Football Players

[john h]

Do you encourage or would you encourage you son to play football with some remote possibility that he may one day play in the NFL or at least college?

 

[Chopper0080]

Why not?

 

[oaken1]

I have....until I determined he did not have the passion for the game which is required to compete at an elite level.....then I encouraged him to focus on graduation or the daddy gravy train is gonna derail....

 

[MigratingOsprey]

I wouldn't encourage my kids to play any sport based on the remote possibility they could make a living off it

I would encourage them to be active, to try sports to see if they enjoy them, work as part of a team, develop the discipline to practice and work hard and then show them how it translates to their task (and reinforce this works for more than just sports)

If, as my kids get older, they show a high level of talent, enjoyment, work ethic for any particular sport I would encourage them to pursue it and put in the work - however, that would be balanced with other commitments as well

My kids are young though, so we have a long time - I actually would love to get my daughter involved in some youth t-ball type activity - she just turned 3 and one of the local cities this fall had a 3-5 youth league that didn't have a ton of structure, just fun .... unfortunately it turns to soccer in the spring - so we'll probably hope it's there next fall ....... she received the basic tee, bat and ball combo and just loves playing with it ..... will set the ball on the t - crush it - chase it and do it again ....... she also wants me to pitch to her or play catch ....... the other week she found a spent wrapping paper tube and had me toss a bouncy ball at her in the living room so she could hit the ball .... if she sees it on the TV she begs us to let her be part of the team .... even on her "phone" conversations she frequently is talking to the "guys on the team" about playing with them

I've pushed none of it - but she digs it .... doesn't mean I'm counting on a softball scholarship or anything or even entertaining pushing her down that path

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Do you encourage or would you encourage you son to play football with some remote possibility that he may one day play in the NFL or at least college?

Nope.

Just go play a sport. I don't care which one but sports are fantastic. A type of fun that you really can only get when you are young, and things are better organized. Not to mention when you are young, you don't have to worry about getting hurt, and it effecting your work/home life/household money flow.

 

[JeffGollin]

My oldest son (now in his early forties) said he had never forgiven his mom or me from steering him away from football (TE).

But he took a softer stance when I reminded him that, at 5' 9" and weighing about 30 lbs south of the ideal size for a TE, he was more brittle than Kevin Kolb (busted arm, broken nose, fractured skull by age 16).

What we never discussed was that one reason we didn't object to his participating in youth soccer was because the local Pop Warner football team was overrun by overly-involved parental rah rah types who were more about traveling teams and winning at all costs and less about the love for the sport. We never discussed it, but looking backward, I think it was an underlying reason for at least not encouraging Stu to try out for football.

Also in hindsight, My wife and I pretty much let our kids do their own thing, and they, by & large, found their way to soccer instead of FB on their own.

(When I was a youngster, I played youth football ( no major injuries) but was too slow to play RB or WR and, at 5-1 135 lbs, a smidge too light to play DE, so I wound up running cross country).

 

[BigRedRage]

I encourage my children to play all sports and chase all dreams.

If your questions is would you be ok with your son in the NFL, sure if he would like to be.

Why wouldnt you? its not my job to steer my kids away from their dreams. If my son chooses to be in the military he will have my full support too and that is far more dangerous.

 

[DakotaCardsFan]

My son has played several different sports, but football has been his passion since the moment he first put on a helmet. He's had success early because he's always been a very strong kid that plays with reckless abandon. The D line is where he excels (6'1"-225 HS sophomore).

Like any kid that plays youth football, he sometimes talks of what he'd like to do if he could make it to the NFL. I've always told him that anything is possible, but try and impress on him how hard guys have to work to make that happen.

He recently told me, "I don't care so much where I play college football - even DIII. I just really want to play in college." I think he's keeping it in proper perspective and is realizing that he needs to put the work in even to make a DIII roster. I think learning that lesson will help him whether he continues to play in college or not.

 

[HoodieBets]

There is research out now that suggests the fluid in the brain isnt fully there until after puberty so they are looking at the effects of pee wee football and taking hits before the brain is actually developed and how that effects a person later on in life. I dont have a son but if I did I would encourage whatever sport he wanted but would hold off on football until HS.

 

[kerouac9]

Nothing you're going to learn in Pee Wee/Pop Warner football that you can't learn in Flag Football/Passing League until you enter high school. If you have a young offensive lineman in development, better off having him wrestle.

I'm a dad of two young boys, and I was a kid who played seasonal sports. Because I was bigger in Pop Warner, I had to run every Saturday morning to cut weight to be able to play with kids my size. I wouldn't want to put my kids through that (although it was prolly healthy, blah blah blah).

The odds that any random kid is going to be a pro player are astronomical. Until they're starting varsity as a freshman or sophomore, there's no reason to push them if they're not expressing greater interest.

 

[MoeIsBetter]

Nothing you're going to learn in Pee Wee/Pop Warner football that you can't learn in Flag Football/Passing League until you enter high school. If you have a young offensive lineman in development, better off having him wrestle.

