The periodic concerns that come from the parents of boys (or from parents like President Obama who don’t and won’t have sons) regarding whether the young men entrusted to their care will create for some families a potential opportunity.
49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, for example, has no issue with parents not wanting their sons to play football, because if fewer boys play football it’s be easier for Jim Harbaugh’s son to get to the NFL.
“If President Obama feels that way, then there will be a little less competition for Jack Harbaugh for when he gets old enough,” Jim Harbaugh said Monday, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “That’s the first thing that jumps in my mind if other parents are thinking that way.”
Jim Harbaugh is thinking that he definitely has a future football player in the household.
"[H]e’s a really big kid,” Jim Harbaugh said. “He’s got an enormous head. . . As soon as he grows into that head, he’s going to be something. It’s early, but expectations are high for young Jack.”
Plenty of fathers throughout the country feel the same way. With the football hierarchy more sensitive than ever regarding the dangers of concussions, the kids who play football now and in the future will see an unprecedented level of safety. Even without those changes, plenty of kids will play football, either because their parents will want them to or when push comes to shove their parents won’t stop them from playing.
So even if fewer kids play at the youth level, there will still be 32 NFL teams and 120-plus Division I-A (or whatever they call it now) college programs handing out scholarships. As Jim Harbaugh astutely points out, fewer players in the pipeline means fewer players jockeying for those spots.