Sapp reminds us of football’s dangers

Warren Sapp, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer Hall of Fame star, pledged his brain to science this week while advocating for kids to wait until high school to play tackle football. The 44-year-old delivered an uncharacteristically sobering message of his fears and worries as his memory has deteriorated since retiring from the sport in 2008. His message serves notice to local youth football programs of their duty to protect young brains and to fully inform parents of potential risks to their children.

When Sapp dies, his brain will be go to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for research on concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative disease caused by repeated blows to the head. More than 1,800 former athletes and military veterans have pledged their brains. The news is personal for Lisa McHale, who lives in Tampa and works as the director of family relations for the foundation. Her husband was Tom McHale, a former Buccaneer found dead in Wesley Chapel in 2008 and one of the first players diagnosed with CTE. Like Sapp, she pushes for an end to tackle football before high school.

Reform and education are essential for youth football. New research suggests that the age of first exposure to tackle football is an important risk factor for CTE, and it’s possible to develop the disease without ever having a concussion. Few people will ever play in the NFL, but more than a million children 13 and under nationwide are playing tackle football. It is a choice for each family to make, and parents should be fully educated by the youth leagues on the risks, known and unknown, before signing their child up.

“It comes down to teaching and training,” said Ronald Wimbush, president of the Suncoast Youth Football Conference in Pinellas County. “Education, education and more education, that, to me, is first and foremost,” said Scott Levinson, executive director of Tampa Bay Youth Football.

Leagues should look at any rule changes that could make the sport safer, from smaller fields to eliminating kick returns to banning the three-point stance. Those in authority have a personal responsibility to pursue safety and look after everyone, including those who may be blinded by gridiron glory from seeing its risks and potential long-term consequences. Parents, coaches, athletic directors and boosters all should see the Sapp announcement as another reminder of football’s dangers. Risk can never be eliminated from football or from life, but unnecessary ones should be.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Sapp reminds us of football’s dangers."