Theodore Roosevelt High School principal agrees students shouldn’t play football

Photo courtesy of EmiLee Hartman Photography. (With permission)

More than a decade ago, Dennis Love secured his helmet and tightened his shoelaces as a member of the Roosevelt Rough Riders football team. Now, as the current principal and former football coach, Love agrees with concussion research pioneer Dr. Bennet Omalu on the recommendation that high school students should not play football.

Reporters in a Computer Assisted Reporting class at Kent State University contacted principals and school board presidents across Ohio asking for a reaction to Omalu’s 2015 New York Times Op-Ed advising high school students not to play football to prevent "irreversible brain damage," better known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

“Of course I would agree with what [Dr. Omalu is] saying, but what next then?” Love said.

Dennis Love, principal of 
Theodore Roosevelt High School

Despite the evidence presented by Omalu, Love feels removing the program entirely isn't an easy process to go through and would cause an uproar from the community.

"It’s probably much bigger than myself and the superintendent," Love said. "These are community decisions. In Ohio, the community is the one who supports the schools, voting for the levies."

College football and the NFL continue to be two high rated sports. The 2015 Super Bowl alone garnered 114.4 million viewers, according to Sports Illustrated.

Theodore Roosevelt High School follows head injury recommendations from the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Following a head injury, parents receive home instructions and a notification sheet explaining the incident. They are offered two solutions in order for a student athlete to return to the sport.

A. The student needs a doctor’s release before being permitted to return to the field.

B. The student needs to be re-evaluated by the athletic trainer and Dr. Nilesh Shah, the team physician.

Additionally, the athlete and a parent or guardian must acknowledge receiving the Ohio Department of Health Concussion Information Sheet by signing the bottom of the form. The athletic department uses the SCAT3 concussion assessment tool for pre and post concussion testing as well.

On top of handouts and being provided with an athletics handbook, parents can attend an informational meeting held before the start of every football season. This year's took place on Aug. 2.

“It’s a tough thing, so I’d imagine a lot of principals feel that … you’re kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Love said. “Nobody wants to see anybody ever get hurt, but the reality is people will and people have died on the football field.”

While the information presented in Omalu’s Op-Ed is indisputably researched, Love said by getting involved with a sport “the risk is worth the reward.” Being part of a well-organized team and commitment to that team leads to success later in life, he said.

That means risking damage to a vital organ unable to regenerate.

Kent School Board President Marlene Dorsey stated via email that she "could call [me] sometime next week for a brief interview." When asked a specific date, Dorsey said she "might offer an opinion at a later time" before declining to comment on this issue regarding student safety.

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What I learned:

I learned not to accept everything that was said as useful information for the article. (Don't be a human microphone.) At points, my conversation with Mr. Love went on the verge of PR as he spoke about how talented the athletic department is, but he spoke truthfully about agreeing with Dr. Omalu's research instead of deflecting the question. Mr. Love couldn't name any specific concussion cases and I realize I should have talked to the athletic director to get that information.

Dayton Public Schools Officials Unwilling To Be Interviewed On Football Concussions

Taylor Kerns, tkerns@kent.edu

In the 2015 film "Concussion," Will Smith plays real-life doctor Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist whose research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) rubs the NFL the wrong way. CTE is a type of degenerative brain disease affecting those who, like many football players, have sustained hard hits to the head.

Belmont High School principal
Melanie Walter declined to be
interviewed.

The same year the film was released, Dr. Omalu penned an op-ed for the New York Times titled “Don’t Let Kids Play Football.” In the piece, Omalu makes the case that given what we know about the dangers associated with high-impact sports, minors should not be allowed to participate in them.

Kent State’s High School Football Reporting Project was tasked with reaching out to high school principals and school board presidents across the state of Ohio to ask their opinions on Omalu’s recommendation via video chat and phone interviews. Public records requests for the school's concussion policies and student and parent football paperwork were also sent.

Dayton Public Schools
Board of Education president
Dr. Adil Baguirov provided
comments via email, but declined
to be interviewed.

Melanie Walter, principal of Belmont High School in Dayton, Ohio declined to be interviewed. Jyllian Guerriero, the school’s legal counsel, replied to all inquiries directed to Walter. She said that Walter would not be available for an interview “simply because she’s got a lot going on.” Guerriero also replied to the public records request.

Dayton school board president Dr. Adil Baguirov replied to interview requests via email, providing some thoughts on CTE including some of his own suggestions on addressing the issue, but ultimately declining to be interviewed.

These results weren’t unusual. Of 17 principals contacted, only six agreed to be interviewed. All but two complied with public records requests. Only four of 17 school board principals consented to an interview.

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In working on this project, I learned that getting interviews can take more tenacity than I’m used to showing in my previous experience in the journalism program. Up until this project, people have seemed eager to talk. That could be because of the nature of the question -- people don’t like conflict. It’s probably also easy to dismiss a student from across the state as just a kid working on a school project, even though I never identified myself as a student.

