California Governor Gavin Newsome hasn’t gotten the best treatment on this site.
Through all fault of his own.
To praise, and not merely criticize.
I will not sign legislation that bans youth tackle football, Newsom said in a statement late Tuesday.
And deserves to be celebrated.
Now is not the time for cynicism.
“Sure, there’s a risk your kid could get injured playing football.
But what about the risk of him growing up to be a pussy?”
I can’t speak to that.
But I didn’t have a father from just before my 10th birthday on.
And I can say this with total confidence:
Playing tackle football saved my life.
Not that I would’ve been dead without it.
But it changed the whole trajectory of my life.
Maybe I ate my feelings and fell into a world of watching TV and becoming more sofa than boy.
It might have just been coincidence.
Or maybe I was headed down that path before he even got sick.
That’s a matter for a therapist to get out of me.
And my therapy has always been comedy stages and typing words here.
Which are better than free; they pay the bills.
All I know for sure is from then through eight grade, I was in a bad place.
I had friends in school.
And I was able to make them laugh.
Worse, I was an introvert.
And yet I have clear memories of her lashing out in frustration about me constantly moping around doing nothing.
What changed my direction was football.
Specifically, freshman football.
No one told me to join.
So no even encouraged me.
None of the school friends I hung out with wanted anything to do with it.
But for reasons I can’t recall, it was something I at least wanted to try.
By no means was I a gifted athlete.
I was as small as anyone on the team.
I’m sure that, along with some huge linemen, I was among the slowest.
As far from the trenches as possible.
But I lasted the season.
Largely due to the fact at that level, they didn’t have cuts.
But mainly because I was determined to stick it out to the end.
What I got in the deal was immeasurable.
Which was a great problem to have.
That small factor changed my life more than anything.
But this isn’t a Disney movie.
He had to say “practice,” because there was no game day jersey for me.
I did find one in the equipment room that had no numbers on it.
And how proud I ought to be for toughing it out.
I won’t recite it here, or recount what the assistant coach added.
But believe me, I remember every word.
And how I felt walking home that night.
I’d paid for it.
With some of my own money, granted.
But also with work, commitment, and refusing to quit.
This has gone on way too long.
But it’s important to me.
And it should be important to the country.
Tackle football is ultimately good for kids.
It can change their lives the way it did mine.
And the way a fun little distraction like Flag football never will.
It’s why I raised two boys to play it.
And it did them as much good as it did me.
As long as there’s an America, there should be tackle football for American boys.
Thanks for listening to my TED Talk.
