I've always liked the Bruce Springsteen song "Glory Days." When the song came out, I was still in high school, playing football and baseball. I knew then that when I would be, say 42 years old, I would talk about the "good 'ol days," just like Bruce depicts in the song. Inevitably, there is always a point that comes up in the story where I, or one of my buddies from back in the day will say "back in OUR day, we did such and such. And it wasn't like how they do today." No school like the old school. Get me in the right setting, I'll be glad to fill you in.
After some 10 years of playing football in junior high, high school and college, I had run the course and couldn't play the game anymore and was relegated to the sidelines. By then, my body was telling me it was time. I had often thought of becoming a football coach, but my career interests sent me in another direction. I would occasionally attend a game here or there, mostly homecoming in my home town, whenever I could take off in time to get there for the game. After several years away, now that my kids have gotten older, their interests in school brought me closer to the game again. I've always watched professional & college football on TV and even attended a few of those games here or there. That experience isn't the same - not even close! Now that I have two children in the Jr & Sr high school bands, I'm always at a football game it seems. That's not complaining, either. I hadn't realized, over the years, how much I missed the sights, sounds and the smells (Yes, SMELLS!) that accompany a high school football game. As I've often told my girls, since they got in band, Friday night football is often one of the highlights of school life. It's a community event unlike anything else. I think all of my children would agree.
One of the things I've noticed, since I've returned as a spectator of the high school game, how often players helmets come off during a game. Is this just me? In saying that, I'm not talking about when a player unsnaps the chin strap and takes their head gear off. No, I'm talking about where in the course of a play, the helmet comes off and the player is helmet-less, like this kid, until the end of the play. Just last Friday night, I saw a kid from our own Montgomery Bears lose his helmet in the course of a tackle. He was treated for an eye injury and did not return to action in the game (to my knowledge, he is OK and should play again this Friday night). Two other players also lost their helmets during the same game but did not sustain injury while doing so. Do a search for "gets helmet knocked off" on You Tube and you'll get some 430 hits. I'm sure there are more clips out there. I think this is possibly the worst I've seen.
According to Wikipedia, the 4-point chin strap (2 straps on either side of the helmet, that attach in front and behind the ear hole) became a requirement in 1976 for collegiate football. High school and youth leagues soon followed suit. It took a while for this to catch on at the pro level. In light of the recent interest and concerning the physical & psychological implications of concussions in professional football, the NFL now requires all players to wear 4-point chin straps to be fastened while on the field of play.
Back in the day, I remember seeing Brian Bosworth lose his helmet on more than one occasion when he was at the University of Oklahoma. When "the Boz" did it, it was a big deal. Love him or hate him, in college "the Boz" was a machine. [Pro football was another story (remember this? Watch this to see it in context, and at full speed.).] He really looked tough when he would lose his helmet and make a tackle. He always seemed to get his helmet knocked off and would come away with a bloody cut on the bridge of his nose or something. It just added to his persona. As I think about it, I don't remember it happening to anyone else.
In my 10 years of playing football, I never lost my helmet once. I particularly remember a time I would have loved for my helmet to have come off when it didn't. It was during a practice in college and I was running with the ball. I came through the line and one of my teammates on defense lunged at me and missed. But, as he went by, he reached out grabbed my face mask and pulled me over backwards. My chin strap held firm and my poor neck has never been the same. (Thanks, Tubby. I'll never forget you!) I digress...
If anyone is still reading this far, you might be asking "so, smart guy, what are you getting at? Why are you so fired up about kids and their football helmets coming off?" I'll tell you why...back in my day, we didn't have this kind of problem. Helmets stayed on, plain and simple. Though the game was just as violent, we didn't have to worry about sustaining massive external head injuries because our helmets might get dislodged during a play. It is very troubling to me because the game has in effect become more dangerous in recent years. Players are much bigger, faster and stronger than they were 10, 20 or 25 years ago. If anything, with all the bodies flying around, it's much more important for a kid to keep the helmet on their head now than ever before.
I think the reason this is happening is that chin strap button snaps are different today. If you played football back in the 70's, 80's or 90's, you remember them. Those old metal snaps that would rust, they were hard to unsnap and they would sometimes break off when they got old. When they got rusty, which usually would start happening about midway through a season, it would often take a flat head screw driver to remove them from a helmet. I would venture to say that the straps that are coming loose are the cheaper, plastic variety. Yes, they are cheaper and don't require a screw driver to take them off. But they don't stay fastened either. I think there's no place in football for plastic chin strap snaps and if they continue to be allowed, eventually someone is going to get hurt really bad. If you know somebody who plays football, find out what kind of chin strap they use. Encourage the coaches of the football teams in your area to make sure they use the metal snap buttons. It is such a small thing, but it could be a matter of life and death - really. It is definitely a serious safety issue.
After all, the whole point of a song like "Glory Days" is to live long enough to tell the tale - even if Bruce Springsteen says he doesn't care to listen.
