# Could the brain injury risk kill American football at the high school level? (and thus the game)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-brain-injury-risk-kill-american-football-at-the-high-school-level-and-thus-the-game/711693>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 3, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-brain-injury-risk-kill-american-football-at-the-high-school-level-and-thus-the-game/711693 "2015-02-03T12:18:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-brain-injury-risk-kill-american-football-at-the-high-school-level-and-thus-the-game/711693/101 "2015-02-10T17:34:58Z")

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At my school, their precious football field could only be used for football and. …oddly…at lunchtime and activity periods, students would use the field for soccer or football. Tackle unless the teachers caught us and forced us to play touch.

At all other times the soccer team had to use the football practice field. Baseball of course had their own crappy field. No fences, field I’ll-kept. If the weather was bad, both the soccer and baseball teams used the shitty basketball court kept in the main building. We weren’t allowed to use the Field House basketball court.

Sometimes the soccer team used the glass strewn asphalt parking lot of the adjoining middle school. Playing keeper in a glass covered parking lot? Good times.

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-brain-injury-risk-kill-american-football-at-the-high-school-level-and-thus-the-game/711693/102 "2015-02-10T17:41:16Z")

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> [@Urbanredneck](#):
>
> And then their is the teacher/student interaction. Coach/teachers will respond to their players differently. Sometimes they give them a break, sometimes not. But never will they flunk a star player and if say 2 kids get into a fight where they both face suspension - you can bet who’s side that teacher is going to take.
> 
> You can also spot coach/teachers too. They tend to dress less professionally or often just wear their coaches gear or sweats.

Many schools will automatically give star players the minimum grade to stay on the team, even if they don’t turn in the work. :mad: Mine certainly did, and AFAIK still does.

And don’t get me started on the teenage megajocks who claim to be Christians. :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-brain-injury-risk-kill-american-football-at-the-high-school-level-and-thus-the-game/711693/103 "2015-02-11T05:43:21Z")

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> [@Dale\_Sams](#):
>
> They LET the marching band practice on the field? When I was in school, we had to practice on the asphalt parking lot. There’s no way they would let us touch their precious football field.

That was the old days of grass fields. Too much traffic and it kills the grass and it turns to mud. Now with the new artificial turf fields they can take alot more abuse. Plus they require no mowing or other maintenance and the lines are pre-painted on so they always look good.

As for cost I remember one coaching tellig me it cost $1 million but it was expected to last for 20 years.

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