Is The Football Season Too Long?

[Kenneth Harris]

In 2016 something crazy happened. While there was a time when the rating system backfired on really good teams, as it did on the 2000 9-1 Cave Spring Knights, our current 5 week marathon of playoff football handed a 5-5 Blacksburg Bruins team an opportunity. While you would not have been blamed for expecting the Bruins to get blown out at a moment’s notice, Blacksburg went 5-0 in the second season and captured the D3 title. Even with this story of success and in this day of concussion concerns you would expect less football and instead the most successful high school kids can end up playing 45-60 varsity games before they graduate. We have teams where this may have already happened. Riverheads and Phoebus are prime examples that the potential for young men playing a ton of football exists. Riverheads will begin the 2023 season with an unheard of 5th set of seniors that might play the maximum amount of football for a four career. Why can’t the season be shortened? Typically the two teams that play for each championship game are widely considered to be the best two. The chances that another 5-5 team will have a Colton Beck and go on 5-0 even while giving up 24 points a game seems unlikely. On the surface it appears that a season shortened by 2 weeks would go a long way in keeping the young men healthier.

 

[1MoreHokie]

14-15 seems right and seems to be the standard most everywhere, although a few places do 13 games and the bar for the playoffs is just significantly raised. Most kids aren't on teams where 52-60 games is a possibility and further still most kids aren't good enough to be starting at such a young age where they're racking up that many games as starters. Oddly enough, the ones who are on good teams and/or are good enough to start that many games are the ones you'd worry about the most where CTE is concerned because they're the most likely to continue playing in college and maybe even the pros.

I think high schools have it figured out but college is going to push to 16 games for some teams (not unheard of but will now be regular for some programs) and 14-15 for even more teams and the pros are up to preseason plus 17 regular season plus the POs which gets nuts. Just look at what's happening to some of these guys now, like Tua. He wasn't even truly recovered from the first concussion before he got the second, that's so insanely dangerous.

I love the sport most of all, I do, but if the decision came to play less for the sake of these guys knowing what a toaster does when they're 45 and their brains not being studied for science after a horrible death, I'm all for it. This is a dangerous sport. It was dangerous when it was invented, so much so that the literal POTUS Teddy Roosevelt had to pull colleges aside and tell them to make it safer because too many kids were dying. Then those rules made the game relatively safer and it stayed that way for quite some time until we decided that a few curls and sneaking outside to smoke cigarettes isn't a proper workout and we started turning kids into men and men into machines with top of the line fitness, nutrition, and steroids and now you have these utter monsters who can run 20 mph at 255 lb colliding into one another and causing concussions left and right.

None of us are going to be around to see hit but hoo boy, history is not going to be kind when it comes to how we as a people treated contact sports. We've only got a slice of knowledge into how the brain works and how it's affected when rattled around in its cage, imagine what we'll know in a century. You know how nobody really jousts anymore? Imagine that but with some of these contact sports.

Also, that Cave Spring team forfeited the first six games for using an illegal player, they missed the playoffs because they finished the season like 3-7.

 

[Kenneth Harris]

14-15 seems right and seems to be the standard most everywhere, although a few places do 13 games and the bar for the playoffs is just significantly raised. Most kids aren't on teams where 52-60 games is a possibility and further still most kids aren't good enough to be starting at such a young age where they're racking up that many games as starters. Oddly enough, the ones who are on good teams and/or are good enough to start that many games are the ones you'd worry about the most where CTE is concerned because they're the most likely to continue playing in college and maybe even the pros.

I think high schools have it figured out but college is going to push to 16 games for some teams (not unheard of but will now be regular for some programs) and 14-15 for even more teams and the pros are up to preseason plus 17 regular season plus the POs which gets nuts. Just look at what's happening to some of these guys now, like Tua. He wasn't even truly recovered from the first concussion before he got the second, that's so insanely dangerous.

