I was a kid with a father deeply invested in football who wanted me to play. I never really felt I had the option to quit until the day he told me it was okay my junior year of high school. I was a child and though I never experienced an injury, tackle practice often pitted me against older, much larger kids. I took a lot of big hits that I just walked off but left me shaken.

I fear I have some mild anger problems. I can't tell you if any of it is even related to football, but if I could go back and stop myself from playing football in middle and high school, I would in a heartbeat. I hated the sport and felt trapped. I imagine I'm not the only kid with a similar story. And just because I never had an official injury doesn't mean the sport had no effect on my developing brain.

Kids don't always have the autonomy to make decisions for themselves; we don't let them use cigarettes or alcohol, get tattoos, etc. The sport has the ability to leave lasting damage on those playing it unlike other sports because impacts are intrinsic to the game as it's currently played. Other sports like soccer can and have banned headers.

I think it's reprehensible to continue allowing children to continue playing contact football.