To play or not to play, that is the question. And if Dash was older, this would probably be a serious argument in our house, with me coming down on the side of not playing. I’m pretty sure H would agree with me. But even if he didn’t, I would just argue the issue so loudly that he would give in just to get me to shut up. Either way, little Dash with the killer arm is not playing football. Baseball, football, lacrosse? Sure. Football? Uh-uh. Not happening.
Which leads to another discussion we’ve been having since hearing the news of Tony Dorsett’s CTE diagnosis: how much longer is the NFL going to be around?
H seems to think it’s functioning on borrowed time, and that’s coming from a diehard fan. He believes people are smart and are going to start walking away from the game, based on a multitude of factors including the felonies, the bullying, the depression. He also thinks kids will stop playing, destroying the level of competition and the quality of the game. I disagree. I don’t think the fans really care about the off-the-field issues so long as the game is good. And the kids will keep playing so long as folks need money and the potential to snag a pro contract is dangled out there.
Simply stated, I don’t think the league is going anywhere any time soon. People love their football. I’m from down south–trust me when I say, this game runs deep for folks. I’ve never understood the passion for it, but it’s out there and I don’t think it’s going away any time soon, no matter the countless DUIs, domestic violence disputes, suicides or diagnoses of CTE.
Putting it another way, H is wrong and I’m right.
Two lawyers on opposing sides of a debate? This could seriously go on forever in our house. I’m not kidding. We lawyers are verbose and righteous folk, and we hate being wrong about anything.
“They took my rings, they took my rolex, I looked at the brotha said “Damn, what’s next?” – Warren G
Madhuri Writes Things 
If he wants to play football then let him play Flag Football…there are a ton of leagues for kids down here so I’m assuming there are some flag leagues up there as well. I play flag with a lot of guys who played low level D1 NCAA football and they all have their kids in flag but won’t let them play tackle until their kids get to high school. Either way, flag is the way to go for right now…see if the kid likes it and go from there.
As for the NFL sticking around, I’m with you. I don’t think DUIs or Bullying or Domestic Violence issues have anything to do with the long-term outlook on the viability of professional football. Those issues occur in every segment of the population and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
As for suicide and CTE…the fact of the matter is the discussion and the general public’s knowledge of this is essentially in its infancy. As the media focuses more on this, as the public knows more about this, as the NFL and NCAA learn more about this, we’ll see changes. Change takes time but eventually there’ll be more safely measures implemented…rules will be further adjusted to take player safety into consideration, technology will hopefully help with safer equipment, other safety changes will come about, and the game will evolve into a more safe game on some level.
At the end of the day, though, football will always have its inherent risks…and it will be up to kids and parents to decide if they want to choose that path. The NFL won’t go anywhere. The players won’t go anywhere. Folks will still play. They’ll take that chance and hope it’s someone else who suffers.
As for Dash…flag football is the way to go if he wants to play.
I think safer equipment is precisely what led to the current state of the game. The hits are more brutal than ever because dudes feel secure under their equipment. Back when they were running around wearing leather helmets, I doubt you had the same level and/or rate of injury.
Just a theory. And my own. Not saying it’s gold.