Ben Utecht has written a book about his life as a college and professional football player who suffered five major concussions. He has surprising advice for parents of youth football players.
Utecht, whose concussions slowly are eroding his memory, believes boys should not play tackle football until they are in ninth grade.
His book, “Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away,” details his love of football, despite the injuries it caused, and his deep love of family and his amazing effort to preserve his most precious asset: his brain.broadstreet.zone(48036);
In talks throughout the country, Utecht advises parents: “Speaking as a parent, I would like to consider a later entrance age for children into contact sports like football … and in return follow the National Football League’s example of creating a national first-through-eighth-grade, highly competitive, noncontact football league.”
He goes on to stress that such a noncontact football league could prevent seven years of
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