Tom Brady's Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

[PatsWickedPissah]

Worried about post traumatic concussion symptoms. Haters pile on in comments although note the very real commentary on teen girls soccer below the article.

Tom Brady's concerned dad: NFL becoming 'Russian roulette' | USA Today

 

[Clonamery]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Worried about post traumatic concussion symptoms. Haters pile on in comments although note the very real commentary on teen girls soccer below the article.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...becoming-like-russian-roulette/1#.T7v2Fo66Xww

Yup. Friend's 12 year old daughter...2 concussions in 2 weeks. All done. On to archery.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Yup. Friend's 12 year old daughter...2 concussions in 2 weeks. All done. On to archery.

The issue here is the imbalance between muscular skeletal strength vs force of impact. Girls are built differently but early or pre teens can run and hit harder than their bodies can handle the impact. Bummer.

 

[LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

I'm happy to hear that Brady has only had one concussion that his father is aware of. That's because Brady is smarter than the rest. He knows how to take a hit unlike Rodgers.

 

[NSPF]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

I'm happy to hear that Brady has only had one concussion that his father is aware of. That's because Brady is smarter than the rest. He knows how to take a hit unlike Rodgers.

Your username is very accurate.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Brady's dad gave this clarifying remark:

"I subscribe to kids playing football, but I don't really subscribe to them playing until they are developed. That usually doesn't happen until 14 years of age," said Brady Sr., who didn't allow Tom Brady to begin playing football until he was 14 when his son expressed interest in the game.

Seems like a pretty reasonable sentiment, honestly. If I had a son, I wouldn't want him playing football that young either.

 

[Raymond]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

I'll be honest here. I didn't think the young kids ran fast enough, or weighed enough or hit hard enough to result in concussions at the ages we see playing at that level.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

I'll be honest here. I didn't think the young kids ran fast enough, or weighed enough or hit hard enough to result in concussions at the ages we see playing at that level.

As a lot of former players have said, it isn't necessarily the head on collisions that cause concussions, it is the number of bodies falling on you or the knees to the head on the way down, etc that lead to a high number of them.

I have been a middle school teacher for over a decade now and the number of kids I have taught that have experienced more than one concussion from sports by age 12 is astounding. Football, hockey, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, cheerleading, lax, you name it. I've had students with concussions from participating in all of them all in my room at one time or another.

 

[LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Your username is very accurate.

True. :rocker:

 

[Salva135]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Fortunately Brady didn't heed his dad's wishes to stick to baseball, otherwise the Expos/Nats would have multiple championships instead of us... :singing:

 

[Fencer]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

At high school age, I had a friend black out and permanently lose some minutes of memory from getting kicked in the gut. More precisely, he was a goalie in a super-casual game of soccer, and was still holding onto a diving save when somebody unclear on the concept kicked the ball and hence, indirectly, him.

 

[JPPT1974]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

There is worried over it. Due to physical, mental, and emotional strain after you play the game and leaving it. But one poster is right. Men and women are built different and have different kinds of bodies.

 

[Dr Pain]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

I have to admit I have begun to think about this. I have had a few concussions in my life playing and now that I am approaching 50 I can’t help but wonder if there is or will be an effect on me. My son is big but he never expressed a real desire to play just an occasional curiosity so I never had him play. His high school coach was always after him. Right now at 17 he is around 260 and well over 6 feet. He can already repeatedly bench 225 pounds combo like. Despite this size and strength, it won’t help him at all with a brain injury, in fact with his mass he would be more likely to be injured as there is no way to gain extra strength in brain tissue. A friend told me about his nephew playing in a league at college where they have a 172 lb. maximum weight limit. It is called Spirit football. He says the games are fantastic. This may be what the NFL becomes and it could be a great game.

 

[patfanken]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

I have to admit I have begun to think about this. I have had a few concussions in my life playing and now that I am approaching 50 I can’t help but wonder if there is or will be an effect on me. My son is big but he never expressed a real desire to play just an occasional curiosity so I never had him play. His high school coach was always after him. Right now at 17 he is around 260 and well over 6 feet. He can already repeatedly bench 225 pounds combo like. Despite this size and strength, it won’t help him at all with a brain injury, in fact with his mass he would be more likely to be injured as there is no way to gain extra strength in brain tissue. A friend told me about his nephew playing in a league at college where they have a 172 lb. maximum weight limit. It is called Spirit football. He says the games are fantastic. This may be what the NFL becomes and it could be a great game.

