Stephen Lane is the author of “Long Run to Glory,” and “No Sanctuary.”
A recent study in the British Medical Journal found that one-quarter of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had a degenerative neurological disorder: CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. For comparison, a study in the journal Brain Pathology found that the incidence of CTE among those who didn’t play any sports is roughly 3 percent.
It’s doubtful this latest study will force any kind of reckoning in the NFL: Measured by per-game viewership, the league’s popularity is greater than that of the other major American sports combined. Football, as firmly entrenched in the national cultural landscape as it is possible to be, isn’t going anywhere — at least, not anytime soon.
However, it is time to reconsider scholastic football. To the extent that schools exist to help students stretch and develop their minds, football’s elevated risk of brain trauma runs counter to that mission.
It may feel a little nanny-state-ish to cancel football; other activities carry significantly elevated risks as well — riding bicycles, for example, results in more than 1,000 fatalities and 80,000 head injuries per year. If students (or their parents) have misgivings about football, they can simply not play. If other kids do want to participate, maybe they should have that choice.
But schools don’t need to be party to it.
Yes, the argument goes, football teaches certain skills: perseverance, toughness, teamwork, grit, sacrifice. But athletes in other sports learn those same lessons, as do students in the cast of a play, or on the robotics team, or in the orchestra. Football is not a unique or special teaching tool.
It is uniquely risky. Even prior to this latest study, research already pointed to the harm football can do to athletes whose brains are still developing. The study in Brain Pathology found that even athletes who never played football beyond high school showed a markedly elevated risk of CTE.
Despite this mounting evidence, school leaders aren’t pushing to get rid of football. Schools make significant changes the way a supertanker changes direction: slowly. When schools do pivot quickly, it’s typically in response to direct pressure from their local communities — in particular, from parents. But the high school game, just like its professional cousin, occupies hallowed cultural ground in many communities — “Friday Night Lights” and all that.
The best hope for getting football out of schools is a gradual, amicable separation. A few enterprising coaches start up private club football programs, and a virtuous cycle begins: More athletes choose private football clubs, so fewer high schools can support teams, which causes more athletes to migrate to club programs.
For players and coaches, a club system would create more flexibility. Athletes could choose their club, instead of being stuck with their high school offerings; coaches could build programs with athletes from multiple towns. And athletes and coaches could choose their level: Some clubs might operate essentially as feeder programs for the pros (which, with the possible exception of UMass, is what Division 1 college football has become), while other clubs might play on a more recreational level.
The club model isn’t perfect. Some club sports — think AAU basketball — seem to suffer from an “anything goes” mentality. A sport with as much physical risk as football would require strong regulation and governance. Further, youth sports in the United States already has a pay-for-play problem, one that has created inequitable barriers to participation.
Making the club model work would require a partner with strong, top-down organization, nationwide reach, and vast resources, as well as a vested interest in promoting the sport. Enter the NFL. The league is perfectly positioned to help build a well-regulated club system; in fact, it’s already edging its way into the youth game.
A complete overhaul of club football wouldn’t be a simple task. The landscape of youth football, like that of nearly every other youth sport, is a littered patchwork of local fiefdoms, the rulers of which wouldn’t easily cede control. But if any organization has the resources and power to effect a takeover, it is the NFL.
The sport would be better off: A nationwide, NFL-run club system could offer a wider range of opportunities for players of all ages, genders, and abilities. The league prints money, and could ensure that every athlete has access to a high-quality club program, no matter their economic circumstances. The NFL would also benefit: The league could use the youth system to promote its brand to the next generation of fans.
A club-based program wouldn’t necessarily reduce the risk of CTE to its players. Football is a full-speed, full-collision sport, and can’t be made truly safe without fundamentally altering that essence. Yet despite (or perhaps because of) that risk, football retains its primeval allure. Americans aren’t ready to give up their football, and maybe they shouldn’t have to. But schools, which are supposed to protect children, are better off without it.