Cohen Craddock was just 13 years old when he died last month, his brain swollen with blood. The West Virginia middle school lineman made a tackle during a Friday practice, stood back up, took a few steps and collapsed. Within a day, he was dead.
The same day, Alabama high schooler Caden Tellier — a 16-year-old quarterback — died of a brain injury suffered during a game the night before.
Their deaths have put youth football safety back in the spotlight.
One in 20 — that’s how many football players ages 5-14 suffer a concussion every season, according to research from the University of Washington Medicine’s Sports Health and Safety Institute and Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Another study discovered evidence of the degenerative brain disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in 41% of deceased athletes younger than 30 who were exposed to repeated head injuries.
A 2018 study discovered that, while accounting for only 6% of all plays, kickoffs were responsible for 21% of all reported concussions in the 2015 Ivy League football season.
Some schools, like Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, are making their own changes to one of the sport’s most dangerous plays. In 2019, it removed the kickoff all together.
“It was for safety. It was for the best,” Riverdale director of athletics John Pizzi told CNN.
The bold move inspired the Metropolitan Independent Football League to follow suit. From 2019 to 2021, the league had a 33% drop in reported concussions.
“The kickoff isn’t as important as it seems to outside viewers,” Riverdale’s varsity team captain Tristan Cornell told the news outlet. “The fact that we don’t have that probably allows us to keep healthy and play throughout the entire season.”
He has never played in a game with a kickoff.
Vomiting, seizures, confusion and slurred speech are just some of the symptoms that accompany the traumatic injury. To take players off a collision course with brain damage, the NFL has enacted new rules for the 2024 season. That’s why the kickoff, football’s most dangerous play, looks a little different this year.
“To address the lowest kickoff return rate in NFL history during the 2023 season and an unacceptable injury rate on kickoffs prior to that, NFL clubs have approved a new kickoff rule for the 2024 season,” the league announced.
Players can’t move until the ball makes contact, with the ground or a player, and they have been moved closer to each other. It’s all in the name of reducing the number of top-speed collisions that injure so many players.
“Concussions should be taken seriously because they can produce changes in your child’s brain, body, and behavior,” according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Most children with a concussion feel better within two to four weeks. However, some children have symptoms that effect their behavior, mood, memory, or emotions for months or longer. Symptoms that stay around can affect children as they grow up and even through adulthood.”
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