As I noted in another post-- wrestling is/can be just as violent as football (or more so)-- and the state tournament ALWAYS starts out with severely overmatched wrestlers getting totally dominated by the best wrestlers in their weight class-- there is no effort to prevent that--nor SHOULD there be-- nor should there be in football... The same happens in hockey-- which features more serious head injuries per participant than football.
As for how many games it takes to make players want to play the sport-- this idea that 10 regular season games is some magical Golden Rule is absurd-- it is NOT-- Ohio had teams playing only 9 regular season games in Ohio HS for DECADES-- 10 is NOT MAGIC-- in fact, some of the good teams in Ohio (St. X being one of them) have often had to resort to scheduling a virtual exhibition against a Canadian team of older players or just playing 9 games for a season-- and X STILL had well more than 125 players out for those teams (in fact, the VAST majority of the players on those teams NEVER saw the field even ONCE in a season-- so playing in games AT ALL, let alone playing in 10 regular season games was NOT the deciding factor in whether players chose to go out for the football team). Indiana or Kentucky only playing 8 or 9 regular season games and putting EVERYBODY in the playoffs has NOT caused kids top decide NOT to go out for football-- this is a completely false claim.
Never said it was the golden rule. Don't speak for me.
When a player sees 10 games on the schedule, and by week 8 they're beaten, bruised, sitting at 0-8 or 1-7, they just want those last two to come and go. Not throw in another game just for people like you. If the schedule is 9 games, the same would happen around Week 7 or 8. You can't understand that?
Whether one 1-7 team (in your estimation) would rather play two more weak opponents in the regular season than play an 8-0 team and get dominated in a playoff game is beside the point-- that ONE (alleged-- by you) team should not determine the outcomes for ALL of the other teams and players in the state who WOULD like to be in the playoffs-- and when the OHSAA gave EVERYBODY in Ohio an entry into the state playoffs in 2020, or said that teams could decline, and instead choose to go on scheduling additional regular season games-- VERY FEW TEAMS CHOSE THAT ROUTE-- most teams said "We want to be in the state playoffs"-- so that puts the lie to that claim.
I would interject, but this is one entire sentence.
So, let's piece this apart:
1. I'm not describing ONE team where the rest are counter to that argument. You're not speaking for the rest of the schools while telling me that I AM NOT.
2. Players wanted to play in the playoffs because that meant they EARNED a spot in the playoffs. Same reason they'd want to date the pretty girl in school. Not so fun when everyone gets to do it, is it?
3. The Covid season was 6 games. OF COURSE PLAYERS WANTED MORE GAMES.... even those six-games were constantly befuddled with cancellations, rescheduling, new teams, opponents, last minute changes. And also a completely lopsided schedule that Ohio's harbin system was completely ill-equipped to handle. So, a last second, ad hoc solution was just to let everyone into a quick playoff based on the fact that no one came close to playing a full schedule.
4. Very few teams, coaches, players, staffs, administrations would take the route of calling it quits when they're put on the spot to make that call. You, hopefully, get this, right? Spent months talking about 'don't quit', 'fight through the pain', etc... and then have to make the call to end things early? But schools will gladly take the team to the offseason while muttering about how they would love just 'one more game'... yeah, one more game they could possibly win. #9-#12, sure, would love another game. #16? No.
You realize that there's a difference between what people say, and what people will do, right?