President Barack Obama’s comments about how football may be too dangerous has started debates about whether football is safe not only for professional and college players but also for the country’s youth players.
In Texas, a state that is a football hotbed, many have been engaging in this debate.
Damien Butler, the coach of several North Texas youth football teams, said he agrees with Obama’s comments in part because “too many youth programs do not focus enough on safety” and suggest parents do their research before letting their kids play in a football league.
Baylor sports medicine specialist Robert Berry also said has wondered whether letting kids play football is worth the risk.
My oldest son had a concussion got to witness that firsthand,” Berry, who was an NFL physician and had two sons who played the sport, said. “It certainly makes you step back and wonder if it’s worth the risk.”
In an interview with the left-leaning New Republic that was published this weekend, Obama said: “I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.”
He suggested changes would be coming to the NFL to reduce some of the sport’s “violence.”
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