On October 13, 2013, I was reading the sports section of the Toronto Star and saw this shocking headline. The article is about the PBS documentary League of Denial. (Watch on PBS ) The documentary is about the discovery of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy by Dr. Bennet Omalu and the NFL's obstinate denial and callous refusal to act. The headline as the article continued was this astonishing line: "Football kills but nobody really cares".

As an educator at a school that promoted tackle football, I took this headline as a challenge. Football kills and nobody really cares. This cannot be true. It is not true of our coaches and administrators who organize and encourage it, or of the parents and kids. Perhaps they don't really realize the dangers. Or perhaps it is denial. Denial is a very powerful force.

The Death of Gene Odulio

I had already been thinking along these lines for some time, ever since the death of 17-year-old Gene Odulio, a grade twelve student who collapsed on the field at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Brampton and died soon after on September 9, 2012. I was at the school covering classes while teachers were at the funeral. The question just arose in me: "A football death. That doesn't seem right. Does this happen often?"

I found out that in the United States, where the game is more part of the culture and many more play, teen football deaths are quite common. I have seen headlines about three teen deaths in one week and seven in one month! Another young person in Canada, Darius Hartshorne of Winnipeg, died recently after suffering a football injury in the fall of 2025. One person said to me that "If we thought there would be one more death, it would not be worth it." I agree.

So ever since that death of Gene Odulio in 2012, I began to question the validity of organizing this sport in our schools. I did some reading and thinking. This was not a kneejerk reaction.

The School Board Journey

It was over a year later, on October 10th, 2013, I presented to a high-ranking member of the school board where I worked. He listened and was sympathetic, but nothing came of it. He also said later in an email that, "Time is on your side."

It was also October of 2013 that PBS released the documentary called League of Denial. Here is a short one-minute clip from the beginning of that documentary: Watch clip

In 2015 the movie Concussion came out. Will Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu. Here is a fantastic six-minute scene from the movie that is really worth watching: Watch scene

Suffice it to say. This issue was very much in the news. Our society and culture are very disrespectful of life. That is a sad truth that is reflected in that startling headline. I cannot stop this deadly sport in society, and adults should be free to do what they want. But my point was and is that we should not be organizing and encouraging it to fourteen-year-olds in school.

I believe with Dr. Omalu that the age of consent should be eighteen when they become an adult. We wait for this age for other dangerous things like drinking and smoking. He argues this very compellingly in his New York Times opinion piece, Don't Let Kids Play Football.

Five Delegations, No Action

Over a ten-year period, I did five delegations to the school board where I worked and had many meetings, all to no avail. Five separate times I was told that concerns about enrollment were the main reason. The Toronto Catholic School Board said the same.

One person I discussed this with told me that he considers that response "reprehensible," and he said he would not believe that was said unless he had video evidence. Well, I do not have video evidence of it, but I can tell you specific details of where I was and who said it. I will spare those details here.

There is video evidence of the board meeting where a trustee said to me, "If you stop football here, what's to stop a child from going to the coterminous board?" (Meaning the public board.) Watch board meeting Imagine that. It may be wrong and it may be hurting young people (these things were not denied) but it won't make any difference if we stop promoting it because they will just go to the public board.

There was a complete lack of willingness to take a stand. The fear of being different and perhaps losing customers outweighed concern for student well-being and doing what is right.

Dr. Bennet Omalu — A Courageous Voice

Thank God for people who do not think like that. Dr. Bennet Omalu is one of those people. Here is a YouTube clip of Dr. Omalu in 2016 getting the highest award the American Medical Association gives, the Meritorious Service Award. His speech is incredibly powerful and shows the opposite of the "What about other boards?" mentality. Watch speech (accessed March 26, 2026)

I wish Bennet Omalu was at the school board meeting I spoke of above to say, "Do not conform. The fact that other people are doing it does not mean you must join them. Seek the truth and stand with the truth. Do not be afraid."

A Shift in Position

In my delegation I insisted that I am seeking dialogue, but now I have shifted my position. It is obvious that this is seriously wrong and something must be done. If football kills (See the Scientific evidence tab below) then why would we encourage young people to play? Perhaps I should have taken this approach all along.

No benefit of tackle football outweighs the irrefutable evidence that it is destroying brains. I would have stopped it because of deaths and serious injuries, as others have done in the past. But now that we know about CTE, it's a no brainer.

Government Inaction

After the board meeting in 2023 by me, a psychotherapist, a priest and three concerned teachers, the trustees sent a letter to the Ministry of Education. They wrote in their letter that the ministry provides guidance on concussions, but not on CTE. You do not require a concussion to get CTE.

The Ministry of Education passed it on to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Sport, and it went nowhere. Everybody is passing the buck, and nobody is doing anything. Deny, delay, do nothing!

Related Organizations

In the United States there is an organization called Stop CTE . It was started by the family of a young person named Patrick Risha, who died by suicide in 2013.

The president is Patrick Risha's mother, Karen Kinzle Zegal. Here is a quote from the web page:

"As Patrick's mother, Karen is beyond heartbroken by his loss and for years prior was saddened by his struggle. She hopes this Foundation will help others impacted by CTE and educate parents on the dangers of activities which involve head traumas to prevent others from suffering the same loss."

