Former Giant Harry Carson: Kids shouldn’t play tackle football
Former Giants linebacker Harry Carson believes the best way for young athletes to protect themselves against head injuries is to avoid the risk altogether. That means not playing tackle football until they are teenagers.
Of course, that’s nothing new, coming from Carson.
The football Hall of Famer has been outspoken about the long-term risks of contact football for more than two decades, long before brain trauma and concussions became part of the football vernacular.
Yet when Carson began his keynote address Wednesday at an event sponsored by New York Tech and the Head Injury Association, the former Giant said he uncharacteristically almost declined this invite in particular.
He said he paused when he saw the title of the event: “Protecting School-aged Athletes from Concussions.”
In some ways, he wasn’t sure how well his message would be received.
“From where I sit,” Carson said, “the only way you can fully ensure the school-age athlete is protected from concussions is to avoid playing contact sports where the risk can be significant.”
NY Jets, Wesley Walker at the NYIT panel discussing protecting school-age athletes from concussions held at The Fox Hollow Woodbury, New York March 21, 2018. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Carson headlined a panel that also included former Jets such as Curtis Martin and Wesley Walker as well as former San Francisco 49er Randy Cross. None of the others were as strong with their words for the high school athletic administrators and athletic trainers in the room as Carson was.
Carson said he was particularly moved by a speech he witnessed Dr. Bennet Omalu give a few years ago.
Omalu, credited with discovering the degenerative neurological condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that is the result of repeated hits to the head, has called the act of letting children play tackle football the equivalent of child abuse.
“I will never forget how passionate and how firm he was to parents in regards of not allowing their young children whose brains are still developing to play contact sports,” Carson said.
NY Jets, Wesley Walker at the NYIT panel discussing protecting school-age athletes from concussions held at The Fox Hollow Woodbury, New York March 21, 2018. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
In response, Carson said he has since told his daughter and her husband that his grandchildren — specifically the 8-year-old boy who idolizes his “Pop-Pop” — cannot be permitted to play any contact sport, including football.
Carson said he realizes he comes off as a “dictator” with such a strong stance.
“Being a dictator is a title I’ll gladly claim,” he said, “if it means not taking a chance by playing ‘Russian roulette’ with my loved ones and their neurological health.”
None of the other sports figures on the panel went so far as Carson with regards to banning children from playing contact sports.
Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.
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