Is high school football getting to be too Rough? 7 on 7 could be the “Wave of the Future”

Football is too ROUGH…Football is too DANGEROUS…Football is too EXPENSIVE…We need to see some CHANGES…What is the ANSWER?????

ROUGH
DANGEROUS
EXPENSIVE
CHANGES
ANSWER(s)

What really is the wave of the FUTURE???..Rough and expensive, those are usually reasons for CHANGE, but what is the ANSWER?

Will 7 on 7 football evolve into the game of the future for high school football players and coaches?

With all of the concussions and the increase of injuries, many fans and experts of the game say it is time for change and that over the next 20-25 years we may see a move toward full-time 7 on 7 high school football with limited contact, if really any contact at all….

Will fans/people still pay to see this brand of football?

Back in the biblical days when they took the human element out of the Lion’s Den Chases, the crowds dropped off considerably….No more chance for the Lion to devour the human conquest and as soon as the challenge was taken out of the “game”, nobody wanted to see the Lion parade around the coliseum and roar, with no real final/end in sight….

For high school football, coaches that know tell me that the 7 on 7 might be the only real way to keep this game afloat….

Concussions caused by helmet problems have been the main focus of the head injuries, but broken bones and torn muscles have increased as well, as the young men playing the games get much stronger, faster and overall bigger, over the course of time….

The advent of the 7 on 7 game as the main source of high school football play would just about take the linemen out of the game one would assume….

But, as the doctors and yes, the lawyers too are telling us repeatedly, the game is too rough and something needs to be done about it….

Can we lessen the blows by telling the players not to hit so hard?

What can be done to improve the helmets and some schools are in a never-ending battle just to get new helmets each year, or have their current helmets updated or re-conditioned…..

The current story on the helmets from Wikipedia:
In 2002 Riddell released a new more spherical design for the helmet called the Revolution (or Revo) and it is currently the most widely used helmet in the National Football League The Schutt counterpart is called the DNA Pro Adult Helmet. A study released by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center shows that the Riddell Revolution, and others like it, reduce the incidences of concussion by 31%. Subsequently a Senate Commerce Committee meeting on October 19, 2011 heard testimony from Jeffrey Kutcher, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan and chair of the American Academy of Neurology’s sports neurology section that “there is no significant data” in the UPMC study for Riddell to make the claim that the helmet reduced concussions by 31%. On or about May 2013, Mary K. Engle, the FTC’s associate director for advertising practices wrote that the agency had concluded the UPMC study “did not prove that Revolution varsity football helmets reduce concussions or the risk of concussions by 31%”. Riddell has since discontinued use of the 31% claim. Later, Riddell released the Revolution Speed helmet.

Football is a very physical sport and for many years just like the reference to the biblical example of the Lion’s Den, the physical nature of football has been what has drawn people/fans/followers to this game…..

Are they putting too much emphasis on the physical nature of football? Do they need to cut back on practices, or would the players be better prepared if they increased the amount of practices??

Is the main problem with the helmets or should the experts look elsewhere….

Scientific research is in place to help reduce the number of injuries associated with the game of football and there is similar research underway to determine if the game of football should be scaled back and if one day the game should be played without pads and just with secure helmets, “T” shirts, shorts and shoes and most shoes would be flats, as the games would transition over the next 25-30 years to “Turf Field” only surfaces….

Do we see 7 on 7 football ONLY in our future, or do you see the guys continuing to hit “till the cows come home”???

7 on 7 seems safer, but is it as much fun to play and to watch as our current tackle football, with hit first and ask questions later approach/mentality???

The “BIG” man in football may become a dinosaur if we go the 7 on 7 route full-time in the future….And we are talking a future of somewhere, say 20-25, maybe 30 years down the road…The “BIG” men should have time to get small by then…..

In our time here together today we have concluded that football is:
ROUGH
DANGEROUS

and EXPENSIVE….

We have also concluded that there do need to be some CHANGES….

But, what are the ANSWERS?????

Is a new high school football life of 7 on 7 and maybe even a new direction for the colleges and the pros of 7 on 7 football, is that the ANSWER?…..