I'm a dad of two young boys, and I was a kid who played seasonal sports. Because I was bigger in Pop Warner, I had to run every Saturday morning to cut weight to be able to play with kids my size. I wouldn't want to put my kids through that (although it was prolly healthy, blah blah blah).

The odds that any random kid is going to be a pro player are astronomical. Until they're starting varsity as a freshman or sophomore, there's no reason to push them if they're not expressing greater interest.

I disagree. I played Pee Wee football, and come high school I was one of the best tacklers on my team. It was something that just came natural at that point. Other kids that had never played tackle before stuck out like a sore thumb. In fact, the only two major tackling injuries we had while I played HS Football were from kids that just started tackling in the last year or two.

 

[kerouac9]

I disagree. I played Pee Wee football, and come high school I was one of the best tacklers on my team. It was something that just came natural at that point. Other kids that had never played tackle before stuck out like a sore thumb. In fact, the only two major tackling injuries we had while I played HS Football were from kids that just started tackling in the last year or two.

Fair enough, but if you're a kid with legit NFL potential at a tackling position, you're probably too big to be playing safely with your age cohort (I was so big that I would've been playing with 6th graders when I was 4th grade or 5th grade). My brother was a good enough athlete to be starting varsity tackle as a junior having never played Pop Warner football.

It's a risk/reward thing. My other brother got two concussions playing kicker in a year of 5A varsity play. I wouldn't put my kids at that risk for an astronomical chance of being able to even play FCS college ball starting at an age where they can't weigh the risks and benefits for themselves.

As a father, for me they can learn the fundamentals of the game playing flag until their bodies are more mature to take that pounding.

 

[perivolaki]

I played football in high school and was a decent player and my son wanted to play also.

When he was young he was in a bicycle accident and suffered a pretty severe concussion.

When he was a few years older he was playing basketball and got shoved into a metal support and suffered another concussion.

He really really wanted to play football but his doctor told us that after suffering two concussions at a young age it would make him very susceptible for further brain injuries from playing football.

We wouldn't let him play.

Even though he was very unhappy with us at the time I've never regretted that decsion.

By the way this was 20 years ago before we know what we know now about the effects of repetitive brain injuries.

I'm grateful that the doctor was knowledgable and straight foreward.

 

[BurqueCardFan]

Nothing you're going to learn in Pee Wee/Pop Warner football that you can't learn in Flag Football/Passing League until you enter high school. If you have a young offensive lineman in development, better off having him wrestle.

I'm a dad of two young boys, and I was a kid who played seasonal sports. Because I was bigger in Pop Warner, I had to run every Saturday morning to cut weight to be able to play with kids my size. I wouldn't want to put my kids through that (although it was prolly healthy, blah blah blah).

The odds that any random kid is going to be a pro player are astronomical. Until they're starting varsity as a freshman or sophomore, there's no reason to push them if they're not expressing greater interest.

I agree with K-9 on this subject. I'm a new father (6 month old little boy), so I have a long ways to go until I have to make this decision. I think the youth sport thing is out of hand from a parent perspective. Too many parents trying to live vicariously through there kids. My theory is, if the kid is an amazing athlete capable of going pro, it will happen even if he waits until high school to play. I didn't start wrestling until I was a freshman in high school and most of the kids that came up through the junior wrestling ranks didn't amount to much. Same goes for most sports. Talent trumps anything else.

 

[Darkside]

Do you encourage or would you encourage you son to play football with some remote possibility that he may one day play in the NFL or at least college?

I wouldn't.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[PACardsFan]

This is a great thread because I'm going through that anguish right now. I have a 10 yr old son, who is extremely athletic & probably the fastest kid I've run across in close to 30 yrs of coaching. He's played every sport known to mankind & is always one of the best or THE best player on that team. Up until this year, he played soccer in the Fall. The past 2 years, he's begged his Mom & I to let him play football instead of soccer. My wife is an RN & was totally against that happening. I was a good athlete myself & played d3 baseball & football. But I never had the wheels that my son has. My wife finally signed off on him playing this past Fall, but not without threats of what might ensue should he get injured.

He made the Varsity team in his age group. During tryouts, he came in 1st in EVERY speed & agility drill. Every drill was timed & there were 85 boys at the tryout. The HC said that Joey was the only 1st year player to ever have made his Varsity squad. He's been coaching for 10 years. Everyone else on that team had 3 years of experience. Nonetheless, he started at WR & CB. He scored 5 tds over the course of the season & somehow avoided getting injured. I was a nervous wreck all season, but did enjoy every minute of watching him play. Joe's not a big kid, but hits harder than a 72 lb kid should. He's already talking about next year, but I'm just not sure if I should let him continue. My initial hope was that he'd try it & NOT like it. NOPE. He loves it!! But he also loves lacrosse, baseball, basketball & you should see this kid play golf!! I just can't fight with the wife over this much longer. Thoughts?? My older son Justin (Cardsfanmd) says he's a can't miss Div 1 lacrosse prospect. All I ever wanted him to do was play golf with his old man on Saturday mornings