Introduction

Welcome! Over the past couple of days, I’ve been looking at something that is very important to a lot of parents across the nation. That “something” is the overall impact that injuries, especially to the brain, in high school football have on the players’ lives. Football is my favorite sport, and high school ball is my favorite form of it. For the next four years, I’m going to be one of the players that I’ve watched and hoped to be. I never realized how big of an effect just one blow to the head or one broken bone while playing in high school can have on my life, family, and future.

            I know there are players who were incredible football players in high school. They were future Heisman Trophy winners, Super Bowl champions, NFL Hall of Famers. One of these men is in my favorite movie of all time. James “Boobie” Miles, out of Odessa, Texas, was one of the best running backs in the nation and was being scouted by the top college football programs in the nation. He was on his way to being the best, a celebrity, living the dream. That all came crashing down when in his senior year of high school, he injured his knee in a pre-season game, it was a torn ACL. He tried to return weeks later, and just worsened the injury. That was virtually the end of his career. He never made it to the big time, and he will have a limp for the rest of his life.

There are also other players who get multiple concussions, they have brain damage and can’t even move or in worse cases can’t even communicate with others. They can be completely paralyzed, the whole rest of their lives taking a turn for the worst just from playing football for as little as three-to-four months. This just proves how big of a risk playing football in high school can be.