thank you motley.......you, with your post, highlight the difficulty in discussing this issue.  You seem to suggest that anyone opposed to kids playing football is somehow emasculating them.  Football is a "manly" sport and carries with it tremendous status for high school boys.  It's not surprising that over a million young men (and a few young women) play high school football each year.  

I would suggest that the possibility of lifelong brain damage from playing football far, far outweighs the possible emotional damage and sexual role identification issues from NOT playing football.  Additionally, of course, were there not football, these same kids would be playing other very active and, at the same time, less damaging sports....so their masculinity might still be saved (thank goodness)....(that's a little sarcasm at the end, by the way)   Gary Crum