So I guess the answer is to cloth our kids in bubble wrap and never let them outside. I have never heard such a load of CRAP in my life.

Remember these are the same parents who would "save" their kids from trauma of potential "brain damage", yet will rush out and get their kids a car the day they turn 16 and without a second thought pat them on the head (gently of course) and give them the keys and send them out to play "crash dummy" in 2 ton cars Yeah, that makes sense

WHAT A BUNCH OF ****IES!!! We have truly become a nation of FEAR.....and the newest fad right behind the Taliban, and fat.... is "concussions", Just the thought of having one will kill brain cells. So while he daily hear about every kid who has ever suffered the lasting effect of a concussion, the tens of MILLIONS of kids who, SOMEHOW miraculously managed to avoid permanent damage are silent witnesses to the unnecessary panic we see

So what's the solution; Well folks, football is OVER,....that's for sure That's the first step. Then any of the other contact sports will have to go. Eventually all we will be left are the individual sports like golf....which you will probably have to play with a helmet, because of the risk a ball might hit you in the head

I played 10 years of football, over 25yrs of lacrosse, and took joy in planting my forehead into anything that moved in my AOR. However the only concussion I even had (to my knowledge) was getting hit by a car on my bike. So all bikes have to go, believe me far more concussions (and deaths) have resulted in bike accidents than have EVER occurred on a HS football field.

You know the only benefit from this will come to the union of "slip and fall lawyers", who now will have a HUGE new venue to ply their oily craft. In fact I can hardly wait to go down and see one and see how much money I can make from that concussion I had over 50 years ago.

That's our choice. We can do what we can to make contact sports safer, or eliminate them all....and by doing that we deprive the MASSIVE majority of kids who somehow survive their experience from perhaps one of the important learning experiences they will have in their most critical developmental period of their lives.

BTW- You comment on weight limitations is a good one. I'd love to see the league put some size limits on players. There is no need to build these players up above 300lbs. You just have to see how Light has dropped about 30-40lbs in just a few months to realize how unnatural a lot of that weight is.

Given that the equipment is better than ever. Its the physics that are causing all the concussions we hear about. Eliminate some of the mass from the equation, and the force of the blows will diminish as well.

 

[IllegalContact]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

while football is rolling in the dough as a spectator sport, participation is taking a nosedive

be interesting how it plays out in the long haul

 

[Dr Pain]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

WHAT A BUNCH OF ****IES!!! We have truly become a nation of FEAR.....and the newest fad right behind the Taliban, and fat.... is "concussions", Just the thought of having one will kill brain cells. So while he daily hear about every kid who has ever suffered the lasting effect of a concussion, the tens of MILLIONS of kids who, SOMEHOW miraculously managed to avoid permanent damage are silent witnesses to the unnecessary panic we see

---
I played 10 years of football, over 25yrs of lacrosse, and took joy in planting my forehead into anything that moved in my AOR. However the only concussion I even had (to my knowledge) was getting hit by a car on my bike. So all bikes have to go, believe me far more concussions (and deaths) have resulted in bike accidents than have EVER occurred on a HS football field.

Well aren’t you lucky that you did all this and you never got a concussion. I have to admit I haven’t met anyone who played at a very high level who can say this, even in some girls’ sports. Somehow I can’t reconcile your statement “I took joy in planting my forehead into anything that moved in my AOR” with no concussions. My guess is you sucked, played pee wee football or are just so stupid you wouldn’t even notice.

I had quite a few concussions as a 6’4” 280 lineman. (that was big in the 80s) I do worry about long term effects I guess I am a ***** because I didn’t push my son into playing football. I didn’t stop him but I didn’t encourage him.

As far as your statement about more concussions coming from bikes than HS football I guess my answer would be who is more likely to get a concussion, a bike rider or a football player? Not an itty bitty pee wee football player but a big fast strong one.

The brain has a consistency of pudding and when it gets sloshed around inside of the skull, damage happens. Just because you are twice as big does not mean your brain is twice as strong but a little thing called physics shows your mass means a bigger impact and a greater chance of damage.

