Illinois voting on under-12 tackle football ban

[March 02, 2018]    A bill proposing to ban tackle football under age 12 passed the Illinois House mental health committee Thursday and will go to the full house for debate and a formal vote.

HB 4341, also called the Dave Duerson Act, aims to prohibit participation in organized tackle football for any child under age 12.

Duerson played for the Chicago Bears and committed suicide in 2011. His brain was found to have evidence of CTE, a study that was done at the request of Duerson's suicide note.

Duerson's son, Tregg, has become a vocal advocate of eliminating tackle football as a youth sports program.

Illinois is one of four states seeking to establish legislation to limit the number of years football players are exposed to head trauma.

Several prominent medical professionals, including Boston University CTE researcher Dr. Robert Stern and Concussion Legacy Foundation CEO Chris Nowinski, support the Illinois bill. Each argued that limiting the number of years any player participates in tackle football will very likely lower the risk of CTE.

--Field Level Media

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