IL state law would ban tackle fb for pre-12yr olds...

[TIMMY]

4th :naughty: I had to look up analogous. Very big word for Timmy. After finding out what it means your point is spot on.
Football teaches many great things. Teamwork, hard work, sportsmanship on and on. But they can all be taught without thumping a nine year old in the head 500 times. Flag first.

 

[fourthandshort]

4th :naughty: I had to look up analogous. Very big word for Timmy. After finding out what it means your point is spot on.
Football teaches many great things. Teamwork, hard work, sportsmanship on and on. But they can all be taught without thumping a nine year old in the head 500 times. Flag first.

i'm more proud that I spelled it right.

the thing about not letting kids play tackle football until a certain age is that unlike baseball, tennis, soccer, basketball, etc ... football largely requires gross motor skills, not fine motor skills. So starting tackle football later in life truly has very little impact on kids ability to catch up for those that don't pick it up until 13 or 14 even. Flag football will help develop nearly all of the fine motor skills needed to be good at the game.

To me, the only downside to starting later is learning to hit and be hit, that will require some catching up. But the tradeoff is a no brainer ... bad pun fully intended ... I like the idea of delaying tackle football until a certain age .. if scientists can agree on 12, then fine. This still gives them 2-3 years to prepare for HS football .. that's enough if everyone plays by similar rules.

 

[bb fan]

I think this is purely a parental decision. If enough parents don't want it, that community will not have youth football.

Our state legislature must make some real decisions for a change. They do this crap to avoid the hard stuff that they just keep kicking down the road.

 

[bird bud 5]

Guess the point I'm wondering about is does this really belong under GOVERNMENT legislation??

Not opposed one bit about the safety of our youngsters. Heck yes we should be concerned!! Combined with Illinois politics, or really, politics in general...it tastes bad and leaves me suspicious.

Kinda like the after midnight Avanti's I had out by the airport a couple yrs ago.

Agreed!

I am totally in favor of keeping kids safe, but government legislation seems to always be ineffective, as well as costly. Hopefully there is a better avenue to achieve this, other than through the state legislature.

 

[TIMMY]

tobacco
alcohol
movie ratings
driving age
seat belts
age of consent
vaccinations
mandated reporter
premises liability
product safety
not perfect but I'd say effective and cheap compared to the alternative.

By the way, it's unfortunate but I don't think there's a snowballs chance in hell that this will pass. But I sure do commend Tregg Duerson and his family for working to protect kids brains. At least it's increased discussion.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

I am not a fan of youth football. I don't think kids that age are physically developed enough to be playing this sport. But that is not my biggest objection. This is only from my personal observations over the years but the coaching at the youth level varies wildly. Some good coaching but quite a few "Dad" coaches who may or may not know how to coach the safest techniques. I will freely admit I am not up date with current standards for coaching youth football, if there are any standards. What I saw on the sideline years ago was a great deal of Adult coaches with little if anything in the way of solid training living our their own past glories through young kids. I hope it is better today but my guess is that it is probably not much better. Most of the studies I have seen detail former NFL players who have played the game for a very long time at obviously very high levels. The article Timmy posted details the study of 4 teenage brains and is the first thing I have read directed at the vast majority of young men that play the sport. I see nothing to be gained from youth football by exposing young kids, for me this means pre-HIgh School, to the physical traumas of this sport. When I went out for the High School football team in the late 60's all the starters for the Freshman team ended up being those players that had played Pop Warner Football. By the time we hit our Junior year every single one of the former Pop Warner players were no longer playing the game. A very small sample but just my own experience.
My boys never played American football, they played soccer. Their preference and I did not try to influence them either way. One played in College and the other through High School and travel leagues. They both suffered concussions and numerous other injuries. I understand the desire to protect young athletes and make sports as safe as possible. Still participation in just about any sport involves the acceptance of some level of risk of injury.
I have heard several former NFL players state that if they knew the potential injuries they could suffer from playing the game when they were young they would not have played the game. I am certain they are sincere now in their later years however if you took them back to their teenage years when we all felt we were indestructable...well I am not so certain their decision would have been the same. Therein lies the need for competent adult supervision, coaching and parental involvement. Yes sometimes some parents are part of the problem and then our esteemed politicians get involved (god help us all).
I love the game and I hope it survives. The game has had many changes over the years to increase safety. You can't clothesline any more. Crack back blocks are illegal. The targeting rule I am not against at all. I would just like to see it enforced more equitably. We will see how the game continues to evolve.
Make it as safe as possible however it is at the core an extremely violent game and injuries, sometimes significant injuries, will always be apart of it. I heard one former NFL player on a talk show state they if the NFL wanted to end head injuries they could do so tomorrow. Just outlaw the facemasks on the helmets. His take was nobody would be leading with their head any longer. Interesting comment but obviously not going to happen.

