Why are schools on the hook for NFL player development?

While my point is not to dismiss the genuine good many of these efforts bring to our communities, here’s a community “service” project for the NFL that will have more positive impact on the health and educational well-being of our nation than all of the NFL’s other public service projects combined.

Why should our already financially strapped junior high and high schools be responsible for sponsoring and financing an activity that mangles bodies, scrambles brains, has diminishing educational value due to an increasing emphasis on winning and develops skills in participants that have little to do with future success in the creative and innovative economy and world community of the future? Yes, football’s entertainment qualities can bring joy, unite a community and teach valuable life lessons, but the fact is, football is not unique in its potential to provide these benefits.

Fortunately, there is an organization that exists that could assume responsibility for operating a national club football system: USA Football.

USA Football is the national governing body for football, working locally with hundreds of youth football organizations on safety issues and coaching certification.

But the good news is that USA Football is part of an organization with unparalleled visibility, significant financial clout and sufficient administrative and organizational reach, structure and resources the National Football League.

Contrary to what sports fans might believe, our nation’s educational system would not collapse if the responsibility for developing football players was “privatized.”