Tuscaloosa News: Football is a violent, 'collision' sport
TUSCALOOSA — By any measure you want to apply, football is America's favorite sport. There's no question that's true in Alabama. There's also no question Tuscaloosa is widely recognized as the epicenter of the sport on the college level.
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Football is more than just a passionate pastime here. It is woven so deeply into the community's fabric that it is more than just a profoundly important aspect of our culture. It is perhaps the most significant economic driver in our area, particularly right now, while the University of Alabama Crimson Tide is in the midst of a historically dominant dynasty unlike any other in the modern era of the sport.
The success of the team reaches into every nook and cranny of everyday life. Weddings and even funerals are scheduled so as not to interrupt football Saturdays.
The importance of football locally goes much deeper than its impact culturally. University officials are quick to point to the football team's success as the catalyst behind the remarkable growth and economic prosperity on campus. That growth, along with the seven home games, the spring game and the international exposure they bring to Tuscaloosa are among the most vital economic drivers in our area. The Tuscaloosa News benefits every bit as much as any other local institution from the interest in football. Without football, the university, Tuscaloosa and its newspaper would all be radically different.
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It has been that way ever since George Denny became the university's president in 1912. Five years after taking the job, Denny made the controversial hire of Xen Scott as head football coach. Football success led to increased revenues and rapid growth. Scott's successor, Wallace Wade, arrived in 1923 and quickly took the program to previously unthinkable heights. Ever since then, higher learning, the local economy and Alabama football have been intertwined and never more so than today. Nick Saban's success is fueling a new era of unprecedented growth at the Capstone.
Participation in high school football is trending downward at the national level, and while it has increased over the past few years locally, more parents are opting for flag youth football in Tuscaloosa than ever before. In the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority leagues, flag football participation has passed the number playing tackle youth ball and has more than doubled over the last five years.
Football has always been a violent sport. Some people like to call it a contact sport, but that's not accurate. Basketball is a contact sport. Football is a collision sport.
Football has been down this path before. A few years before Denny arrived on campus, there was a national movement to ban the game. President Theodore Roosevelt stepped in to save it with sweeping reforms that forever changed how the game is played.
Parents, players, universities and communities deserve an unflinching and honest look at all the information available to us so that we're better able to address issues with the modern game.
Many young men who otherwise wouldn't be able to go to college get an education through football. But they deserve to know at what cost. And so do the fans who cheer them.
—The Tuscaloosa News Editorial Board