Bronx Lawmaker Trying To Ban Pop Warner Football From New York
NYDN – Pop Warner football would get blitzed out of New York if a Bronx lawmaker gets his way. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto has introduced legislation to prohibit children younger than 11 from playing organized tackle football anywhere in the state. It apparently is the first such proposal in the nation. “I want to protect the children,” Benedetto, a Democrat, told the Daily News on Friday. “I want them to get an appreciation of the game but I also don’t want them to come out of this wonderful sport in a damaged condition.” Benedetto quietly introduced the legislation this week amid a growing national concern about the lasting health effects of concussions and other head injuries in sports. In a recent book, Dr. Robert Cantu, a Boston neurosurgeon, urged kids under 14 to avoid football.
I just flat out don’t think kids are getting concussions from Pop Warner football. Except for the 2 kids in this video. Those kids left practice and went home and died. And even if they are getting concussions on a regular basis, I just don’t care. Kids fall off their bikes and smash their heads. They get pegged in the head with dodgeballs. They play Kill the Cow at recess. They do WWF wrestling in the backyard. Playing Pop Warner football in full pads is probably one of the safest things kids are doing. They aren’t 6’5 300 pounds and they aren’t running like 50 mph. I want that Sports Science loser on Sportscenter to do some tests on how much force these kids can even exert when they hit each other.
99% of kids will stop playing football in high school and their brains will be fine. The other 1% will go on to play college and pro football where they will make enough money or fuck enough chicks to justify 10-12 concussions taking 15-20 years off their lives. It seems like the situation just polices itself if you ask me.