Football is now the game everybody’s watching and nobody’s playing — Think any-given-Sunday gladiators, or, if you’re a Boomer: Rollerball –  while soccer is the game everybody’s playing and nobody’s watching.

The son of a highly regarded high school football coach, I played the sport though middle and high school.  Truth be told, when my high school days were over, I was relieved to let go of the drudgery of that annual football obligation and turn my attention in college to my true love: lacrosse.  (Full Disclosure: I also presided over the decision to drop football at the private high school where I have worked — and also attended and played football for — for 45+ years.)

Although I obviously “get” the rationale for footbaIl’s decline, I also truly hope that the obsession, rational though it is, with the concussion issue will leave some room for some discussion about how we can retain the truly valuable lessons that football — as in, football alone — teaches. Three examples follow.

1. Beyond the obvious mano mano “I’m-going-to-run-into-you-and-you’re-going-to-run-into-me” primal courage thing — I know, completely out of fashion these days — no other sport demands as much humility due to its team-first ethos.  Second, no other sport demands as much trust due to the “do your job” mindset that every serious football player must understand and accept.  (e.g., Even if you have the best quarterback on the planet, he must sit and watch hopefully and supportively while his teammates defend the goal line.  No other team sport demands such specific demarcation of shared responsibilities.)  Third, no other sport taxes the brain to such a high extent. It’s chess with people. (On the one hand, throughout my playing days, I rarely missed a blocking or defensive assignment.  On the other, I must also confess that I never fully understood the complicated schemes behind our plays or defensive objectives.)  Suffice it to say that the completely off-the-mark “dumb jock” stereotype had to have been coined by someone who never played the game.

So, here’s to hoping that before we kick football completely to the curb, we will give at least some thought to ways that we can preserve some of its invaluable lessons.

Malcolm Gauld

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My sons will never play football, given the incidents of CTE. We won’t even let them play soccer as they see it there, too (though not to the same extent).

And, nope, I will not support Musk. My preferred electric is a Rivian.

Travis Wilson

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100%. I stopped watching a few years ago when I realized I was too wrapped up my fantasy football team and not enough in the game itself. I also find the player/ownership structure borders on the time of the plantation, at both the college and pro level. I’ve taken to watching a game or so a week lately on my pvr with the sound off and my finger on the jump ahead 30 seconds button. I can usually get through a game in about 45 minutes and yes, I do feel badly for the players so I’m not sure how much I will continue to watch. Thanks for this article, it certainly gives me plenty to consider.

Best regards,

Michael Craig

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I’m not so sure tackle football is going anywhere anytime soon. Progressive states might ban it for kids and implement stricter rules for high school. The NCAA and the NFL will figure out a way to attract young men to play…The same way the military recruits young men to serve by promising a “future”. According to this article, they’re already recruiting the same demographic.

There’s just too much money involved. NCAA’s NIL is at its infancy stage. And the NFL will increase rookie contracts and health benefits to do whatever it takes to attract the players. Tackle football’s Talking Heads will point out that men’s rugby has a higher rate of concussion and women’s hockey is not that far behind men’s tackle football. And then they’ll come up with more PSA’s to show how well they are mitigating CTE. As long as they can keep making progress, people will tune in.

Duff Rice

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Football is an American Sport, uniquely able to keep poorer, more desperate people of the world at bay.

Boxing has few Americans prominent in the sport, foreign desire, desperation and a means to escape something worse than even the poor in the US pushed Americans out.

Baseball is increasing multiculturalism from some of the poorest parts of the hemisphere.

Football has no poorer competition than poor Americans in poor states looking for a way out. It will fall, but will take a while.

Sean Tighe

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Are you against kids and older playing soccer?  Lots of concern about that too.

Good luck on convincing parents from preventing their kids from playing either.

Richard Rosenberg

(Note: That was the point of the article, parents who are not letting their kids play tackle football. Also, because of CTE, I’m down with banning heading in soccer.)

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Soccer, the largest sport on the globe, suffers from the same CTE issues…both men’s and woman’s. It’s an another unaddressed elephant in the room.

Appreciate you.

