Where are all the football players?

My sons have always played baseball and basketball. Over the years, I’ve been at games and noticed a kid with a good build and plenty of speed and think: “That kid should be playing football.” More often than not I find that the child has never considered playing football or that his parents have forbidden him to play because he might get hurt. To a certain extent, I understand. My sons don’t play football, although at this point neither of them has a football body.

A colleague was telling me recently that she was worried because her son told her he wanted to play football when he starts high school next year. I could relate to her son’s desire. Even though I was a pretty good soccer player and my thin build was better suited for soccer, I surprised everyone in my family and chose to pass on soccer in the fall of my freshman year and play football instead. Football was the coolest sport back in the late 70s and a chance for a young man to prove his courage. For the next three years, I got pounded regularly. I was undersize and not very good, but I stuck it out through my junior year and only quit after it became apparent that as a senior I didn’t have much chance of getting varsity playing time.

Do I regret playing football? No way. High school football was about the hardest thing I ever did. The practices were brutal, the coaches were like drill sergeants and in the games I did play in I was often overmatched and run into the ground. After high school football, everything seemed easy. While I never played many varsity downs, I take great pride that I simply survived three years.

In Wallingford and other towns, there is a shortage of football players. Scared parents, soccer and the desire to play baseball or basketball virtually year-round have all taken its toll on the sport that most closely resembles basic training for the military. I think it is a shame more kids don’t play football. My football experience still helps me nearly 30 years later.

Let me know what you think?