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Youth Football and CTE: What Parents Need to Know About the Risks
Parents are moving younger children to flag football as studies estimate three out of four deceased former NFL players likely had CTE.
- On Wednesday, researchers released a study estimating 75% of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy , published in JAMA Network Open.
- Growing awareness of the CTE risk is driving parents to shift younger children toward flag football, a contact-reduced alternative to tackle football.
- A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found tackle players aged 6 to 14 sustained 15 times as many total head impacts and 23 times as many high-magnitude impacts compared to flag players.
- Surging in popularity, flag football surpassed tackle in 2017 for children aged 6 to 12 and was the only team sport tracked by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association to grow among kids aged 6 to 17 between 2019 and 2024.
- NFL FLAG now serves more than 620,000 children, while four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski anticipates the sport's debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, signaling its trajectory toward professional status.
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11 Articles
11 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources11
Leaning Left9Leaning Right0Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution82% Left
Bias Distribution
- 82% of the sources lean Left
82% Left
L 82%
C 18%
Factuality
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