The last three weeks have witnessed an all-out assault
on the game of football, not coincidentally timed with the beginning of NFL
training camps. First came a study reporting CTE in 110 of 111 brains of former
NFL players. Following closely on the heels of that media circus was the
publication last week of a new book by Dr. Bennet Omalu, Truth Doesn't Have a Side,
and interviews in which Dr. Omalu, as he has for several years, argues that
letting kids play football is the "definition" of child abuse. The not-so-surprising
result has been a tsunami of emails in my Inbox asking for my views on the
subject.
Are parents committing child abuse simply by allowing their kids to play a collision sport like football before middle school? Not unless it rises to the level of a callous and wanton disregard for a child's safety (e.g. reckless endangerment).