Tom Gribbin

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The termination of football, boxing, cage fighting and gas powered cars may have expiration dates, but not in our lifetimes nor our kids.

And there are opportunities to grow football outside the US.  Remember when basketball was dominated by US players?  The last 5 years league’s MVP award went to foreign born players, as was this year’s number one overall draft pick.  The best baseball player today, perhaps ever, is from Japan.

And as for the world’s favorite sport, soccer, it is also prone to CTE.

And the same parents wanting to protect their kids from participating in contact sports are also likely the most willing to line them up for dangerous medical treatments, so there’s that.

Ed Kelly

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I’ve been worried about the demise of football ever since I read an article predicting the end of the NFL by the year 2000 all the way back in a 1976 Phila Daily News piece.

So I started reading per your suggestion. But I stopped when an expert suggested who you voted for president could lead to your son getting brain damage.

The reverse may mean that the other half children may become overweight couch potatoes after their sex change operations.

Sorry turned me off.

Keep up the good work.

Bob Drumm

(Note: That was the exact point of the article, that conservatives let their kids play tackle football more than liberals.)

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There is nothing that can be done to a helmet to change the physics of what happens inside the skulls of players in a collision.   And as they keep getting faster and heavier, there are worse hits coming in the future than we’ve ever seen.  Tragedy waiting to happen.

Michael Alex

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I’m just a guy in (football-crazed) Texas. The Almighty Football doesn’t show many signs of slowing down here. That said, the folks in my social circle are by and large relieved when their sons hang up their cleats. Most before HS and after only two seasons of contact (all flag here before 6th grade).  As a spectator, even eliminating CTE from the equation (which you can’t), I am less and less able to watch with all the horrific injuries on a game by game basis. Training, nutrition, and body construction have increased the force (speed x mass) of the hits beyond what the human body can withstand. At this point it’s a blood sport.  I’m not good with people getting maimed and/or dying for my entertainment.

Tim Wood

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Glad you’re calling attention to this.

Like yourself, I no longer watch football, and Super Bowl is less “watching” than passively letting the tsunami of content wash over.

Sean Murphy

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Re:  “the changing face of America’s favorite sport”

There’s a big assumption in your take on the eventual end of tackle football, and it’s that sports fans won’t have the stomach to watch people enact sanctioned violence against each other for our entertainment.

I don’t see any evidence for that position. NFL football is breaking viewership records and is 4-5x more popular than the NBA, the next most popular sport (check out the ratings when they face off head-to-head if you don’t believe me).

And here’s what a nationally representative survey of American sports fans found (2023 Kantar Sports MONITOR, April, among 5,000 self-identified sports fans ages 12+;):

Which describes your preference better?

22% agree:  I tend to avoid watching sports in which athletes are at risk of injury

78% agree:  I do not mind watching sports in which athletes are in risk of injury

80% of sports fans agree, “Concussions and brain injuries are an inescapable part of playing professional football”

45% agree, “Rule changes to protect players from head injuries/concussions make the game less exciting”

I don’t know why anyone would bet against the American public’s appetite for violence — especially when they can rationalize it away with, “They knew the risks they were getting into — and are paid handsomely for it.”

Ryan McConnell

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I’m glad you think tackle football will come to an end.

I don’t watch football because of the injury risk. But I love the game, and I always say if the NFL (or the NCAA) were a flag football league, I’d be its biggest supporter. The strategy and athleticism involved in football are wonderful, but it’s NOT worth the long-term consequences.

My primary sport is baseball, mainly because the concussion risk is much lower. Yes, players get hurt all the time, but unless it’s a freak accident, major brain trauma isn’t generally a concern. I also love that sometimes the injury is a hangnail and, to quote George Carlin, when it rains, we don’t go out to play!

Cheers,

Amy Mantis

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Great post. And spot on.

A few additional points:

The availability of insurance is a driver of this issue. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/06/insurance-costs-youth-sports-football-prohibit-playing-coach-poverty-column/2772939002/ I wonder how many high school programs can afford the policy premiums to cover the sport. I wonder how many schools are fielding teams without any insurance. The insurance companies know the truth: the game is dangerous. And they won’t insure it without getting big money, if they will insure it at all.

