The New York State Assembly's Health Committee held a meeting in Manhattan yesterday to discuss banning tackle football in the state for children under 12 years old because of the dangers of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.
According to a study released by Boston University, CTE can occur after years of head collisions that are associated with contact sports, especially football. The study claimed that the younger children are when they begin contact sports, the more likely they are to develop CTE.
Dr. T.J. Abraham, 42, who played football for Duquesne University, told the committee that he was forced to stop practicing medicine last year because of early dementia.
"There were many days in college I remember seeing stars, the sky turning purple or orange, or vomiting due to a severe headache after a head-on collision," he said.
Scott Hallenbeck, the Executive Director of USA Football, told the New York Post, "Parents do not want their government telling them when their kids can play football."
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