You can be happy that you know all the answers because of your extensive personal experience and call me a *****. Me I didn’t get to the pros and still have lifelong injuries. I was fortunate enough to pass on the roids though that did hold me back competition wise and guys I did play with used roids and got to the pros. I guess I was a ***** then too. My friend who was not a ***** died in his 30s. I have a niece going out with a college lineman who has been knocked out of the game and college because of a concussion. I hope he recovers enough to get back to college next year. Playing football is through for him forever, what a ***** huh?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Like football, ken has probably fotgotten more about his own concussions than most of us will ever know... And he played the game in another era.

He has a point about the size and you could include speed in the equation when it comes to the evolution of the game. Trouble is you have a better chance at restricting or eliminating KO's and mandating padding and limiting contract to the head by rule via penalties and fines than you have of eliminating PED's and restricting size or speed from the game. As the CBA of 2011 and the NFLPA since signing off on it has underscored.

Culture change isn't ever easy, as ken also underscores.

And FWIW getting back to the original premise of the thread, Brady's dad concluded that he would probably let his son play the game if he truly wanted to. He'd just be very careful and make sure he grasped the significances of all the potential consequences. I think his son already does. Some fans here, especially in game threads, lament Brady's lack of mobility outside the pocket and seeming unwillingness to just run with the damn ball when the opportunity is clearly presenting itself... Maybe because as an insurance brokers son he's adept at calculating risk vs. reward.

 

[patfanken]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

Well aren’t you lucky that you did all this and you never got a concussion. I have to admit I haven’t met anyone who played at a very high level who can say this, even in some girls’ sports. Somehow I can’t reconcile your statement “I took joy in planting my forehead into anything that moved in my AOR” with no concussions. My guess is you sucked, played pee wee football or are just so stupid you wouldn’t even notice.

I had quite a few concussions as a 6’4” 280 lineman. (that was big in the 80s) I do worry about long term effects I guess I am a ***** because I didn’t push my son into playing football. I didn’t stop him but I didn’t encourage him.

As far as your statement about more concussions coming from bikes than HS football I guess my answer would be who is more likely to get a concussion, a bike rider or a football player? Not an itty bitty pee wee football player but a big fast strong one.

The brain has a consistency of pudding and when it gets sloshed around inside of the skull, damage happens. Just because you are twice as big does not mean your brain is twice as strong but a little thing called physics shows your mass means a bigger impact and a greater chance of damage.

You can be happy that you know all the answers because of your extensive personal experience and call me a *****. Me I didn’t get to the pros and still have lifelong injuries. I was fortunate enough to pass on the roids though that did hold me back competition wise and guys I did play with used roids and got to the pros. I guess I was a ***** then too. My friend who was not a ***** died in his 30s. I have a niece going out with a college lineman who has been knocked out of the game and college because of a concussion. I hope he recovers enough to get back to college next year. Playing football is through for him forever, what a ***** huh?

First of all none of my post was directed at YOU personally, and if you took it that way, I apologize.

The point I was trying to make is that massive majority of kids playing contact sports, including football, DO NOT suffer any long term damage from injuries. My point is that the lessons learned from football far out weigh the risk of injuries, and that I fear that the current climate will cause parents to take away the opportunity to learn those valuable lessons. Lessons that helped shape both you and I as adults (and generally for the good).

Concussions are a fact of life, but you can just as easily get one driving a car, falling down stairs, etc etc. People get them, and most don't wind up with debilitating and long lasting injuries.....some do.

Personally you did the right thing as to your son. You did exactly what my father did for me, and what I did with my son. All of us didn't push our kids to play football, or any other sport for that matter. I wanted to play and my father supported me. My son wanted to play and I supported him. If he chosen the chess team, I would have supported that as well. (actually he WAS also on the chess team ).

As parents we can't take the risks out of life. All we can do is try weigh the risks an rewards and advise our kids. Obviously I believe that any risks a child has in playing contact sports on the HS and college levels are far outweighed by the rewards.

BTW- I have to admit the irony of chastising parents who won't let their kids play contact sports, while the same time, I wouldn't let my kid get a car until he left for college at 18, for the same reasons.

 

[Dr Pain]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

First of all none of my post was directed at YOU personally, and if you took it that way, I apologize.

No it’s pretty clear you wrote it at me when you replied to me. It’s not like I am going to lose sleep over it though nor will you. Many things have or will change. In the good old days parents also thought nothing about letting their kid be an altar boy, do a church sleep over, hitch hike etc. I also loved boxing but that is near a dead sport now.