Do not look to our national media platforms to educate the public on this issue. CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, ESPN and Amazon Prime are all making too much money to bite the hand that feeds them. An occasional story, yes. (Thank you, 60 Minutes.)  A public health campaign warning of the risks of the game, never. The networks will cry dry tears and take the billions in advertising money.

Paul V. Nunes
Rochester, NY

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I’ve been saying it for years: modern helmets and pads ruined the game. Football is all about mass and gravity now – as opposed to speed, strength, and agility.

Take away the helmets and pads, and the players will be smaller, faster, and more creative – and players will stop using their heads as a weapon.

I won’t go back to American football until the helmets and pads are gone. Until then I am very much enjoying MLS as my favorite sports distraction.

Best regards,

Michael Hardy

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Gotta love the WaPo commentator: an associate professor of sociology from Skidmore.

Sounds more like the Babylon Bee!

Participation trophies all around here!

LOL

jimed

(Note: And there you have it, if it’s uttered by an elite college professor it must be wrong.)

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Hey Bob.

I gave up on NFL ages ago too. Only thing left that pisses me off about football  is that it pushes back the start of CBS’s 60 minutes on Sunday night on the East coast.

First world problems…

Rob Braide

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I won’t, I didn’t, never watch violence as entertainment. Violent people start out stupid and get more so.

But then I’m not a dog person either.

Lou Judson

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I’m a liberal – I get it – but I love football.

Beth Black

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Ten years ago, a research study of athletes training for the Olympics asked them “If you could use something that would guarantee you a Gold medal in the Olympics but it would kill you in 5 years, would you use it?” Almost 50% said yes.

The combination of glory and money is a powerful seducer.

John Parikhal

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I love the NYT but I think they are in the ivory tower on this one. My son attends the priciest private school in our city and football is booming there and the other private schools. Sure some parents hold their kids out but the kids of a whole lot of upper middle class and above families many of whom are democrats or independents are playing. Just the observations of one guy “on the ground.”

That said we didn’t let our older son play until middle school (a long way from when I started when I was 6) and he lost that 1st year to Covid so he just played his 3rd year and loves it. My younger son is 9 and is playing flag which the local youth tackle league started offering. The flag league fills up with waiting lists every season. They license NFL team names and jerseys.

Craig Davis

(Note: Anecdotal evidence, interesting, but irrelevant to the study/facts in the article.)

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Unfortunately, the gambling industry and the remnants of network TV have too much invested in pro football.  Colleges make too much money in it, let alone the NFL owners cabal.

The working man has too much invested in his Sundays.  And the poor black kids need a vehicle out of the hood.  And the QB lottery is worth playing for the select few because the money is blindingly huge.

My problem is that the athletes today are far less educated than the generation I grew up with – guys that actually were Student/Athletes – and as a result, with the stakes so high,  play calling is by committee so the heroics that could truly inspire us are now scripted by the statisticians and the coordinators.  And stupidity is rampant.  And there’s a ridiculously high percentage of players with felony problems.  I remember when Fran Tarkenton was on the Giants and intentionally ran plays into the baseball infield hashmarks in Yankee Stadium so he could scratch out the next play in the dirt.  He was a role model.

Jonathan Gross

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Great piece. Just wanted to note that the C.T.E. issue extends beyond American football, notably with the sport that most of the world classifies as “football”:

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-heading-brain-injuries-db83f3b292ee255326b6efdf01d8f9e8

And it doesn’t end there:

Young Amateur Athletes at Risk of CTE, BU Study Finds

Darrin Keene

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People don’t want to be told what to do by government, Bob.

J.E.

(Nowhere in the article is this referenced. This is knee-jerk conservatism.)

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i really appreciate when you write about things like this, and share articles. i always click the links when you share something.

soccer has a growing cte problem as well.  kids heading a ball that is as hard as a rock can cause issues.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37403989/#:~:text=Rule%20changes%20in%20heading%20duels,in%20(retired)%20soccer%20players.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/soccer-cte-safety-1.6845197

and of course hockey has had this issue for as long as football…except in hockey, due to the league commissioner being a lawyer, they are in a state of denial.

