Tom Brady didn't play tackle football as a kid. Neither should your child.
Youth tackle won’t increase the odds of going pro, but it will expose athletes to years of repetitive impacts, increasing risks of brain damage.
Michael Strahan, Jerome Bettis, Jerry Rice, Warren Sapp, and Tom Brady all have something in common. It’s not their Super Bowl wins or NFL legend status. It’s that none of these athletes played tackle football before high school.
In fact, Michael Strahan didn’t start tackling until 12th grade. These are just a few of the names on the list of NFL stars who waited until high school to tackle, a list that also includes legends like Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor and Julius Peppers.
Yet, this fall, more than 1 million youth players will suit up for tackle football, risking brain trauma that can have lasting consequences.
Brain trauma in youth sports
I have studied concussions and repetitive brain trauma in sports for a decade, and over that time growing evidence has raised concerns about safety in youth sports.
Researchers found the average youth football player sustains between 200 to 400 impacts in just one short season, with some incurring hundreds more.
The brain is developing rapidly throughout childhood and early adolescence.
Repetitive brain trauma in youth football may affect those developmental processes and has been linked with later life consequences, including depression, cognitive difficulties, altered brain structure and an earlier onset of symptoms in those who develop Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
These concerns have contributed to a decline in youth tackle football participation in recent years, while participation in flag football is rising.
The chorus of concerned voices isn’t limited to researchers and parents. Legendary football players and coaches have shared their reservations about children playing tackle football.
Even Super Bowl champion and NFL MVP quarterback Brett Favre has said if he had a son, he would be “very reluctant to let him play.”
Still, some parents hesitate to have their child play flag football in part because they believe players must tackle at a young age to have a chance at a college scholarship or professional career. But this is a myth.
It is exceedingly difficult to predict future sport success based on childhood talent, and few youth athletes will realize the dream of playing at the college or professional level.
Less than 3% of high school football players and around 1% of youth football players will go on to play at a Division I college, with just over two-thirds of those earning a scholarship.
The odds of going pro are far lower, with only 0.2 percent of high school players and less than 0.1 percent of youth players reaching the highest level.
Tackling in elementary or middle school won’t make those odds any better or even ensure success as a high school player, but it will expose an athlete to years of repetitive impacts that increase the risk of long-term consequences for the brain.
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Other sports, including soccer and ice hockey, have eliminated primary sources of brain trauma at the youth level. In 2011 USA Hockey moved the introduction of checking back to age 13. Hockey Canada did the same in 2013. Based on these changes, presumably many young NHL rookies today were not allowed to check until they were 13 years old. And it hasn’t hurt the quality of hockey at higher levels.
Delaying checking has helped the game grow, with more youth athletes playing hockey than ever before.
Building athleticism from a young age
Childhood and early adolescence are critical periods for building overall athleticism. Rapid brain maturation can provide a window of opportunity for developing coordination and motor skills that benefit young athletes in sports and throughout their lives.
You can teach an athlete to tackle when they’re older, but childhood is a key time for fostering skills like agility, coordination, motor control, spatial awareness and quickness. There is no evidence that waiting to tackle will lead to bad habits or increase injuries when tackling begins.
Waiting to tackle gives young athletes time to build strength and athleticism before increasing the force and physicality of the game.
Kids can still practice other football skills. As Superbowl MVP quarterback Drew Brees said, “Flag football promotes the passing game, right? So you truly develop a lot of those fundamentals, whether you're a quarterback, running back or a receiver. And then as a defender.”
Cultivating athleticism is more important for long-term success than practicing sport-specific skills at a young age.
And coaches want athletic players on their team. For example, former NFL player and University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has said he looks for athleticism in recruits in sports and activities outside of football.
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Waiting to tackle is ultimately a win-win. Athletes will incur fewer career impacts and less brain trauma while also reducing the risk for sustaining other injuries.
They can maximize the opportunity to build their strength and athletic ability while learning about the game playing non-contact forms of football. And let’s be clear: this isn’t about waiting to play football. It’s about waiting to tackle.
Michael Strahan, Jerome Betis, Jerry Rice, Warren Sapp, and Tom Brady have another thing in common. They are great athletes. That is a trait all young players should admire. Tackling young won’t make an athlete a superstar. No one would say that any of these legendary players would have been better had they started tackling earlier in life.
I encourage young football players to be like these NFL legends. Tackle can wait.
Julie Stamm is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the book, “The Brain on Youth Sports: The Science, the Myths, and the Future.” Her research has focused on the long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma and concussions in youth sports. Follow her on Twitter: @JulieStammPhD