Football safety - high school football injury statistics

Pediatrics for Parents, Sept, 1991

1990 was a special season for high school football. For the first time in 60 years there were no deaths directly related to the game. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, Thre were three indirect football deaths, down from nine in 1989. Indirect causes include cardiac arrests, heat stroke, etc. Direct deaths are those occurring while players participates in the fundamental skills of football.

The decline is a result of a 1976 rule that prohibits initial contact with the head while tackling. In 1980 helmets were standardized, and over the years better medical care has been provided at practices and games.