Bowling Green Board President: Risk of Concussion Outweighed

Bowling Green Board of Education
President, Mr. Paul Walker, said the risks
of playing football are outweighed by the benefits.

Bowling Green School Board President Paul Walker said he does not believe the risk of concussions outweighs the benefits of kids playing football. "There are risks associated with all the competitive sports kids play," Mr. Walker said. 

We sent Board President Walker as well as Principal Jeffrey Dever a copy of Dr. Omalu's op ed to read though before the interview. Dr. Omalu first diagnosed Chronic
Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in 2002, which is a disease that can cause a variety of health issues including memory loss and later in life dementia. He recommends children should not be allowed to play football due to the long-term consequences involving brain damage.

Bowling Green High School Principal,
Mr. Jeffrey Dever, refused to interview.

Principal Dever refused to do an interview with us saying, "I do not wish to participate in this study." However, Walker answered our questions after he read through Dr. Omalu's op ed.

Mr. Walker said the Board of Education has discussed the issue of athletic concussions as a board, but not at a public meeting. He again stated he believes there is risk with everything and the risks of playing football are outweighed by the benefits, which he cited to include working as a team and setting goals. But do the benefits really outweigh the risk?

While Mr. Walker is right about sports all having risks, the risk of getting a concussion from playing football is a 75% chance according to the National Safety Council (NSC). The NSC also noted in a post on its website that playing football has the highest chances of getting a concussion for men. Working as a team and setting goals can be beneficial lessons to learn, but there are other ways children can learn these lessons. As previously stated, CTE can cause memory loss and dementia. Even if playing football teaches these lessons, it can make kids forget them and more in the long run. 

Bowling Green High School does follow the Ohio High School Athletic Association's (OHSAA) concussion policy. The policy includes requirements for coaches and contest officials to take a course on concussions or have a pupil activity program/coaching permit. Also, parents and students must review and sign a concussion information sheet as part of the policy. 

Cuyahoga Falls High School Protecting its Players

Cuyahoga Falls High School’s administration confirms that they are following all required Ohio concussion policies in light of recent controversy surrounding football and its related injuries. 

Dr. Bennet Omalu, made famous by Will Smith’s portrayal of him in the Peter Landesman film Concussion, has been researching the effects of football-related concussions since 2002. In 2015, he wrote a New York Times op-ed titled, “Don’t Let Kids Play Football.” The article advised parents to resist allowing their children onto football teams for concerns over serious brain injuries.

CFHS Principal
Allison Bogdan

When asked about her opinion of the doctor’s recommendation, CFHS principal Allison Bogdan, a self-proclaimed football lover, responded, “I appreciate these types of articles although it’s one article, it’s one view… there’s things that any educated person needs to do to see both sides.”

On that other side is one of Dr. Omalu’s colleagues who was also featured in Concussion, Dr. Julian Bailes. Dr. Bailes believes the updates made to football safety since 2009 will stifle, if not eliminate the risk of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease caused by repetitive brain trauma, for football players.

"If kids understand this is a collision sport and it‘s what they want to play, I think they should enjoy the many, many benefits from this sport - just as I think they should enjoy playing soccer or hockey, which also come with risk of concussion," Dr. Bailes told the L.A. Times.

Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education
President Karen Schofield

“Whether or not I think that young children should engage in [football] is really something I have to set aside,” said Karen Schofield, the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education President. “My obligation is to uphold the policies and laws of the state of Ohio and that includes the Ohio High School Athletic Association… There are experts out there, folks who work with the athletes, medical professionals… who design policies that each of the school districts [are] required to uphold.”

CFHS follows the concussion protocols set in place by the Ohio High School Athletic Association and the Ohio Department of Health. These protocols encourage parents to look out for signs of concussions in their children such as momentary losses in consciousness or sudden forgetfulness, as well as lay out the procedures for what to do after someone has been concussed. 

CFHS Athletic Director
Tom DiFrancesco

Deb Moore, Associate Commissioner at the Ohio High School Athletic Association, says that state concussion protocols were last updated concurrently with Ohio's Return to Play law in 2013. CFHS's policies fall in line with these protocols.

Athletic Director Tom DiFrancesco made sure to specify the “proactive” nature of the CFHS athletic program and noted their recent partnership with Summa Health. 

“We’re fortunate to have that partnership with SUMMA, having a doctor here," said Mr. DiFrancesco. "Every Tuesday he comes in and checks our kids.”

Like Dr. Bailes, Mr. DiFrancesco, Ms. Bogdan and Ms. Schofield all agreed that with the right training and equipment, football-instigated head trauma will not be an issue for the high school, as long as the high school is involved.

“We have the right folks on the sidelines, the right coaches with the right training, our equipment’s been checked and is of the quality,” said Ms. Schofield. “We can ensure those things because we’re supporting that particular sport for our school district. What we can’t control is everything else that’s out there like the hand-me-down equipment and so on.”

