Death of players sparks safety in youth football debate

The death of two young football players in late August sparked yet another conversation about the safety of youth football. A 13-year-old middle school player died from brain trauma during a practice, but his father, Ryan Craddock, recently spoke out and said this tragedy doesn’t mean kids should give up the sport.

Instead, the father is urging schools to add head protectors called guardian caps to their football helmets.

A recent story from CBSSports.com highlighted a conversation with Craddock while adding great context to the father’s push for greater safety in youth sports. Below is an excerpt from the CBSSports.com story.

“I don’t want to waste time,” Craddock said in an interview with CBS News. “So that’s the reason why I’m trying to push to get guardian caps for these kids now. … I do not want to see this happen to anybody else.”

In August, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman James Daniels wore a Guardian Cap during a preseason game against the Houston Texans. He became one of the first, if not the first, NFL players to wear one during a game. The caps have become more commonplace during practices.

Craddock’s son died the same weekend as Caden Tellier, a 16-year-old Alabama high school quarterback who suffered a brain injury during a game.

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According to CBS News, at least seven teenagers who played football died in the U.S. during August. Not all of them were from head trauma, such as 16-year-old Leslie Noble in Baltimore, who collapsed from an apparent heatstroke.

“If you look at the main causes of catastrophic problems in kids, we talk about heat, we talk about hearts, we talk about heads,” Dr. Joseph Chorley, sports medicine chief at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, told CBS News.

To read the full story from CBSSports.com about the youth football debate, click here.