I love the sport most of all, I do, but if the decision came to play less for the sake of these guys knowing what a toaster does when they're 45 and their brains not being studied for science after a horrible death, I'm all for it. This is a dangerous sport. It was dangerous when it was invented, so much so that the literal POTUS Teddy Roosevelt had to pull colleges aside and tell them to make it safer because too many kids were dying. Then those rules made the game relatively safer and it stayed that way for quite some time until we decided that a few curls and sneaking outside to smoke cigarettes isn't a proper workout and we started turning kids into men and men into machines with top of the line fitness, nutrition, and steroids and now you have these utter monsters who can run 20 mph at 255 lb colliding into one another and causing concussions left and right.

None of us are going to be around to see hit but hoo boy, history is not going to be kind when it comes to how we as a people treated contact sports. We've only got a slice of knowledge into how the brain works and how it's affected when rattled around in its cage, imagine what we'll know in a century. You know how nobody really jousts anymore? Imagine that but with some of these contact sports.

Also, that Cave Spring team forfeited the first six games for using an illegal player, they missed the playoffs because they finished the season like 3-7.

Great comment my friend. Thanks for letting me know about Cave Spring, I still feel bad for them. I have come to the conclusion after traveling around covering different high schools at different levels that the players who fall into that tiny number that will make it to the top also run the highest risk. Which does not have to be. I have talked to players, off the record, that have 20 years in playing football before they were 28. If even a subpar player plays as early as allowed without stopping until high school graduation he will have no less than 13 seasons of football under his belt during his prime development as a human being. This train is not going to stop and the potential for NIL earnings is just nuclear fuel for the furnace. I just find it odd that as we have learned that the brain is in real danger more football is being played. I started playing when I was 10 in 1975. My oldest brother started when he was 9. He died at 48. I suffered a brain injury due to concussion on the Phoebus field when I was 15. 1 or 2 people responded as I lay on the field. I could barely function. The treatment? There was no treatment. I saw a doctor that had nothing for me. A slap on the back from coach and right back in the next week. It was my last season. That was 1980. It is 2023 and Tua. I believe he is in trouble and he is not alone. I love the sport but I believe even average player are playing too much. Football between the ages of 5-14 should be a crime, similar to felony assault. 5-14 year olds playing football takes humanity back to Sparta. No progress has been made with regards to brain injury and protections for players. I believe that if a player under the spotlight like a Tua can suffer the type of brain injury he had and still be put back in the game in the same season to suffer a second concussion then he is the tip of a massive iceberg. In order for history to judge us better we better start judging ourselves. Leaders in football get away with allowing concussed players to play by blaming the concussed player. Utter genius. Thank you for your comment.

 

[GoBlue2109]

I mostly agree with all of this. It does feel like there was a big push to keep making things safer until recently the powers at be seemed to have gotten back relaxed with trying to minimize concussion risks. The Tua situation is probably one of the worst handled concussion situations we've seen. Unfortunately with contact sports everyone knows the risk at this point, and most(including me) are ok with those risk.

When it comes to youth football my only issue is spring ball and all of these "national" and "state" tournaments. I believe most rec leagues play 8 regular season games and 3 or 4 playoffs games for a championship. 11/12 max is not too bad but the issue comes when you have these coaches and organizations pushing for nationals and states. 8 year old's shouldn't be playing 16 game seasons with some of those games being double headers or back to back days. and Then you add in another 6-10 games during a spring league and we're in very dangerous territory at that point.

Nobody wants this to eventually turn into flag or touch football but the leaders definitely have to stop being so willing to let these kids play year round football like the way it's been going. Keep the spring leagues strictly 7on7.

 

[Kenneth Harris]

I mostly agree with all of this. It does feel like there was a big push to keep making things safer until recently the powers at be seemed to have gotten back relaxed with trying to minimize concussion risks. The Tua situation is probably one of the worst handled concussion situations we've seen. Unfortunately with contact sports everyone knows the risk at this point, and most(including me) are ok with those risk.

