NFL and Congress should mandate that contact football starts in the 7th grade.

1910:
1910-10-31 football safety.png


1932:
1932 football safety.png
 
irish_buffalo said:
Many problems solved by doing so.

Kids, who are not yet mature enough hitting each other is no good. Also, kids mature at different rates and I have seen countless kids who have dropped football because of that very fact. Many of these kids grow to become big mature kids. Many of the little 'studs' do not.

Play flag through 6th grade. Work on throwing, catching, running, moving your feet, etc...Heck, give em helmets for 6th grade so they can get used to it for the next year.

This also solves the majority of coaches at the 3rd through 6th grade teams giving their one big stud 38 pitch tosses a game.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the Feds or NFL know how to raise our children better than we do, the whole Hillary Dillary it takes a village to raise a child nonsense. Simple if you don't want your child to play pee wee tackle don't, keep the Feds and NFL out of it.
 
WOW....
Hey lets call it how to make your kid a ____...
First off... The NFL does support and funds Flag Football in their play 60 initiative...
Second...Parents need to parent...Do not look for the government or NFL to tell you how to raise your offspring...
If you do not believe in contact sports....Do not put your kid in them... but keep in mind the sport has more safety built in than it has ever been...

In life the strong to survive and are more successful while generally end up ruling over those that may be a little more sheltered...
 
Last edited:
Once again why should large government (liberals) mandate actions some want. Real simple - if you want your kid to play tackle football than should be allowed. If you don’t....... Don’t let them play, but stay out of other people’s wants and pursuit of happiness. I once had a principal tell me he knew what was best for kids and their families - and he was on his third marriage.....
 
This thread is priceless!! Doesn't the NFL sponsor flag football leagues? And why would an entity like the NFL need to legislate this? What business is it of theirs? We can have points on both sides, it really comes down to a personal decision by the parents, what a novel concept. I've coached many sports and many levels, including youth football. You can simply see who should play and who should maybe wait a year or two. And unlike baseball or basketball, the "catch-up" for football isn't near the same. As mentioned earlier, there are some very successful football programs in Ohio that don't start contact football until 7th grade and it works for them.
One thing I do think you have to consider, especially today, is if you don't have a youth football program, what are your kids doing and going to do? Many kids get into soccer at a young age and never leave it, which is fine but if you're in a smaller school district, you're not going to be very successful at either sport. Also be aware that in today's environment, if a key kid or two decides to "specialize" in one sport, it will likely not be football because the other sports have already got to them.
 
Red14 said:
This thread is priceless!! Doesn't the NFL sponsor flag football leagues? And why would an entity like the NFL need to legislate this? What business is it of theirs? We can have points on both sides, it really comes down to a personal decision by the parents, what a novel concept. I've coached many sports and many levels, including youth football. You can simply see who should play and who should maybe wait a year or two. And unlike baseball or basketball, the "catch-up" for football isn't near the same. As mentioned earlier, there are some very successful football programs in Ohio that don't start contact football until 7th grade and it works for them.
One thing I do think you have to consider, especially today, is if you don't have a youth football program, what are your kids doing and going to do? Many kids get into soccer at a young age and never leave it, which is fine but if you're in a smaller school district, you're not going to be very successful at either sport. Also be aware that in today's environment, if a key kid or two decides to "specialize" in one sport, it will likely not be football because the other sports have already got to them.
Click to expand...
The programs I speak dont have ANY sort of football before 7th grade other than kids playing on their own.

There is a short camp for 6th graders at the end of the summer but other than that.....no organized football at all until 7th grade.


FB isnt nearly as muscle memory as hoops, hockey and baseball where the skill set from position to position is very, very similar so when a kid grows into his position most of the skills translate over
 
thavoice said:
The programs I speak dont have ANY sort of football before 7th grade other than kids playing on their own.

There is a short camp for 6th graders at the end of the summer but other than that.....no organized football at all until 7th grade.


FB isnt nearly as muscle memory as hoops, hockey and baseball where the skill set from position to position is very, very similar so when a kid grows into his position most of the skills translate over
Click to expand...
Not disagreeing at all, one of my points though is that if you don't introduce football early enough in some areas, kids may get locked into another sport, like soccer. Especially at smaller schools. Also with travel sports, you may get a kid who becomes "all in" on baseball or basketball before they are even introduced to football.
 
Red14 said:
Not disagreeing at all, one of my points though is that if you don't introduce football early enough in some areas, kids may get locked into another sport, like soccer. Especially at smaller schools. Also with travel sports, you may get a kid who becomes "all in" on baseball or basketball before they are even introduced to football.
Click to expand...
We have found that kids by the 7th grade are chomping at the bit to play football as they had been doing hoops/baseball/soccer for a number of years and got burned out on them. There have been years that 75-80% of the 7th grade boys go out for FB.
 
thavoice said:
We have found that kids by the 7th grade are chomping at the bit to play football as they had been doing hoops/baseball/soccer for a number of years and got burned out on them. There have been years that 75-80% of the 7th grade boys go out for FB.
Click to expand...
Can be true, but there are other variables. I say the same thing with biddy wrestling. We have 20 kids out per class when they are 4,5 and 6 years old, then by high school you have 1-2 kids per class, 6 kids on the entire team.
 
while i agree with the main point i don’t want the government or nfl having anything to do with my grandsons pee see football program. i think too many kids get hurt at a young age and it pushes them away. flag is fine- make the game fun for the kids and keep them interested. my community recently switched K-2nd grade to flag football and the numbers there have been phenomenal. i heard talks they want to move tackle to the 5th/6th grade team. as far as learning the fundamentals, of you want to have the high school coach come over and teach them some drills such as tracking the hip (actually useful in flag) then i have no problem with that at all. i’ve seen plenty of good athletes that played in pee wee but just simply lost interest after it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top