 

[TIMMY]

Taking away facemasks would be a huge help. And I'd go with smaller softer shoulder pads.
Years ago I saw Pete Carroll at a clinic and he talked about how the Seahawks were taking the head out of tacking. The Seahawks came out with a series of video's soon after. They call it hawk tackling, but it's a rugby style of tackling. After hearing Pete and watching the videos and the brilliance of what they were doing I was all in. We never tackled in pads after that. In fact we didn't wear shoes either. We did all of our drills inside on the cheerleaders mats. And we would go live. And there was plenty of contact. We not only got better we drastically cut down on injuries. Any coaches out there? If you're not aware of this you damn well should be. Casual fans may also enjoy this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1etzT-Cgho

 

[isuquinndog]

Guys, no politics. Talk about if you like the law or not or what it might mean to football in the future. No politics.

 

[MadBird]

Guys, no politics. Talk about if you like the law or not or what it might mean to football in the future. No politics.

Thanks for trying Quinn. I'll stick my two cents in and say someone having a handle of "GOP_Redbird" may not be the best way to start a non-political conversation. Any more than HillaryBird or ObamaBird. It's a free country obviously . . . .

 

[isuquinndog]

It is a free country, but it's not a free board. Those rights don't extend here. If I wanted to censor this to the point of being all liberal or all conservative, I can do that. I paid for it, I own it. Just like I can't come to your house and say what I want.

This isn't a public sidewalk. It's a private forum.

So again, please keep politics out of it.

 

[dpdoughbird06]

It is a free country, but it's not a free board. Those rights don't extend here. If I wanted to censor this to the point of being all liberal or all conservative, I can do that. I paid for it, I own it. Just like I can't come to your house and say what I want.

This isn't a public sidewalk. It's a private forum.

So again, please keep politics out of it.

I used to be the Koch Brothers or George Soros of RBF, funneling money into Quinn's coffers and keeping his servers spinning, but then Quinn passed Forum Finance Reform and eliminated advertising.

Maybe Hulka will get back in the game and launch a competing forum that restores an openness to influence from special interests...

 

[isuquinndog]

It is a free country, but it's not a free board. Those rights don't extend here. If I wanted to censor this to the point of being all liberal or all conservative, I can do that. I paid for it, I own it. Just like I can't come to your house and say what I want.

This isn't a public sidewalk. It's a private forum.

So again, please keep politics out of it.

I used to be the Koch Brothers or George Soros of RBF, funneling money into Quinn's coffers and keeping his servers spinning, but then Quinn passed Forum Finance Reform and eliminated advertising.

Maybe Hulka will get back in the game and launch a competing forum that restores an openness to influence from special interests...

Ha. I just need to find time with a 10 month old to figure it out. Every time I get the laptop out and he's around, he tries to rip it off my lap so that's a no go.

 

[redbirddad10]

Since others have decided to make this a political post...
Who do you think writes the laws that allow people to sue in Court?
By the way, elections and majority vote are called "Democracy". You got something better?
Hope our State moves on to the other issues once we have a Governor who doesn't believe, like our President, that he was elected Emperor.
Let's see who gets reelected? Madigans constituents are perfectly happy with him.
By the way, if you've been to Chicago lately its doing just fine. All the Crime hysterics non-withstanding. Wonder where you all where in the late 80's and early 90's when the death totals were 2x what they are now??? Anyway, visit Chicago and then tell me how horrible it is. Its the best Ive ever seen in my 35 years of visiting it regularly. A lot better than cities downstate I drive thru. Blo No the only exception.
Those leaving the states for Southern States are called retirees.
Maybe rather than obsessing over who Chicagoans elect you should look at your own representatives? Doesn't seem like they have done you much good.
Suburbanites, just be glad your living near Chicago. Otherwise, you'd be looking for a job in WISC or IN.. Go check those states out. You obviously haven't. I have. Lower taxes= lower wages and no jobs worth having. All the young people leaving and if your lucky Walmart and Amazon are hiring.
Time posters stop presuming everyone on here is of your political persuasion and stick to the subjects at hand.
Once again Government is forced to get involved to get people to do the right thing. Watch the Frontline episode, the NFL owners wouldn't allow personal medical information released to help diagnose a dying player during the strike! The NFL owners have no credibility on this issue.
My real point is people who love football best realize the sport is one tragic injury away from being sued out of existence. Not because government will destroy it but because Insurance companies will refuse to underwrite football. Then no High School, College or Professional Football. No one will be able to afford fielding a football team. If real efforts are made to mitigate the risk and the risk to children is lessened it may survive. Do nothing and complain about "government" and "Madigan" and watch what happens. No one under 12yrs old is below 6th grade, not the big a deal. If Coaches did the right thing, we wouldn't be where were at.