The true toll that playing football takes on the brain has come into focus over the last several years. We’ve reached a point where even the NFL is saying that playing can cause irreparable brain damage (Tell the truth! Tell the truth!), so it’s clear that America will need to reckon with the dangers of its favorite pastime. Perhaps surprisingly, a new survey from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell found an overwhelming majority of Americans don’t think that children should play tackle football.
The survey, comprised of 1,000 Americans, found that 79% don’t believe children under the age of 14 should participate in the sport. That number increases to 91% for children under the age of 10. While women are more likely to oppose children playing tackle football than men — 84% oppose it before the age of 14 and 94% oppose it for children 10 and under — men are also largely anti. 72% of men are against tackle football before the age of 14 and 88% don’t want kids tackling before 10.
Of course, changes at the youth level won’t spell the end of the NFL. Kids could theoretically start later and still go on to play professionally as adults. However, the survey went on to find that 87% of Americans think that brain trauma and the resulting condition of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a serious public health issue. That number’s likely to grow as more and more athletes and scholars speak out on the condition.
It’s fair to say there are some pretty huge questions left on the table.
