Although many love football, the sport is dangerous. Many players become injured at some point in the season. The most common injuries in football are a concussion or a knee injury. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, the overall injury rate in NCAA football is 8.1 injuries per 1,000 athlete exposures (games and practices combined). There were more than 41,000 injuries and 25 million athlete exposures from 2004 to 2009. In 2012 there were 261 concussions including preseason and regular season. In 2016 there were 244 concussions including preseason and regular season. It may look like the concussion rate has went down, but looking at the statistics from 2012 to 2016 they have just been fluctuating.

Josh Cribbs, an NFL player who played for the Cleveland Browns said, he is of two minds when it comes to football. Cribbs professed his unconditional love for America’s most popular team sport. But he spoke with equal emotion of how the game he loves comes with a high cost. He might not be able to live a full, healthy life because of the blows he took to the head during his 11-year professional career.

His 6-year-old son currently plays flag football in a youth league that teaches its young players proper tackling techniques. Safer tackling techniques do not eliminate Cribbs’ concerns about the effects of playing football.