Do we need to begin now and start to cut back on the practices and reduce the physicality, or do we need to increase the number of practices so the players of today will be better prepared when they hit the practice field and then in turn, when they hit and get hit by their opponents???

What is the future for high school football?

If they cut back on the amount of hitting in high school, then how will the kids be ready when they go on to attempt to play college football???

If you look back again to the biblical days when they had the Lions and then on ahead to the Detroit Lions, there must be something to be said for the deadly nature of this game and part of it is a “test of survival”…..

We have just begun to scratch the surface on this topic and we don’t have all of the answers, we just have a nice shovel to allow the digging to get started….(Like the old coach once said, “I didn’t come here to change the world, I just came here to make sure everybody changed their socks”.)

CHANGE, but how much and how SOON???

*****And to keep this all in proper perspective, do we really need to change?*****

18 thoughts on “Is high school football getting to be too Rough? 7 on 7 could be the “Wave of the Future”

  1. There was a recent study that showed more concussions happen in girls soccer than in HS Football. Football gets all the attention because everyone watches it…it is considered a physical game and some teams have 100 plus kids on their Roster. The game is what society needs….society is so soft now a days! football coaches just need to be taught the correct ways to teach tackling.

  2. You have to be tough and you have to be smart to play football the correct way.

    If you can’t handle it stay home and play house with your mom and your sister.

    Football is the toughest sport there is but it is the most rewarding sport that there is. The other sports don’t even come close.

    My dad said if you can’t stand the heat then get out the huddle and let somebody else take over.

    Football is like being in the military. It requires men that can take orders and that can carry out orders. That is why football players turn out to be your best leaders most successful business owners.

    You look around at your top leaders today and most of them were football players at one time or another. They may have got hit in the head a few times but they know how to win when the game is one the line and when your life is on the line and you will not see them running away, I repeat, you will not see them running away.

    To take the hitting out of football or to cut back on the hitting they do in football, that is total nonsense.

  3. I never said that the football was too rough. I just said we need to take a look at the situation….

    Wonder what others are saying and thinking….

    BTW, Anyone know whatever happened to Mr. Weekend, who used to be over at ROCK 92? One of our readers was asking by E-mail today…..

    Football is a rough game and you have to be very tough to make it on all levels…Football tougher or harder than the other sports??? Not completely sold on that…..

    It you play the game the right way, all of the sports will be tough….Success does not come easy…Just ask Cam Newton….

  4. In high school I played football, basketball, baseball and run track. I was a college level D2 football player, borderline D1 basketball player and a solid D1/D2 track runner. The toughest of all those sports was track. You are on an island by yourself with no help if you are getting your butt kicked. You are always having to push yourself beyond what you did the day before or you will get worst. I pulled a hamstring once but otherwise no injuries. I quiet baseball because it was too boring. Basketball was the most fun because the action was continuous and the raw emotions from the bench to the floor and to the stands can get to a level that is unbelievable. I turned an ankle twice but nothing broken thru high school. I agree that football is all of these things when it comes to emotions, fun, rough/tough and so forth. I played wide receiver and slot on offense and tight end on defense. I never played the heavy/high impact positions of quarterback, running back, cornerback, lineman or line backer. However, I still hurt my knee for an entire year, turf toe and had what I believe were 3 unconfirmed concussions (clearly untrained doctors/trainers back in the mid 80’s). I had many friends that had broken legs, arms, fingers, and concussions from playing football. I don’t remember any of my friends or teammates have more than an ankle or finger injury in basketball. There is no doubt that football is on a different level when it comes to injuries and I have never asked my teenage son to play football. I love the game but it is not worth the injuries. My son will get all that he wants from basketball and track. My son does not need unnecessary injuries to learn how to be a leader, how to self improve or how to run a team or future business. He would be a star in football if he played but he is already a star in everything else so football is of little value other than entertainment for our family going forward.

  5. @ I could care less. There is no tight end on defense, if you’ve played football for years you would know this.”Come on Man” get your story straight.You don’t care for football,OK we get it.Football’s not for everybody.

