Football

Introduction
The beginnings of organized football
Organized college football
Pop Warner and other youth football leagues
Flag football
Friday night lights
Pros
- Pro 1: Tackle football instills teamwork, sportsmanship, resilience, and discipline.
- Pro 2: Tackle football gets kids outside, away from digital screens, and promotes fitness and a healthy life.
- Pro 3: Tackle football provides socialization for kids and teens, plus a lifetime of social opportunities.
- Pro 4: Tackle football offers an outlet for assertive, rambunctious energy, instilling toughness in young men.
Cons
- Con 1: Tackle football is too violent for youth, whose bodies are vulnerable and still in development.
- Con 2: Tackle football puts players at risk for concussion and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).
- Con 3: Tackle football routinely distracts students from school and studies that will better prepare them for life than football.
- Con 4: Flag football is more inclusive, with all of the social benefits of tackle football but without the risk to our youth of serious injury.
Did you know? U.S. presidents & football
- Donald Trump
- Joe Biden
- Barack Obama
- Bill Clinton
- George H.W. Bush
- Ronald Reagan
- Jimmy Carter
- Gerald Ford
- Richard Nixon
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- John F. Kennedy
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Herbert Hoover
- Theodore Roosevelt
Rules of the Harvard Game (1873)
Assessment quiz
1-minute survey
Discussion questions
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

High school football player in a green helmet and camouflage jersey is tackled headfirst at the goal line by an opponent in white and orange, with the ball extended for a touchdown.

The science behind CTE in athletes and veterans

Group portrait of the Rutgers College 1891 football team

Walter Camp in the 1910s

Wood engraving of a late 19th-century football game between Yale and Princeton shows players in striped uniforms running and tackling on a grassy field with a grandstand in the background.

Football game in Washington, D.C., c. 1920–30

Movie star Ronald Reagan

Sepia-toned group photo of a high school football team with boys in vintage uniforms and leather helmets, including John F. Kennedy, posing in front of a brick building.

Football: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

The Editors of ProCon
ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Discussion questions standardized.	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 23, 2026
	Question adjusted.	The Editors of ProCon	May 15, 2026
	New source added.	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 18, 2025
	New photo added.	The Editors of ProCon	Sep 07, 2025
	Quiz added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 30, 2025
	Statistics updated.	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 30, 2025
	New article added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 28, 2025