Brett Favre, the NFL’s ironman of 297 consecutive starts, is vying for youth tackle football to be no more.
Favre, the Hall of Fame quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, does not regret his days in the NFL. However, because of lingering health issues stemming from his 19-year career, Favre is championing for ways to change the game, most notably those who play the game of football at a young age.
“I think it’s going to take someone who has poured his blood, sweat and tears into it,” Favre told Alex Raskin of the Daily Mail.
Ever since the revelation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), there has been a movement to decrease potential brain damage and other long-term injuries. In Illinois, for example, there is a bill that would eliminate tackle football for those who are 12 and younger. California, New York and New Jersey have also proposed similar bills. Favre is on the record saying that he supports the bills, but thinks there should be more done.
“The state level is a start, but we have to adopt this plan and all do it together,” he said. “The body, the brain, the skull is not developed in your teens and single digits. I cringe. I see these little kids get tackled, and the helmet is bigger than everything else on the kid combined. They look like they’re going to break in half.”
Favre has even gone on the record to say that he does not want his grandchildren to play football. While he would support them if they wanted to play football, he would prefer them to play something much safer.
“I’m not going to encourage them to play. I’m not going to discourage [them],” Favre said. “But I say this to everyone who will listen: if my grandsons were to say, and they call me Paw-Paw, if they were to say ‘Paw-Paw, will you be my caddy in golf, I think I’m going to do golf instead of football,’ I would be much more happy, satisfied and excited by that then by them playing football.”
Featured image by Getty Images
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