  6. Football players have to be tough and they have to be able to hit. I was over coaching at Guilford Middle back in the old days and we taught our kids to hit before they got busted by somebody else. It you don’t want to hit and if you can’t play a rough sport get out.

    Go play soccer and basketball and baseball and track where you can get by on being soft and you don’t have to bust your butt on every play. If football you can’t take plays off. If you take a play off and stop and rest then you will get killed. Football is the toughest and the roughest sport of all and it makes me want to hit somebody up side the head when I see all of the blowhards coming out and saying we need to make football an easier and safer sport.

    If you come ready and prepared and if you are in shape you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise you are going to get hurt. And the way the game is today, you pretty much need to focus on football and train all year long if you want to be the very best.

    You are going to have to skip the other sports and train for football if you want to be the best in football. My thought is in 20-30 years from now the boys will be allowed to play on the same with the girls and the true men will still be playing football and playing for keeps with real hitting and the same thing we are seeing today.

    If you are worried about your kids getting hurt send them to a girl scout camp and if you want them to play FOOTBALL let them play FOOTBALL and be ready for some real hitting. It is like war and you must be properly trained and like I said before that takes year round training.

    If you want it come ready for it and be ready to hit and hit the first thing that moves.

    Time to get on the road and head to the gym.

    Coach Edwards-Guilford County Schools 1970’s-1980’s

  7. Andy, We have always had injuries in football. Concussions, knees, shoulders, etc have always been a part of football. The reason there are more today is due to Coaches who dont develop the total player. We have programs that dont teach kids proper weightlifting, proper tackling, coaches who dont teach both sides of the ball..etc. Football today is coached by glorified offensive coordinators who want to throw the ball all over the field. What people dont know is that smart coaches who develop defenses will play their best athletes on that side of the ball. If you try to finesse with the passing game, you get hurt against aggressive defense. Find your programs with the best coaching philosophies, and you will find less injuries.

    As far as 7 on 7 replacing modern football…All you have to do is watch the Big 12. They basically play 7 on 7 in that conference. They play no defense.

  8. Excellent point taken about the Big 12 and the 7 on 7 style of football with little or no defense and it seems to be spreading….See who can get in the most plays and they tend to win the games….Teams like N.C. State and UNC and even Duke to some degree have gone to wide open fast break offense and they still play some defense, but they want to keep that offense on the field and run as many plays as possible and that makes for a 7 on 7 style of game and the linemen just need to hold the blocks long enough for the QB to get off the quick passes….

    Good points and it becomes who can score the most points and in some cases that goes for on and off of the field….

  9. And yet the bleacher coaches still criticize Dudley for being a run and defense-oriented football team……smh

  10. Who criticizes Dudley? They run the ball and kick tail on Defense and WIN! If anything people complain about Dudley its because they somehow have more transfers coming in than any school in the area.

  11. I played football, baseball and wrestle, football is a tough sport and it is my favorite sport but I have to say wrestling is the toughest of the two. I will put my paycheck on that half off the kids that play football couldn’t handle the wrestling room and I have had some stud football players try it. No way you change modern football, players and parents no the risk all the way to the NFL. (Play at your own risk)!

  12. Wrestlers can sometimes be great football players but it doesn’t always work out the other way….

  13. To “Ross”.. Don’t get side tracked when I accidently statement tight end on defense instead of saying defensive end. This is not grammer school so a few mistakes here and there does not change the story. The facts are as stated but the reality is that I was that player. I still love to watch football but I am happy that my son currently does not care for the game of football. And yes, he would be a star in the game of football with his size, strength and dedication to the sport of the moment. He will be a college basketball player if he continues to progress as such. I can assure you that there isn’t a kid in this city that he fears on the field or court. He does not need football to prove his current or future manhood. Too many guys use/used football to work out their own personal issues. There are hundreds if not thousands of guys over the years that have had to walk away from the game but nothing to show for it other than a body not functioning correctly. I have several buddies still paying the pay for their playing days from concussions and other injuries as 45 and 50 year old men. If you don’t know any guys that fit that simple statement, then you were only a local hero that never made it to college or pros. The game can reward you with a lot but it can also take away things that money can never replace. I love the game but I don’t miss it in my house.

Comments are closed.