Football: an American pastime that involves throwing an odd-shaped ball and violently being slammed to the ground. Football is a game that can seem almost pointless to some spectators. Former football player and fan Mark Hannah said the point is “to have fun.” Robert Hannah, another former football player, responded, “To get women.” Though football will remain an iconic sport of our nation, one must ask the question: is football dangerous?

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, “At least 11 U.S. high-school athletes died playing football during the fall 2015 season.” The article goes on to say that the Academy of Pediatrics would like to limit tackling, which has been linked to concussions and other football-related injuries. The repetitive knocks to the head can cause serious trauma from concussions to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

An article written by Boston University stated that CTE is a degenerative disease similar to Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease but is caused by brain trauma.

Madison’s high schoolers seem aware of the danger of football. Sixty-one high school students from Madison took a survey about how they feel about football’s danger levels. From the data collected, a total of 60 people voted that football is dangerous or that it depends, leaving only one vote that said that football was not dangerous. It is important to note that only 8.2% of the survey takers actually played football.

From the position of a spectator who has no real link to the sport, football looks very dangerous because of the constant tackling and falling. To get the real scoop, I asked a couple of people who had some links to football and personal experience with the sport.

Freshman and a former football player Skylar Kline was asked if she believed football was dangerous. She responded, “It depends on the circumstances. If you have taken all the necessary safety precautions: wearing a helmet, wearing elbow guards, wearing a mouth guard, wearing all the padding, then no, it’s not dangerous, but accidents can happen.”

Skylar later stated that she was injured on her arm, but she also said that she wasn’t wearing any of the protective gear and padding. “Football is only dangerous if you are not prepared.” Research shows that even with protective gear, athletes are injured during play and is not uncommon. Freshman Emma Bordelon has brothers who played football and shared, “I mean, it is dangerous of course, but players should have accepted that already. It is a violent sport in general. People are tackling each other.”