The Super Bowl is the most watched televised event every year. In fact, in 2017 111.3 million people watched Super Bowl LI. Every football season, you hear predictions on who is going all the way, and who is not. Football is the most watched sport, in all of America, but will it stay that way? Football is slowly dying, and here is why.

Football is a very dangerous sport due to all of the contact and physicality. Youth leagues have seen an extreme drop in the number of participants every year. It is even happening in our hometowns of Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes. For example, in Franklin Lakes the 5th and 6th graders combined, do not have enough kids to field a team. Parents have a concern for their kids’ safety, but are they overreacting? Why is football having more and more issues as the years progress? With all the advancements in today’s technology, you would expect the sport to be the safest it has ever been. And I would agree with you, but it is not the equipment that is the problem, it is the perception parents have on football. Nowadays people are always looking at the negatives. They look at all the bad in football, and never look at any of the positives. Football builds character and a sense of toughness. Today, people are lacking the toughness that our society once had. It is important to not only have physical toughness, but also mental toughness.

            In football, you have to be able to fight through adversities all the time. When someone gets hurt, or when something doesn’t go your way, you have to keep playing and forget about it. Football teaches life lessons throughout, and never lacks in keeping a challenge. For example, in my experience playing football, I have learned that everything happens for a reason. It showed me, even if you do not like something, it could help you in the long run. In the beginning of my football career, I was always on the line. I may have not liked it, or agreed with it, but I stuck through it. When I got to high school, that all changed. I became a running back, and with my experience from the line, I was able to put that to use even at a different position. This was just one of the life lessons that football has taught me.

Another lesson football will teach someone is the key to winning is by working as a team. In football, one person cannot control the outcome of the game. It is a true team sport. Life works the same way. In life, if you cannot work well with others or try and do everything by yourself, almost always you will fail. Working with other is an important skill that will be used in your whole life. In football, you learn this from day one. If not every single person does not have the same goal or aspirations, you will fail. I have been on good and bad teams in football. Each team has shared common themes. The bad teams would never work well together, and would usually have selfish players who would not want to sacrifice anything for the benefit of others. On my good teams, every player cared for one another. Everyone would be willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team.

Football does not get the respect that it once has, but I believe that it should. It is very important for today’s youth to experience what it is like to be on a football team. It teaches many things, and makes a person tougher mentally and physically. Even though football is still one of the most televised events, watching is not the same as playing. The lessons and friendships you receive in football are priceless. Although the future of football may not look to bright, for those who play the game loved by many will always be one step further than the person next to them.