Corey St. John

On August 20^th, 1920 a man founded a sport in North America where men could showcase their talent and athleticism. To this day, men strive to be in that league known

now as the National Football League. Kids love the game for several reasons and parents love putting their children in pop warner leagues worldwide for them. It’s a fact that Kids who play football at an early age gain confidence and a sense of responsibility, and even get great grades when playing the competitive sport. If kids take football seriously it can lead them into future successes, sets guidelines to live by, and shows them how to be accountable for themselves and others.

Throughout the years, football has had a bad rap, that being from all the injuries that come along with the game. There have been plenty of football players who have come and gone from serious health complications. Some of those injuries are: concussions, bone injuries, torn ligaments, mental issues, and identity crisis. Nowadays technology has advanced so much those injuries are being eliminated from the game.

Mental issues and other negatives protective technology advancing

Football is a very dangerous sport where you must protect yourself at all times. There are two dead players that took their lives. Justin Strzelczyk killed himself after playing nine whole seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Justin suffered from an injury called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at the age of 36. You gain

that injury from too many blows to the head and playing his position (offensive tackle) requires constant head hitting. And recently  Aaron Hernandez (Tight End) also murdered himself. Scientist studied his brain and said his brain was so bad it resembled an old man’s brain. All that is changing now. The NFL has made a protocol to concussions to where you must have to take several tests after you have symptoms of a concussion. Helmets are being advanced to a high level with materials that absorb harsh blows. Back in the day, players were playing with no padding and when they switched to padding in the helmet, the players helmets were just pieces of Styrofoam.

Protective technology advancing

The helmets that all football players use from the NFL to Pop Warner are Riddell, Schutt and with new and improved brands coming out such as Vicis and Xenith. Concussions and injuries have dropped significantly from the creations and deigns of these helmets and the changing of rules. With head injuries happening in the peoples past, it is known that there are things that will linger with their mental state of mind and stay around for a long time in their lives. Having head injuries can affect how you perform in the class room, and socially affect you as a person. In the classroom it can have you forgetting things easily or even have headaches that can affect your performance with grades. Socially, it can make you anti-social or even act differently towards friends and family. But the newer generation of kids should not have to face all the negatives that the past players faced.

Positives that kids can get from football

Off the football field, the sport teaches kids about life, setting goals for their lives, and  it even sets friendships they will keep for the rest of their lives. Building all these things in a young person’s life is crucial at this stage of their life. At This stage, when they are young, it will set them for the future and will mold them into the persons they need to be. There have been plenty of great football players who played this sport and who have had great impact on other people’s lives, whether it is through donations or even community service.

When kids are young, they look up to some of their favorite players and strive to be like them so one day they can give back to the community they came from. Football has a great impact on a child’s life that he or she couldn’t get anywhere else.

Football is great and even though there are a lot of negatives, the negatives do not outweigh the positives. If we, as a whole, step back and see how far the league has came, its founder would be proud. I strongly believe that parents should let their kids play football in their adolescent years because the sport is truly a blessing in today’s society.