Jarring Tackle Will Make You Think Twice About Youth Football Participation

Video of a crushing hit during a kids’ tackle football game will make parents think twice about letting their children play the game.

In the video, a young running back heads to the right side of the field. He’s tackled by another child, who comes up with the football. The running back lays on the ground motionless, and isn’t seen getting up in the clip.

The clip was posted on Twitter, first by Barstool Sports, and shared by @Football_Tweets on Monday. The tweet has over 1,900 retweets and over 3,800 likes.

Safety concerns from parents and the greater awareness of concussions has led to a decrease in children 6-12 playing tackle football. However, in April 2016, ESPN reported that data showed a slight increase in 2015, with 1.23 million children taking part in tackle football. The number of children playing flag football also went up to 1.142 million, according to a Sports & Fitness Industry Association study.

In September, researchers published an article in Nature after finding that children playing football before age 12 might still face behavioral and emotional troubles in adulthood, even if they have not suffered concussions. The study looked at adults in their 50s who played tackle football before turning 12 years old.

“You know, we parents do all kinds of things to protect our kids,” Dr. Robert Stern of Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center told WBUR in September. “We do all kinds of crazy things to make sure that they’re healthy, they don’t have injuries, that they reach their full potential. And then we drop them off at a field and put these helmets on and say, ‘Hit your head over and over again, 500, 600 times per season,’ at a time when their brains are growing and developing that most precious organ in our body.”

Photo credit: Twitter/ @Football_Tweets