When it comes to youth football my only issue is spring ball and all of these "national" and "state" tournaments. I believe most rec leagues play 8 regular season games and 3 or 4 playoffs games for a championship. 11/12 max is not too bad but the issue comes when you have these coaches and organizations pushing for nationals and states. 8 year old's shouldn't be playing 16 game seasons with some of those games being double headers or back to back days. and Then you add in another 6-10 games during a spring league and we're in very dangerous territory at that point.

Nobody wants this to eventually turn into flag or touch football but the leaders definitely have to stop being so willing to let these kids play year round football like the way it's been going. Keep the spring leagues strictly 7on7.

Excellent comments

 

[17Bluebird]

I just thought of a good idea. If you play football you can play either offense or defense but not both ways. That way you can get some rest. That would hurt the small schools like Graham and Riverhead though so im not sure what the solution is.

 

[Kenneth Harris]

I just thought of a good idea. If you play football you can play either offense or defense but not both ways. That way you can get some rest. That would hurt the small schools like Graham and Riverhead though so im not sure what the solution is.

I believe that is an absolute great idea. Anything is better than what caused me to post this question in the first place. The NFL world, unfortunately, witnessed firsthand why I posted that question on our top class message board; the elite players are playing too much football and they are all in increasing levels of danger. While I focused our discussion in the brain, it is the brain that controls the body. If you were to review the career of Ronald Curry from 28-25 years ago that dude rarely left the field in 3 years of winning titles. Less games. No more two-way playing. Limits to the amount of special teams play. No more youth football between the ages of 5-14. Anything is worth the maximum potential of good health and safety of the football player. I don’t believe in big government but self-regulation is a known disaster waiting to happen. Great comment.

 

[17Bluebird]

How about this if your in middle school you cannot practice or play with the varsity j v or freshman teams. If you want to play varsity football you have to be a sophomore junior or a senior. If you are a freshman you cannot play or practice with the varsity football team.

 

[Kenneth Harris]

How about this if your in middle school you cannot practice or play with the varsity j v or freshman teams. If you want to play varsity football you have to be a sophomore junior or a senior. If you are a freshman you cannot play or practice with the varsity football team.

I think your ideas are great. The problem I found with football is that there are parents willing to take gifts just to get their kid the perception of a better opportunity at very young ages. Explaining the slim chance of any one high school kid making the NFL playing football doesn’t move parents to decreasing football practice and play time. Parents are stuck on that dream until they realize that their kids are not part of the 0.001856% of high school kids that will make it. And so we have 5 years knocking heads. There needs to be a decrease in the number of seasons and games per season. In the 1970’s multiple games per day was called a jamboree. 50 years later if any kids are still playing multiple games per day or more games per season starting at younger ages that is equal to regression and detrimental to their health. Micro tears in any part of the youthful body that is not given any downtime for healing will give one day. If the micro tear gives at the wrong moment the consequences are not worth the amount of Pop Warner or high school football played.

 

[BleedingNavy]

@Kenneth Harris this is a really thought provoking thread and so far a very enjoyable read. Based on my love of numbers and everyone's opinions I watched most of four Dinwiddie games played against one of our opponents and it's best player who started both ways all four years. He also played on kickoff return and punt return teams. I realize this is a small sample, but it's very factual and relevant to this thread. The player in question is still active in college and plays high profile team. His HS team played an average of 12 games a season for four years (48 games). To the best of my knowledge this player missed one game during his high school career (47 games).

I used three categories to determine the actual hits delivered or taken by this player during each game. They include 1. collisions: tackles/tackled 2. Rams: Blocks/being blocked and 3. Incidental: pass break ups, bumps after incompletions, ect.....

I was shocked by the total number of physical contacts this young man faced in just four games. I cannot imagine the toll all of these hits have taken on his body much less his head. In all honesty, I cannot say whether this young man ever suffered from a concussion. I do know he also played AAU ball in the spring.