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/19/1170802375/nhl-hockey-cte-brain-disease

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/henri-richard-cte-1.6876247

both of my kids take tae kwon do, and are on the way to a black belt.  yet they have never sparred or had any contact to their heads.  this was my choice and one that was wholly endorsed by the club they attend.  i think the more parents find out about cte and brain injuries, the more they will not allow their kids to play these sports.  i read that ny times article when it came out and it broke my heart.

thanks again.

keep up the great work.

happy holidays,

derek sumisu

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Football is a gladiator sport, someone always dies, albeit not immediately.  Common sense makes it hard to ignore.  Have you ever been knocked out?  Once was enough for me.

The problem is the sport is weaponized, helmets provide the illusion of safety but it is also a constant point of contact.  It’s happeing with soccer players who are heading balls constantly and with force.

Solution, take the helmets and pads all away.  You are less likely to head butt someone without one.  What does this look like as a sport then??  Exactly like Aussie Rules Football.  The coolest game of all.  No protective gear just a knee/elbow brace or two.  Hardly any significant injuries; passing, catching, running and kicking all at the same time.  Exciting and aLOT safer than USFootball.

Tesla, hands down best technology platform, but a friend gave me a spin in his new Porsche EV, the middles sized one and it was mindblowing the handling does rings around the Tesla, but second tier tech.  Your choice.

John Brodey

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I recently leased a Genesis GV60, and I’d recommend it to anyone—with a few caveats—who is in the market for a full EV. I drove the competing Teslas, Hyundais, Fords, Cadillacs, and Kias, and didn’t like any of them nearly as well as the Genesis. I wouldn’t have bought a Tesla at this point under any circumstances—my symbolic if meaningless vote against Elon Musk in the economic marketplace.

The GV60 is beautiful. It is fast. It is comfortable. As you know, Genesis uses an 800 volt charging architecture, making it more advanced than Tesla, at least in terms of charging times where it is twice as fast, if you can find a 350kW charger. It is stuffed full of the driver-assist kinds of technology that will yield safer-than-human self-driving cars somewhere down the road. The tech is such that the learning curve is steep, and the factory-provided manual is useless. (Why don’t foreign companies hire fluent English speakers to translate their manuals?). But user forums, and YouTube come to the rescue.

The major downside is of course the charging network. The nascent and unreliable Electrify America charging network, owned by Volkswagen North America, has forced Hyundai and other non-Tesla manufacturers, to give buyers three free years of charging at their trough. Sadly, as the WSJ points out, finding operational chargers is a hit and miss proposition. One assumes the fault-haunted network will improve in 2024. In 2025, I expect the charging networks to agree to the Tesla standard, whereupon the range/charging anxiety will dissipate.

In the meantime, Genesis could do more. There are three trim levels. The lowest delivers the best range at 300+ miles. That’s because it sits on 19” wheels and has only a single motor, meaning the car is rear-wheel drive. It’s silly not to offer a top-trim version of the RWD long-range crossover. The top two trim levels currently employ two motors and 21” wheels, killing about a third of the lower model’s range by going AWD.

I mention the trim level disparity in range because when you reviewed the GV60, they of course provided you with the top trim version, and this is a long-winded way of saying the range issue is resolvable by anyone will to spend less on the car. The charging issue, not so much.

Jon Sinton

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Hi Bob. I’m the lead writer of the Washington Post project on youth football participation that you wrote about in today’s newsletter. I also wrote two of the four geographical dispatches (Abilene, Tex. and Dayton, Ohio) that make up the rest of the project and that explore various aspects of the participation trendlines. (Two brilliant colleagues wrote the ones from Starkville, Miss. and Sacramento.)

Just wanted to say thanks for the shout-out. As it happens, I’m also a subscriber of your newsletter and a musician/songwriter who typically reads you to get insight into the music biz, perhaps the only industry more confounding than journalism.

Anyway, happy holidays and all that jazz. And thanks again for the kind words about our project.

Dave Sheinin