"In 2016, the NFL admitted a link between degenerative brain disease and injuries resulting from tackle football. This admission sparked a new safety debate in professional football. However, the concerns about players' health do not start at the professional level, but at the beginning and intermediate levels of play. In this book, Kathleen Bachynski tells the story of youth tackle football and the debates over player safety in the United States. In the postwar United States, high school football was celebrated as a 'moral' sport for young boys, one that promised the creation of the honorable male citizen. However, Bachynski shows that throughout the twentieth century, coaches, sports equipment manufacturers, and even doctors were more concerned with 'saving the game' than young boys' safety. By connecting the study of sport, health, childhood, and masculinity, Bachynski shows the social and physical vulnerability of young football players and how commonly held ideas of masculinity shape sport"-- From the untimely deaths of young athletes to chronic disease among retired players, roiling debates over tackle football have profound implications for more than one million American boys--some as young as five years old--who play the sport every year. In this book, Kathleen Bachynski offers the first history of youth tackle football and debates over its safety. In the postwar United States, high school football was celebrated as a "moral" sport for young boys, one that promised and celebrated the creation of the honorable male citizen. Even so, Bachynski shows that throughout the twentieth century, coaches, sports equipment manufacturers, and even doctors were more concerned with "saving the game" than young boys' safety--even though injuries ranged from concussions and broken bones to paralysis and death. By exploring sport, masculinity, and citizenship, Bachynski uncovers the cultural priorities other than child health that made a collision sport the most popular high school game for American boys. These deep-rooted beliefs continue to shape the safety debate and the possible future of youth tackle football. -- Provided by publisher. Provided by publisher.

The modern knight errant : nation, race, and the origins of American football --We are not a nation of softies : youth football from the Great Depression to the Cold War -- Your men can smash through : designing and marketing football equipment -- The duty of their elders : doctors, coaches, and safety expertise, 1950s-1960s -- The rough and tumble : what counts as a football injury? -- Controlling hazards : insurance, data, and consumer product safety, 1930-1974 -- A clear conscience : setting helmet standards and legal responsibility for injuries, 1960s-1970s -- It's all we've got : community, education, and youth football -- This is your brain on football : the framing of a concussion crisis.