So, I have been a football fan for as long as I can remember. When I was a little kid, I would grab my father's Oakland Raiders souvenier helmet, grab a football, and run around the house going, "Blue 42; Blue 42; Set, Hut!" and then proceed to tuck the ball under my arm and pretend that if I dove onto the couch, I would score a touchdown. In my house, life has kind of evolved around football. My brothers and I have all played it, and even my youngest brother Patrick still plays currently. In my opinion, it is the greatest sport in the world.
One of the main reasons for why I loved it so much is because of how rough and tough it is. The sound of someone getting pummeled by another player is the greatest sound in the world. My former high school coach always used to say, "Football is not easy. If it was easy, everyone would play." This is something that I completely agree with. This sport is not meant for everybody. If you can't handle the hits, then you shouldn't play.
That is why it saddens me to see football so dulled down. For some reason, people have been softening up this wonderful game. The NFL has put in a few new rules dealing with hitting and tackling too hard. Too hard? The game of football is meant to have hard hitting. How else are you supposed to get the man to the ground? Now, I'm not talking about illegal hitting, like late hits or high-lows or helmet to helmet. Those ones I don't have a problem with. But if a guy hits another player with his shoulder and completely destroys the guy, then there should be no problem. That is how the game SHOULD be played.
This crap even stems all the way down to high school. These football parents sign their children up to play football because they need their kid to be popular, but they don't remember that football is a contact sport. They didn't realize that you have to be tough in order to play the game. Well, they feel that if their baby isn't tough enough, they are going to complain about how rough the game is. That way, the game has been brought down to their level. Now, they have made the game easily accessible for everyone to play! yaaaayyyyy!
It makes me want to puke!
Now, I understand that you don't want your kid to break his neck, or get rushed to the hospital. No one wants to see that. Unfortunately, it is usually their own fault. When you tackle someone, if you hit them with correct form, you will not get hurt. It is when you hit them with bad form that you get hurt. When you lead with your head down, that is when you get concussions and broken necks.
So what I am saying is that you don't have to change the toughness of the game. That is what makes this game so fun. Instead, we should be teaching the kids at a young age the proper fundamentals of the football. Also, parents should look into football before signing their children up for it. If it is something that you don't want your kids to be a part of, then DON'T SIGN THEM UP FOR IT! Like I have said, football is NOT meant for everyone. If it was, everyone would play.
I know that this does not have anything to do with theatre or anything, but football is and will always be a big part of my life. To be fair, if came before theatre. It actually helped me in theatre a lot. I have made many parallels with theatre and football, and it helped me transition.
That is all!
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