Why communities of color are embracing youth tackle football despite safety concerns

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Last night's Super Bowl, with more than 100 million viewers expected, capped a major year for the NFL. In 2023, NFL games accounted for 93 of the 100 most watched TV programs.

  But the risks of the game have been well-documented. And, for some, that's changed how they see kids tackle football. For others, including in the town of Lexington, Mississippi, the commitment to youth football remains high.

  This report comes to us from and Shirley Povich and Howard Centers of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and the student correspondent is Sapna Bansil.

• Sapna Bansil:

  Like many kids in Lexington, Mississippi, R.J. and Mason Redmond have been playing tackle football on this field since they were 5. It's a place that fosters big dreams.

  You know what you want to be, both of you, when you grow up?

• Boy:

  Yes, ma'am.

• Sapna Bansil:

  What do you want to be?

• Boy:

  An NFL player.

• Sapna Bansil:

  You want to be an NFL player when you grow up, huh?

  How about you?

• Boy:

  An NFL player.

• Sapna Bansil:

  Really?

  Parents enroll their kids on teams like the Lexington Colts by the time they reach kindergarten, with an eye on where the sport can take them. Currently, one in every 385 Lexington residents plays football at a Power Five school, considered part of the most prominent conferences in college athletics. It's one of the best rates of any town in the country.

  And it inspires Mason and R.J.'s father to imagine what's possible for his sons.

• Ronald Redmond, Father:

  When we're watching the NFL games on Sundays or Saturdays or whatever the case may be, I tell them that that can be you out there on that field. It all boils down to what you want. If you want it, you can get it.

• Sapna Bansil:

  Lexington, a town of nearly 1,200 people, is 77 percent Black. It's in the second poorest county in the nation's poorest state. Nearly 35 percent of people live in poverty.

• Ronald Redmond:

  We live in here in Lexington, Mississippi, which is Holmes County, a small population. And the opportunity for kids is at a bare minimum. We have no swimming pool here. We have no community swimming pool. We have no tennis court. The basketball court is bare minimum.

• Sapna Bansil:

  In a place like Lexington, football doesn't just benefit the few who become stars. It helps open doors, according to Marcus Rogers, the head football coach at Holmes County Central High School.

• Marcus Rogers, Head Football Coach, Holmes County Central High School:

  Football, it will teach you about life. It's like now I'm not playing football anymore, and I tell the kids all the time, football set me up to do what I'm doing today. And I didn't play in the NFL. I played high-never college football, but it set me up with relationships with people.

• Sapna Bansil:

  A 2023 Boston University study found that those who start playing tackle football at an early age or play it for more than 11 years are at greater risk of cognitive and behavioral problems.

  As a result, many communities around the country are turning away from youth football programs amid health and safety concerns. Tackle football participation is down 13.2 percent from 2019 to 2022 among kids 6 through 12. But communities of color have a higher tendency to stick with the sport.

  Some, including Marcus Rogers, say safety around the sport has improved.

• Marcus Rogers:

  In these times, football is as safe as it's ever been. I don't force it on anyone because it has to be something you want to do because it's tough — tough personal sport, whether you're a female or male trying to play.

• Sapna Bansil:

  But that's not the only reason communities of color are sticking with football.

  A Povich and Howard center poll found that Black and Hispanic parents are nearly twice as likely as white parents to see youth football as a path to college scholarships and even the NFL.

• Ronald Redmond:

  Out of all these kids over the state of Mississippi starting out at 5 and 6 and 7 or 8 years old, now somebody is going to end up in the NFL. It's going to happen. Somebody is going to push it to the screen and they're going to end up in the NFL somewhere.

• Sapna Bansil:

  Last season, nearly 40 children ages five through 12 played for the Colts. All were Black. Since the Colts were founded in 1999, only two white players have ever enrolled.

  Colts CEO Sherri Reeves said a big part of the reason for that is white and Black students in the town don't attend school together.

• Sherri Reeves, CEO, Lexington Colts:

  There's really very little intermingling socially among the kids that are black and white in this community. It's rooted and grounded in a mentality that has been and overshadowing, and I'm going to say Mississippi in general.

• Sapna Bansil:

  Lexington itself is still dealing with the consequences of a long racial divide. A Confederate monument stands in the town square. The town's police department remains under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged civil rights violations.

  Some families say the path to a better future may involve tackle football. And some of those success stories began with the Lexington Colts, as well as nearby teams in Durant and Tchula. But football can't keep every kid on the right path.

• Marcus Rogers:

  I have lost a couple of football players in the last few years, more than a couple, you know? We have lost a few students per year, gun violence, drive-by shootings, stuff like that.

  So, we will continue to work with these guys and try to get them to have a different mentality.

• Sapna Bansil:

  For the "PBS NewsHour" and the Povich and Howard Centers at the University of Maryland, this is Sapna Bansil reporting from Lexington, Mississippi.

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