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It's Just Good: Jason Mraz and Meghan Trainor, "More Than Friends"

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Smith25's Liberal Thighs9/20/2018 6:05:58 am PDT

Will Football still be around in 10 years: Yes. But for multiple reasons.

#1- Money, Money, Money.

#2- Our country is sill in many places a caste system. Our economic and educational systems are not adequate and don’t truly serve to advance students into society with tools to be mobile and successful- especially for poor and minority students. Football is a way that can offer(due to number of players so much more opportunity than any other sport) a way to be accepted into and have college paid for. The history of slavery and slave breeding still lingers-and it has an impact on how athletic many black males are-especially in the American South.

#3- Football is not the meathead sport it once was, and is not taught as much that way. Obvious full disclosure- I played from early grades, through HS and College, and two years professionally- Of course I have a bias, but I also have a window into how things are different. You can’t just be a meathead and win. The sport is complex and you must have smart players if you want to win. Also, if you look at what information about CTE exists, it is not just the car crash hits that cause concussions- it is also about the “micro-concussions”- small hits that add up over time. We don’t practice like meatheads- the amount of contact in practice is much less, and only done for a purpose. Many coaches that are around(not all) are guys that love the sport, and understand that half of the shit we did at practice(Oklahoma Drill, Bull in the Ring) are reckless, and they don’t actually help you win games. The penalties that are called in the NFL are more about PR than player safety- they changes in player safety are happening at the lower levels. As the head coach, I’m in charge of my schools youth football program. I eliminated tackle football prior to 7th grade. Flag Football only from ages 4-12. I implemented very specific practice standards for the Middle School, Freshmen, and Varsity teams- based on time and amount of contact allowed. I’m a part of a new school group of Head Coaches who understand that Football can be safer. I’m 38- of the 9 High School Head Coaches here in the city, 8 of us are in our late 30’s-early 40’s. 4 of us played professionally (inc Chad Pennington you NYJ fans). We all have an understanding of how the game can work safer than it has been.

Okay- bell just rang for class. I’ll ramble at you guys later