Could Junior Seau’s Suicide Eventually Affect Highland Park Football Program?
I have a son who, at age 3, is already showing more athletic ability than I ever had. (It’s a good thing he looks exactly like me; otherwise, I’d doubt his parentage.) He’s projected to grow much taller than his dad, who topped out at 5-foot-8. But as far as I’m concerned, he will never play football.
I reached this conclusion long before the suicide of Junior Seau, which influenced the sudden retirement of Jacob Bell. In my humble opinion, the threat of concussions far outweighs the benefits of playing football, especially because those benefits can be achieved through baseball, basketball, or any other sports that don’t routinely involve head-on-head collisions. On this matter, I follow the lead of my brother from another mother, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon.
But with the Highland Park Scots’ spring football game coming up Tuesday, it got me wondering if any Park Cities parents feel the same way I do. After all, this is a community where some families supposedly redshirt their kindergartners, so they’ll be bigger than their peers in high school. Could a 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound boy go to Highland Park and not play football? Would he (and his parents) be pressured to take one for the team? Are there boys like that walking the halls of the high school now? Comments are on.
That’s silly. Why not just go ahead and make it non-contact football; or better yet, we could have them just play a football video game. Oh, wait, then they might get carpal tunnel syndrome…
My son has had three concussions before he turned 16. Two were non sports accidents and one was wrestling and that one was, by far, the most serious because it was a secondary impact concussion, meaning he got two severe blows to the head within days of each other.It’s not just football but you certainly see a lot of them in football players. We know several kids who’ve had concussions, and I’ve heard many parents say that they and their child can’t wait to get back on the field or court. Until it really his home (no pun intended) I’m not sure folks here are going to prevent their kids from playing on a potential state championship winning team. BTW, Dr. Kazi Majeed at Children’s Medical City Dallas is an excellent pediatric neurologist.
My kid plays football, and, yes, it does scare me sometimes. I do know that he is provided with top level equipment to protect his head, and he is trained on how NOT to hit someone to protect himself. I also know that I have to be proactive in protecting my own kid. I know coaches will put a kid back in after an injury (happened to my brother). My kid knows the symptoms of a concussion, and, if he has a blow to the head, he knows to stay out–pressure from others be damned.
Having said that, I think it is naive to believe that it happends only in football. I know a kid who had a single concussion from SOCCER, and it has had long lasting effects. I, too, want to shield my kids from something catastrophic, but I also know I can’t protect them from everything. I do everything in my power that I can to protect them, but I have to let them live. Do you plan on letting your kid drive a car? I would think the statistics on teen driving are pretty scary, too. When your kid is out for the first time driving at night, I can assure you there will be prayers for their return, and you will pray every other time they leave as well.
Junior Seau’s death is a tragedy, but I don’t think anyone knows for sure that football concussions caused his suicide. Depression is a sneaky thing, and powerful men like Seau aren’t immune.
When these types of situations/discussions arise, I always think; What Did My Grandparents Do? And then I think, wow, we are such bigger wusses then they were about pretty much everything.
You will understand better when your kid is wanting to play baseball or basketball and there are only 3 spots on the team. Football at HP is non cut sport – everyone can suit up, work out, and ride on the bus, and get in the photo. It’s a great chance to actually be a part of something. You don’t get that chance in Baseball (no freshman team) or Basketball (they move on down the classes to get the redshirted younguns…)
And seriously I’ve seen awful collisions in basketball.
I love the comment “supposedly red-shirt their kindergartners.” Many folks are holding back their boys starting January 1 – it’s not just summer birthdays anymore – “because everyone else is doing it.” Nice herd mentality. Parents with daughters, will you allow a 20-year-old HS senior to take your sophomore daughter to prom? Let’s rethink “we’re better than you and can hold our children back without just cause.” Regarding concussions, as a former HS football player from – OMG – outside the Park Cities, yes, I am rethinking the sport. I, too, suffered three concussions from 7-12 grade. Time will tell.
i believe hell will freeze over before a potential starter is held out of football because of potential concussions
Suicide is rampant everywhere especially in HP. Just because one football player commits suicide means nothing. Now living in Hp and being a 40 something father, those rates are 10 times as high as NFLers. Should we ban that?