# Is Football Too Dangerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 7, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-too-dangerous/822597 "2018-10-07T04:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-too-dangerous/822597/81 "2018-10-22T17:45:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > …I think that analogy is way too off. Football is a multi-billion dollar industry, many thousands of athletes aspire to it, the ones who get onto a coveted NFL roster spot may earn millions of dollars, every NFL player is a legal adult, every NFL player willingly signs that contract, and knows full well what the sport entails. > I am totally in favor of making football safer, but it is simply far off from underage victims getting abused against their will, not knowing what they were in for, not doing so with huge monetary gain or fame on their minds or in their future prospects, and not having voluntarily vied to join the Catholic ranks or signed up for altar-boy duty. Except that it’s not just the NFL. Children start playing organized ball very early, and most of the “experts” say to not start before 10 yo. Assuming that everyone heeds this advice (and I’ve seen peewee players as young as 6) that’s 12 years of tackle football before they reach pro age. The average pro career is 3 - 6 years, so these kids actually play twice as long as the pros, and only a small percentage of players actually make it to the NFL (or any pro org). The NFL has the worst pension program of any professional sport. An average check of $43k/yr that doesn’t kick in until 55 even tho most players retire before 35, and is based on years played. So your financial incentive is greatly diminished. The NFL promoted youth football while actively denying the dangers of the sport for decades and continues to downplay the dangers even in the face of mounting evidence that the sport takes a great toll on the body, mind and spirit of the players. That pretty much destroys any informed consent arguments. The medical attention the players receive, while playing, is considered by some to be top notch, but is really only geared toward short term goals - how to keep them on the field. Long term concerns, and off the field problems such as mental health and non-play related injuries are not usually covered. Once the player is off the field the medical attention is drastically reduced, with notable exceptions of joint replacements and access to assisted living facilities (after national retirement age). These exceptions are notable because the players union had to fight long and hard against the league to get them, and the NFL was none to happy to provide these benefits and still tries to weasel out from under them. So, you have a sport where children start early, promoted by a professional organization that has a long and notorious history of downplaying the dangers and choosing profit over health concerns, those health concerns are accumulated over years of play, with a financial incentive that is greatly over exaggerated. I believe it is too dangerous. And I say this as someone who loves the sport. I started playing at 11yo and played thru high school. I still watch and am an avid fan (go Bears!) But I have to say, I think the trade off is too large and would support a significant change, or even stopping it all together. mc [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-too-dangerous/822597.md?page=4)