But while I would hate to see football go, I now understand that it simply has little place in today’s society, especially at an educational institution like Harvard.
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College is supposed to be a time of intellectual exploration, centered on expanding students’ brains and preparing them to become fully grown citizens of the world. Football is not conducive to that mission. Stuck in your dorm room with a concussion, it’s hard—maybe even impossible—to get through your readings, or go over to a friend’s room and have a meaningful conversation. I’d know: I’ve had three serious concussions myself.
But perhaps even worse than the effects concussions have on the lives of Harvard football players is the number of high school students who put themselves at risk for the (really, really slim) chance of playing college football. According to a 2014 study in the American Journal of Sports medicine, almost 70 percent of high school athletes with concussions played despite their symptoms, over 40 percent of whom never told their coaches about the injury. According to another study, over 50 percent of concussions obtained in high-school male sports came from football.
Point being: Over one million high school students across the country risk their health—and, often, conceal their injuries—to play competitive football. If Harvard, and other schools that value education, shut down their football programs, one can only imagine how many more high school students would report their concussions, or stop playing football altogether.
As more information comes out about the dangers of football, high school students from upper-middle class backgrounds will be less inclined to play, while lower-class students may still feel forced to join football teams in spite of the risks. The coercive incentive structure that is starting to develop alongside the “ghettoization” of football is not unlike that of the military, where lower-class citizens often feel forced to put their bodies at risk for the chance of a college education. This incentive structure is tilted to favor the upper class.
Ultimately this debate comes down to a single question: Should Harvard, a school that’s mission is to provide students with a “transformational” education, really be rewarding high school students for playing a sport that risks their physical and mental well-being?
I think not, and I want Harvard, as well as any other schools that would be willing, to shut down their football teams now, so that young Americans like Andre Smith do not die in vain.
Samuel H. Koppelman ’18, a Crimson editorial executive, lives in Leverett House.