When I asked if we could use his picture here, she said she would be honoured.

Another site is the Concussion Legacy Foundation , which has chapters in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. Their site is very thorough, and they do a lot to educate on this issue and help people suffering from CTE.

Why Schools Are Different

This web site you are reading now has a similar concern but has one particular focus that is different. I will argue that tackle football should not be promoted in schools. I wish no one played it because it is violent and hurts kids, but especially not in schools. It is one thing if a young person and parents go looking for the game and find a league to play in. It is altogether another thing if a young person goes to school for an education and then is tapped on the shoulder and is encouraged to play. It easily becomes all about school spirit and peer pressure. They have an opportunity to make friends and impress their peers. It is inclusive of all body types, and the game is extremely exciting. The problem is, they are often not warned about CTE, and they can acquire this brain disease before they know what hit them.

The fact that it is in schools was the focus of an article in the American Journal of Bioethics written by two doctors from the University of Minnesota, January 6, 2016, entitled Medical Ethics and School Football (accessed March 21, 2016)

The University of Rochester publishes a report each year about tackle football and catastrophic injuries and deaths. Most teen deaths are from school football rather than league. (accessed March 30, 2026)

All five of the Canadian deaths that I told the school board about in 2023 (from rugby and football) took place in schools.

According to the annual football fatalities report there have been 1,966 deaths (1,075 direct and 891 indirect) in the United States from football over the nearly one hundred years it has been around. (accessed March 31, 2026)

I wonder how many catastrophic injuries there have been. God only knows how many more have had their lives ruined and ended by CTE, an invisible killer!

A Moral Duty

It is wrong to promote an activity that kills, especially in schools. I was a Catholic educator and expected the "pro-life" Catholics to be different. Now I am turning my attention to everyone and anyone who might want to listen and help change this situation where young people are being encouraged in schools to play a game that kills.

When we see young people being harmed there is a moral duty to speak up and act. Surely there is some teacher, principal, trustee, director, superintendent, politician, parent, student leader, lawyer, ethicist, or ANYONE out there who is willing to take a stand. Is there anyone who:

1. Sees that it is very seriously wrong to encourage this deadly sport in schools.
2. Feels that we can and must do all that we can to stop it.

I expect I will offend some. I may offend those who organize and encourage this sport, and those who believe tackle football is good for young people. They love the game passionately. I have listened to all the arguments and have not heard a sound one yet. If you believe the benefits outweigh these dangers, please try to convince me. I would love to talk!

A Final Thought

In an interview with The New Republic in 2013, Barack Obama said, "If I had a son, I'd have to think long and hard before I let him play football." Please read the information below with an open mind, and even if you do not agree as you begin reading, consider the possibility. Aristotle said that "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." I commit to doing the same.

Allow the question to arise in you as it did in me in September of 2012, in kind of a detached way. Is this right? Be open to changing the script of that headline that says Football kills and nobody really cares. If it is true, and if we really cared, we would stop football in schools.

We can do this.

Why do we have to wait for another young person to die from CTE before we pass a law? Patrick Risha's story, and many others, is already known. Read Patrick's story

Please read the Information for Parents and educational leaders tab below and ask this question: This sport has obvious benefits, but can we really say that these benefits outweigh the risk of death, serious injury and brain disease?

Timeline

We've known since 1964 that cigarette smoking is harmful to your health. We've known for more than 40 years that alcohol damages the developing brain of a child. We've known since the mid-70s that asbestos causes cancer. As we become more intellectually sophisticated, we have given up old practices in the name of safety and progress. That is, except when it comes to sports.

Over the past two decades it has become clear that repetitive blows to the head in high-impact contact sports like football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts and boxing place athletes at risk of permanent brain damage. Why, then, do we continue to intentionally expose our children to this risk?

If a child who plays football is subjected to advanced radiological and neurocognitive studies during the season and several months after the season, there can be evidence of brain damage at the cellular level of brain functioning, even if there were no documented concussions or reported symptoms. If that child continues to play over many seasons, these cellular injuries accumulate to cause irreversible brain damage, which we know now by the name Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a disease that I first diagnosed in 2002.

Depending on the severity of the condition, the child now has a risk of manifesting symptoms of C.T.E. like major depression, memory loss, suicidal thought and actions, loss of intelligence as well as dementia later in life. C.T.E. has also been linked to drug and alcohol abuse.

The risk of permanent impairment is heightened by the fact that the brain, unlike most other organs, does not have the capacity to cure itself following all types of injuries. In more than 30 years of looking at normal brain cells in the microscope, I have yet to see a neuron that naturally creates a new neuron to regenerate itself. We are born with a certain number of neurons. We can only lose them; we cannot create new neurons to replenish old or dying ones.

Our children are minors who have not reached the age of consent. It is our moral duty as a society to protect the most vulnerable of us. The human brain becomes fully developed at about 18 to 25 years old. We should at least wait for our children to grow up, be provided with the information and education on the risk of play and let them make their own decisions.

No adult, not a parent or a coach, should be allowed to make this potentially life-altering decision for a child. We have a legal age for drinking alcohol; for joining the military; for voting; for smoking; for driving; and for consenting to have sex. We must have the same when it comes to protecting the organ that defines who we are as human beings.