Mr. DiFrancesco confirmed that they do have one student, a cheerleader, who has been under concussion protocol for a year now. She will not be allowed to perform with the team until a physician has declared her well enough to participate. The administrators also said that more student athletes on the girls’ soccer team have received concussions than those on the football team in recent memory.

None of the three administrators could recall an instance of a parent or community member expressing concern over football safety in the school district within the past few years.

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What I learned: To say this assignment was frustrating would be a massive understatement. This came down to the sheer number of times I had to pester various administrators even for a simple phone call, much less a conversation on Skype. At one point, a Skype call with the principal was cancelled just a few hours in advance and then followed by a week of silence. I'm betting the only reason the board president got in touch with me was because the note she had received from the superintendent's secretary mentioned a "class project."

Kent State Journalism Student
Jacob Derwin

At the end of the day, the biggest lesson to take from this assignment is how to be stern. I generally don't like putting extra pressure on people who are already being non-responsive, but sometimes, "I'll just have to report that you aren't talking to me" is necessary to get what you need. This was the case with the public records that took me a month and a half to get ahold of.

Will the Friday Night Lights Burn Out From Safety Concerns?

Life expectancy has doubled in the past 200 years. New discoveries over the decades have brought forth knowledge of potentially harmful threats to our health, paving the way for medical advancements. DDT was the most popular pesticide used during the 1940s until it was banned for potentially causing tumors and birth defects. Asbestos was used in the construction of wallboards and gas fireplaces for years. In the 1970s, it was banned after it was discovered to be a carcinogen. In recent years, Monsanto, a popular agrochemical corporation, has been spraying the herbicide, Roundup, on its crops. In the past few years, it was discovered that the herbicide may cause autism, cancer and heart disease. This danger has not been extinguished, and it is not the only one.

Playing football has the potential to cause significant health problems. While high school administrators are aware of these problems, few are willing to address the issue.

In Dr. Omalu’s New York Times article, “Don’t Let Kids Play Football”, he discusses how the high-impact sport may cause permanent brain damage.

The neurologist is noted for the discovery of CTE, a degenerative disease that is commonly found in athletes who play football and boxing.

Boxing was once at the forefront of the public’s attention, with stars such as Muhammad Ali constantly in the limelight. Now, as more and more dangers came out about a sport rendering the objective to cause concussions, parents are less likely to encourage participation from their children.  

Yet, high school football, putting players at the same risk for CTE as boxing, continues to be a popular choice for student athletes and fans.

My reporting class was asked to contact high school principals and school board presidents from across the state of Ohio to learn their opinions on Dr. Omalu’s recommendation that students not participate in football.

I contacted eight high schools in Cincinnati, yet only one principal agreed to an interview. 

The principals at James N. Gamble Montessori High School, Aiken High School, Shroder Paideia High School, and Clark Montessori High School never responded to my multiple emails or public records requests.

Jeff Brokamp, principal of Walnut Hills High School, said that while this is a topic that he himself is “gathering facts on” he is “not yet ready to articulate” his views.




School Board President Ericka Copeland-Dansby did not respond to my five emails.

I made multiple attempts to contact Charlene Myers, principal of Riverview East Academy. It was not until I told her that I was going to report that she gave no response that she finally answered. She said she had been out of the office for two and a half weeks, so, "you can imagine this is not a priority."

Principal Dean Nicholas of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, a private school, was the only one who agreed to an interview. 

 

Principal Dean Nicholas
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy

“Football is a big part of high school culture, and that’s a great thing…but at the same time, I worry that can also give us cultural blinders,” Nicholas said.

Each week, millions nationwide flock to their respective local stadiums for the Friday night lights.

However, numbers for his school’s youth football team were so low that this is the first year that they were not able to have a team.

For this reason, his athletic department is conversing about how to make the game safer for players.

Nicholas said that his institution follows Cincinnati's concussion protocol and spends many dollars to buy the best equipment for players. He said that his athletic department and trainers “do everything that is possible from a physiology and medical perspective” to avoid the risk of concussions.

He told me that the football coaches are looking at a new tackle strategy that teaches players to keep their head to the side instead of “using it as a weapon”.

Nicholas agreed that he believes the low participation is due to parental concern for their children’s safety.

He also said this is the first time ever that his school had more students playing soccer than football.

While Nicholas believes the game may shift to the players having stronger equipment, he does not believe it will cease to exist as a contact sport.

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This project taught me that often times, the most controversial issues are the ones that need to be discussed most. The difficulty, however, is that few actually want to have that discussion. I spent three weeks trying to get a hold of principals across the city before one agreed to an interview. I did find it to be very surprising that the only principal who agreed to an interview was the principal of a private high school. 

Through my interview, I learned how difficult it is to change the public's mind about something they love, even with the known safety concerns involved. When it comes to Friday night lights, the bright side is that at least small changes are being done to increase safety. If these small changes happen nationwide, the ripple effect may produce something more significant in time.