I did not worry about concussions when I played but I do worry now. There were at least two times I have no memory from concussions and quite a few times I got dinged up. Yea my guess is there isn’t going to be much damage from PoP Warner football but to be honest I never played PoP Warner because I was far too big for my age group. They have weight and size limits. That is a funny thing, the kids who have the size and strength to go beyond high school to play real college ball, are often too big for these leagues. Once I got to high school I could play with any high schooler and while most weren’t that big, there would be a few of us who were men amongst boys. We would hurt a lot of those kids and ding ourselves up with hits. Then when you make it to big time college, it just gets worse because everyone is big and fast and the pressure is huge because they own you. You are a slave. Probably half the kids in college get hurt enough that they have to stop playing. Me, I hurt my neck. I can’t imagine what it is like in the pros where only the best and healthiest of the college kids go.

For me, my son won’t be tall enough to make it to a big college as a lineman and although he is unbelievably strong, he won’t be fast enough to be a linebacker at a top school. If he played in high school he would kill your kid if he is less than 240lbs. If I had a 180lb high school kid I would not want him playing against my son or me when I was his age. If he played in college, he would just big enough to be playing at a tier 2 school against other kids 270 – 280 lbs which is still bigger than most of the pros in 1980 and we know they have no long term effects.

I had good times and my son will have them too, just not doing the same thing. I still remember the name of the guy who hit me the hardest I have ever been hit and I still remember hitting a guy so hard that he left by ambulance. I also remember the day I ended up in the hospital with my neck hurt injury in practice.

I respect Tom Brady’s dad and Kurt Warner. Like my dad wanted for me, I want my son to have a better life. He didn’t an overwhelming passion to play and I am very happy about that. I never encouraged him to play. That I think about these things and my kid does not make me or anyone ****ies.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Re: Bradys Dad Wouldn't Let TFB Start Football Again

So I guess the answer is to cloth our kids in bubble wrap and never let them outside. I have never heard such a load of CRAP in my life.

Remember these are the same parents who would "save" their kids from trauma of potential "brain damage", yet will rush out and get their kids a car the day they turn 16 and without a second thought pat them on the head (gently of course) and give them the keys and send them out to play "crash dummy" in 2 ton cars Yeah, that makes sense

WHAT A BUNCH OF ****IES!!! We have truly become a nation of FEAR.....and the newest fad right behind the Taliban, and fat.... is "concussions", Just the thought of having one will kill brain cells. So while he daily hear about every kid who has ever suffered the lasting effect of a concussion, the tens of MILLIONS of kids who, SOMEHOW miraculously managed to avoid permanent damage are silent witnesses to the unnecessary panic we see

So what's the solution; Well folks, football is OVER,....that's for sure That's the first step. Then any of the other contact sports will have to go. Eventually all we will be left are the individual sports like golf....which you will probably have to play with a helmet, because of the risk a ball might hit you in the head

I played 10 years of football, over 25yrs of lacrosse, and took joy in planting my forehead into anything that moved in my AOR. However the only concussion I even had (to my knowledge) was getting hit by a car on my bike. So all bikes have to go, believe me far more concussions (and deaths) have resulted in bike accidents than have EVER occurred on a HS football field.

You know the only benefit from this will come to the union of "slip and fall lawyers", who now will have a HUGE new venue to ply their oily craft. In fact I can hardly wait to go down and see one and see how much money I can make from that concussion I had over 50 years ago.

That's our choice. We can do what we can to make contact sports safer, or eliminate them all....and by doing that we deprive the MASSIVE majority of kids who somehow survive their experience from perhaps one of the important learning experiences they will have in their most critical developmental period of their lives.

BTW- You comment on weight limitations is a good one. I'd love to see the league put some size limits on players. There is no need to build these players up above 300lbs. You just have to see how Light has dropped about 30-40lbs in just a few months to realize how unnatural a lot of that weight is.

Given that the equipment is better than ever. Its the physics that are causing all the concussions we hear about. Eliminate some of the mass from the equation, and the force of the blows will diminish as well.

You are very lucky to apparently have a near-invincible brain. Studies have repeatedly shown, however, that most people don't share your luck. Either way, calling parents who wish to protect their children from recreational activities that have been proven to cause long-term traumatic brain damage in many participants are hardly "****ies". They're just being responsible parents.