To the Editor:
Re “Don’t Let Kids Play Football,” by Bennet Omalu (Op-Ed, Dec. 7):
I give a lot of credit to football and my youth coaches for helping me find a confidence and belief in myself I may not have found otherwise, as well as providing me a safe place where I could let out my bottled-up anger in a constructive way. But I, like 99.9 percent of the people reading this Op-Ed article and their children, never had any hope of playing in the National Football League.
Tens of millions of people in this country have played youth football, yet there is no widespread epidemic of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The research on C.T.E. is very clear for those who play at a high level, but what does that evidence have to do with the rest of us?
Given how little we know about C.T.E., is there any concrete reason not to believe that maybe all the brain needs after a large impact is a chance to heal (rather than going right back out on the field to absorb another large impact)?
Football can be such an important game for so many children in our country. It teaches character, confidence, hard work, leadership and teamwork. Let’s not take this opportunity away from them because a tiny fraction will eventually have to weigh the health risks of playing football at a pro or a semipro level against the benefits. For most of us, this is not a decision we will ever have to make.
JOHN LICCIARDELLO
New Brunswick, N.J.
