First of all Greg Brown, it is well understood that football is a dangerous sport. All athletes are required to sign permission forms saying that they do realize this before setting foot on the field. This permission form indicates that the parents and players fully understand football is a contact sport and there is a possibility of injury.

A high school is required to administer preparticipation examinations - including examinations by a personal physician and station examinations - obtain a medical history of the athlete and do an orthopedic screening, which will test for strength, range of motion and stability at various joints.

You say in your letter that football needs to be regulated (“Football is killing country’s youth,” SN 11/6). It already is regulated. The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment has developed standards for sports equipment. All high school equipment is required to be certified before it is allowed to touch a player’s body. Also, many high schools have athletic trainers who inspect the equipment, making sure it is safe for players. Besides the safety measures taken on the equipment provided to the players, there also are rules to the game. Players are penalized for spearing and other acts that could result in injury. Also, high schools are required to have a certain number of conditioning hours before players are allowed to play with contact. Furthermore, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment is always trying to improve the means of protection, especially in contact sports such as football, hockey and lacrosse.

Although sometimes these horrible accidents do happen, there is no way of making anything completely safe. Every part of life is a risk, you cannot eliminate it. You take risks when you leave your house or when you eat dinner. Any number of accidents could befall you in these actions. Sure it would be great to eliminate risk, but then would we really be living? What would be the fun in anything if there weren’t a risk? Do you think that requiring kids to do 100 hours of government training will really reduce these injuries?

Sorry Brown, I do not think you did your research before typing this letter. Football is already regulated and controlled. Sure these events are tragic, but so are car accidents and shootings and poisonings, and so on and so on. What I guess I’m trying to say is it is impossible to eliminate risk unless we all live in a bubble, free from human and world contact. Football will always be a risk, just as driving a car is a risk. If people choose, they do not have to participate in a sport that is dangerous. They are made fully aware that contact sports are dangerous before participating. If they did not want to take this risk they would not take it.

Adam Pourcho
sports medicine and
athletic training sophomore