By Andy Loigu

In response to widespread concern regarding the safety of high school football, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) has decided to limit full contact during practices to 15 minutes per week during the regular season.

The previous limit was 90 minutes.

Full contact has been defined as tackling to the ground..Some local players, wishing to remain anonymous, complained that they will not be able to practice “like it is a game” and felt that the restricted tackling time in practices will result in more missed tackles during the games. That has been a problem in most of the games I’ve broadcast on local radio over the years, anyway, even during the days of less restrictions on tackling in practices.

One thing this columnist finds positive about the new legislation, is that coaches will have to spend more time teaching proper tackling techniques.

Sadly, I worked with a man over 30 years ago, an administrator at a children’s rehab hospital, who was quadriplegic as the result of a high school football injury. He told me he was taught to drive his helmet into the opponent’s numbers. The conversation left me thankful that my coaches taught me and my teammates to lead with the shoulder closest to the ball carrier and wrap up. Today, too many youth and high school players try to make that “big hit” which sends someone flying, because they see NFL players doing it on television, and again and again on replays. This man, like several other wheelchair users with whom I’ve spoken, holds no bitterness toward the sport of football. He still spends his autumn Saturdays and Sundays loyally rooting for Notre Dame and the Giants, just like he did as a youngster. Despite the risks, football remains a game that Americans love.

Former New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington is a high school football coach these days, and he has joined Deion Sanders, Trent Dilfer and several other former pro stars as a member of an NFL sponsored Youth Advisory Committee, to create consistency in coaching from level to level and to promote safe techniques and equipment to protect the players of the future.

As football people, Pennington said the committee seeks to control the narrative and ensure that the right information is being taught at the local and youth levels, regarding the proper way to play the game. He said there needs to be a partnership between the NFL and the colleges with coaches and parents at all levels. This columnist says “Amen” and best wishes to that.

They could start by having the guys who play on television stopping the intentional helmet to helmet hits. Kids imitate what they see the pros doing, and sadly, some coaches have been teaching the wrong things.

****************Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.