one of them got hurt playing? I’d get them treatment and they’d want to go back and play injured. Not because I want them to, but because they want to. It’s something you can’t teach. They have a desire to perform and be the best they can be. THAT is the American spirit that’s so lacking in this country today.
Quit pussifying our future. Grow up and let them take a chance.