Here are the four game results:

Game 1: 32 collisions, 14 Rams, 5 incidentals, total= 51 contacts

Game 2: 28 collisions, 16 Rams, 3 incidentals, total = 47 contacts

Game 3: 37 collisions, 12 Rams, 6 incidentals, total =54 contacts

Game 4: 24 collisions, 11 Rams, 7 incidentals, total = 42 contacts

Four game total: 121 collisions, 53 Rams, 21 incidentals total = 194, Average contacts per game = 48

Final thought: @1MoreHokie has been on top of the concussion topic for several years and although he initially rubbed some of us old heads wrong I think we have all come to realize our kids safety supercedes the game. Thank you @1MoreHokie for opening this old man's eyes. I don't know what the answer is, but you guys have come up with some great ideas. I played football from age 6 to 18 and suffered at least 2 concussions that I know of. I know I had my "bell rung" (lol) a few other times in my life, so this topic surely hits home and scares the heck out of me. I don't know how many hits I took in 12 years of playing organized football, but I can't imagine it was nearly as close as the player noted above. Tonight I will hit my knees and pray for this young man, because he just might make it to the next level.

I told @DinwiddieProud recently sometimes I hurt so bad I question whether playing sports was worth it? The body says no, but my mind and heart still say yes.

 

[Kenneth Harris]

@Kenneth Harris this is a really thought provoking thread and so far a very enjoyable read. Based on my love of numbers and everyone's opinions I watched most of four Dinwiddie games played against one of our opponents and it's best player who started both ways all four years. He also played on kickoff return and punt return teams. I realize this is a small sample, but it's very factual and relevant to this thread. The player in question is still active in college and plays high profile team. His HS team played an average of 12 games a season for four years (48 games). To the best of my knowledge this player missed one game during his high school career (47 games).

I used three categories to determine the actual hits delivered or taken by this player during each game. They include 1. collisions: tackles/tackled 2. Rams: Blocks/being blocked and 3. Incidental: pass break ups, bumps after incompletions, ect.....

I was shocked by the total number of physical contacts this young man faced in just four games. I cannot imagine the toll all of these hits have taken on his body much less his head. In all honesty, I cannot say whether this young man ever suffered from a concussion. I do know he also played AAU ball in the spring.

Here are the four game results:

Game 1: 32 collisions, 14 Rams, 5 incidentals, total= 51 contacts

Game 2: 28 collisions, 16 Rams, 3 incidentals, total = 47 contacts

Game 3: 37 collisions, 12 Rams, 6 incidentals, total =54 contacts

Game 4: 24 collisions, 11 Rams, 7 incidentals, total = 42 contacts

Four game total: 121 collisions, 53 Rams, 21 incidentals total = 194, Average contacts per game = 48

Final thought: @1MoreHokie has been on top of the concussion topic for several years and although he initially rubbed some of us old heads wrong I think we have all come to realize our kids safety supercedes the game. Thank you @1MoreHokie for opening this old man's eyes. I don't know what the answer is, but you guys have come up with some great ideas. I played football from age 6 to 18 and suffered at least 2 concussions that I know of. I know I had my "bell rung" (lol) a few other times in my life, so this topic surely hits home and scares the heck out of me. I don't know how many hits I took in 12 years of playing organized football, but I can't imagine it was nearly as close as the player noted above. Tonight I will hit my knees and pray for this young man, because he just might make it to the next level.

I told @DinwiddieProud recently sometimes I hurt so bad I question whether playing sports was worth it? The body says no, but my mind and heart still say yes.

This is an excellent post. I had been meaning to bring this topic up some time ago. I first discussed it my brother when I first thought about not covering football any longer because of the injuries I was witnessing. High school football is now a business. IMG has destroyed the amateur athlete rules. The chance of making money as an amateur may lead to even more football being played. I don’t know what has to happen for serious and real change but we can take a moment and remember Darryl Stingley. Injured August 12, 1978. Thank you for your comments.

 

[BleedingNavy]

Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to see football go away. I just hope we can do a better job of protecting our athletes/kids. Again, gladiators have been around for ever, but with today's technology and materials there has got to be a better way to protect the noggin.