Will tackle football be around in 20 years?
We're wondering the same after a new football bill passed in New Jersey that limits the amount players can tackle each other in practice.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association passed a bill that reduces in-season full-contact limits from 90 minutes per week to 15 minutes and preseason full-contact hours from unlimited to six.
Practice Like Pros is the group the proposed the bill, and they say they're in talks with seven other states about doing the same thing.
According to NorthJersey.com:
At the top of the list is Michigan, which is nearing approval for similar restrictions to New Jersey. The representative council is expected to meet in May to discuss.
Though the bill minimizes full-contact allowances, the NJSIAA and the New Jersey Football Coaches' Association don't think practices will be altered significantly.
NJFCA president John Fiore said the definition of "full-contact" established by Practice Like Pros will create an easy transition for coaches.
The story talks about how Michigan schools already follow similar guidelines according to MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl.
"Adding the thud concept into our definitions was very, very important," Uyl said. "The thud situation, there's not a physical winner or loser, nobody's being taken to the ground. . . . We really needed those three levels: live, thud, and then obviously, contact that isn't player-to-player."
In doing so, the MHSAA and Michigan High School Football Coaches Association are confident players will be safer and healthier without sacrificing technique.
Will a bill like this ruin tackle football as we know it?
It is declining in schools, data shows.
Nearly 1,700 fewer New Jersey high school football players participated in football in the 2017-18 school year, according to new national data.
"The 2017 high school season saw a drop in participation of 6.8 percent over the previous year, according to statistics released by the National Federation of State High School Associations. The 1,696 fewer players marked the biggest decline in New Jersey by far over the past decade," per NewJersey.com.
Between 2009 and 2016, New Jersey's high school football participation population went down by 1,761 total players, while the single-year drop from 2016 and 2017 nearly matched that prior eight-year total.
