Most of us start playing football at the age of probably 8 or 9, and in that time we form a bound like no other. The sport starts to define who we are as individuals; from the teams we pick to the championships we have won as individuals, football starts to make us who we are.
Jacksonville Jaguar linebacker, Telvin Smith, decided to step away from the game for the 2019 season in-order to give more time to his family. This is something that would not have happened 10 years ago. Players who are at the top of their game, and in their 20s don’t hang up the cleats, or even put them on ice for a season.
But this is something that is starting to happen more and more often. Young players are starting to hang it up to pursue something else in life. The media need see it from the players side, the goal of most football players is to make it to the NFL. The key in that is to “Make it” to the NFL. Once you are drafted or get an NFL contract big enough to support your family and to live comfortably, then the dream was realized.
Life is truly more than football. The movie staring Will Smith, Concussion, demonstrated how obsessed America is about Football. Regardless of the impact concussions are having on the players, or how the owners view the players, football still controls the masses. That’s why it is weird to see so many young players decided to do something else with their life.
In a study done by the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) stated that there was a decline in the number of players participating in 11-player football. San Francisco Chronicle expounded on the subject in an article written by Matt Kawahara.
Football as great as it is, is crumbling from it’s foundation up. When parents are seeing the long-term affects of football, the way players are being treated by the owners, and how many injuries that come about while playing the sport, why would anybody subject themselves to such a sport.
So Telvin taken a step back to better his health and to be with his family, we should all understand by now that Life is More Than Football!