NFL REPORT – THE COMMISSIONER’S VIEW -- Fall, 2003

HERE'S TO EVERYONE IN FOOTBALL

            Football is our greatest spectator sport. In that capacity, the NFL serves millions of fans each season by presenting the competitive excellence of the sport’s best players and teams, culminating in the most-watched annual event of any kind—the Super Bowl.

On another important level, football is also a huge participatory activity with benefits for those who play that reach far beyond the field. As the NFL prepares to kick off its eighty-fourth season, we salute the millions of people who will participate in their own football seasons this year—as players, coaches, game officials, administrators, and cheerleaders in youth and high school football. The parents who lead and guide young people in playing football serve an equally important role, and we salute you, too.

All of us in the NFL recognize that the health of our league—and the future of our sport—flows from the strength of the game at the youth and high school levels. As a result, we embrace our responsibility to support and build the game among young people.

NFL team owners, coaches, and players are more active than ever in youth football. Examples abound—from free football clinics presented by Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks, Jets head coach Herman Edwards, and others; to the Alex Spanos All-Star Classic for San Diego high school players sponsored by the Chargers’ owner; to the Cowboys using halftime of a game at Texas Stadium to showcase Dallas-area youth football teams; to Falcons center Roberto Garza holding a clinic for Atlanta-area Hispanic kids; to former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason’s annual high school all-star game between New York City and Long Island; to the 2003 NFL rookies hosting a youth football clinic during their Rookie Symposium in south Florida.

The list goes on and on, a testament to how much young people enjoy playing football, including a growing numbers of girls. Parents need to know that football is particularly safe on the youth level. That statement may surprise some, but research bears out its truth. A recent Mayo Clinic study of youth football shows that injuries are uncommon, the ones that occur are generally mild, and the risk of injury is no greater in youth football than in other recreational or competitive sports.

As a league, we have created a three-tiered structure to support youth football. It consists of 1) an NFL Youth Football Department to implement programs like NFL Flag, Punt, Pass & Kick, and Junior High School Player Development with our teams and sponsors; 2) the NFL-NFL Players Association Youth Football Fund to invest in a wide array of other programs and initiatives; and 3) the newly created USA Football organization, endowed by the Youth Football Fund and chaired by Jack Kemp, to engage in advocacy, coalition building, and adding value to the national calendar of youth football events.

As part of the kickoff of the 2003 season, we are challenging everyone in our league, and everyone who loves football, to find at least one way this year to support youth or high school football. It can range from attending the game of a friend’s son or daughter, to speaking at a youth football event, to participating as a coach, administrator, or game official, to volunteering to serve as a team doctor or trainer, to donating something for a fund-raising auction.

Does it matter for the NFL to get involved?

“It means so much when the NFL reaches out to the other levels of the game,” says coach David Wilson of Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida. “The NFL’s commitment to youth football is not lip service. It’s a genuine commitment to the people involved in youth football who all share a love of this great team sport. The NFL’s support lifts up the entire sport and that’s a great thing.”

Paul Rorke, head coach of the high school team in Syosset, New York, helped a group of parents re-start a youth football program several years ago. He said the NFL and its players have a tremendous impact on youth and high school football.

“Young players idolize the players they see every Sunday,” said Rorke. “When NFL players reach out to young players, the kids realize that at one time they were just like them. The message they send about setting goals academically and athletically is something that has an impact. It serves as encouragement for kids trying to make something of themselves, and stays with them forever.”