Bruce Arians: Parents who won't let kids play football 'are fools'

[Deberg_1990]

What the hell dude??


http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25529381/bruce-arians-parents-who-wont-let-kids-play-football-are-fools


Football is under attack. At least that's the perception for some, especially as we learn more about the effects of concussions on players' long-term health. And Cardinals coach Bruce Arians is tired of hearing about it.

"People that say, 'I won't let my son play [football]' are fools," Arians told TheMMQB.com.

"We have this fear of concussion that is real, but not all of those statistics, I think, can prove anything," he continued, echoing comments made by several NFL owners earlier this week.

“No, that's absurd," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the Washington Post about the relationship between chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and playing football. "There's no data that in any way creates a knowledge. There's no way that you could have made a comment that there is an association and some type of assertion. In most things, you have to back it up by studies. And in this particular case, we all know how medicine is. Medicine is evolving."

Texans owner Bob McNair added, "I think it's an important issue. I'm more concerned about the misconceptions people can have about it than I am about what's really taking place. We're studying this issue closely, more than anyone else. We've put up money for research before anyone else did. Our medical scientists still don't know what the cause of CTE is. It appears that if you've had multiple concussions from whatever you've been doing, riding a bicycle, skateboarding, it's not just football, that there's a possibility it could lead to CTE."

Meanwhile, Arians has nothing but good things to say about football.

"This is the greatest game in the world," he said. "I think it teaches more values than any other game that you play. You have things that happen in your life that aren't going to be good. If you play football, you know how to handle them. It doesn't necessarily equate in track and other things."

Last week, during a roundtable discussion on concussion research with the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, NFL senior VP for Health and Safety Policy Jeff Miller was asked if he thought there was a link between football and CTE.

“The answer to that question is certainly yes," he said.

It was the first time the league publicly acknowledged the link.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

I won't refuse to let my son play football, but I also won't actively push him towards playing. When he is old enough, I will explain to him the risks and the benefits of playing football and let him decide if he wants to play. If he decides to play, I will also make sure he learns the proper technique and that he has the best equipment available.

I only have a daughter, but this is the way I'll approach it with her and sports and if I have a son, the same.

Honestly, I'd worry more about wrestling than football if I end up with a son. Not only is there concussions and some potentially serious soft tissue injuries, but cutting weight, especially at a young age is a bad deal. I'm pretty sure I'll draw some pretty serious lines in the sand about cutting weight if I have a son that wants to wrestle.

Same goes with my daughter and gymnastics if it comes to that. I'm all about eating healthy, I'm not all about skipping meals for kids.

[Demonpenz]

football teaches me about life everyday. I mean when I am working in the office everyday I really know how to push myself and eat everyone's lunch at one time out of the refridgerator, exept for Yan...he always brings fish.

[CapsLockKey]

I'd love for Arians to elaborate on what life lessons you get out of football that you can't out of another team sport. Great coach, but I lost some respect of him as a person.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by CapsLockKey

I'd love for Arians to elaborate on what life lessons you get out of football that you can't out of another team sport. Great coach, but I lost some respect of him as a person.

You don't think there are life lessons that can be learned by playing football that can't be learned by playing baseball or basketball?

[CapsLockKey]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

You don't think there are life lessons that can be learned by playing football that can't be learned by playing baseball or basketball?

Until I get an example, yes. There is nothing unique about the game of football itself that translates to life outside of it more than any other team sport.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

You don't think there are life lessons that can be learned by playing football that can't be learned by playing baseball or basketball?

No. There are not. I'm the father of four children. Every single one of them at one point played football, baseball and soccer. They also individually participated in other organized physical activities. Track and field, volleyball, softball, rodeo, field hockey, tennis, karate, boxing, hiking, cycling and probably a few I can't remember off the top of my head. There is nothing specifically unique about youth football that can only be learned by participating in it.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Texans Owner Bob McNair: I'm more concerned about the misconceptions people can have about it than I am about what's really taking place.

"I'm more concerned about how this perception hurts our bottom line than i am about the players getting their brains splattered"

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by CapsLockKey

Until I get an example, yes. There is nothing unique about the game of football itself that translates to life outside of it more than any other team sport.

Originally Posted by listopencil

No. There are not. I'm the father of four children. Every single one of them at one point played football, baseball and soccer. They also individually participated in other organized physical activities. Track and field, volleyball, softball, rodeo, field hockey, tennis, karate, boxing, hiking, cycling and probably a few I can't remember off the top of my head. There is nothing specifically unique about youth football that can only be learned by participating in it.

Football teaches teamwork and trust better than any other sport. It is the only team sport that can't be won solely by having the best player on the field.

Nobody said that football teaches life lessons that can't be learned by participating in other activities. Football just does a better job of teaching teamwork and trust than these other sports/activities.

[RealSNR]

You can also learn life lessons about discipline and hard work from taking piano lessons, Bruce.

Football isn't the end-all-be-all teaching tool of the human experience, you beret-wearing reerun

[DaneMcCloud]

I was a huge fan of Arians before he issued this statement.

Now, not so much.

And FWIW, "Life Lessons" can be gleaned in a myriad of ways, whether through family, friends, school, church, music, chores, first jobs, etc.

I learned my toughest "Life Lesson" at age 16, when I washed dishes in a restaurant from 6pm-1am, Thursday through Sunday, for 11 weeks that summer.

I learned that I never wanted to be a ****ing dishwasher, ever again.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Football teaches teamwork and trust better than any other sport. It is the only team sport that can't be won solely by having the best player on the field.

Nobody said that football teaches life lessons that can't be learned by participating in other activities. Football just does a better job of teaching teamwork and trust than these other sports/activities.

No, it doesn't. Your second statement is also untrue.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I was a huge fan of Arians before he issued this statement.

Now, not so much.

And FWIW, "Life Lessons" can be gleaned in a myriad of ways, whether through family, friends, school, church, music, chores, first jobs, etc.

I learned my toughest "Life Lesson" at age 16, when I washed dishes in a restaurant from 6pm-1am, Thursday through Sunday, for 11 weeks that summer.

I learned that I never wanted to be a ****ing dishwasher, ever again.

^

[tecumseh]

Arians puts this out in the media? What a complete idiot. Shut your pole hole n coach, coach.

[Buehler445]

Much like what Dane pointed out, each kid has to learn his/her own lessons. And sometimes football is the best avenue for the requisite lesson. Sometimes it isnt.

[brucey_72]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

The story you typed before you removed it didn't match this story. I smell bullshit.

How is it not the same?? I typed the 1st one on my phone and then then I went back through my posts and found my detailed version. Everything is the same except detail. Why in the world would I lie on a messageboard that I barely visit

Also I was just sharing my story