[WBB fan]

I used to enjoy football, began going to college games when I was in middle school, and when we moved to the Bay Area in 1970, we began going to every Stanford home game, taking our then quite young children. But now I don't go at all, although my Stanford grad husband remains loyal and attends every game. As I've become more aware of CTE, my reaction is something needs to be done. And the injurty situation is just unacceptable. Yes, football has always been "violent," but I honestly believe it is more so today than in the past. And one thing that so many comments before this miss is that the players of today are much bigger, stronger, faster, etc. than in years past. That's not insignificant re the injury issue. 

One thing that does make me think more positively about Stanford football than that of other schools is that my sense is that Shaw actually cares both about his players as people and also as students. Yes, I know that Shaw has been strongly criticized on the Cardboard, but frankly, I think he's a really good fit for Stanford in that he appreciates academics and wants players who feel the same way. I never felt that way about Harbaugh. He might have been a good football coach, but I never had the feeling that he "got" Stanford, that he had any understanding that his players were there to get an education as well as play football. Further, I believe that if a coach values education, he's less likely to put a player with a questionable concussion situation into a game, and if he cares about that player as a person, he's not going to let an already injured play demand to be put in.  Sorry all you football fans, just my rant on this.

[WBB fan]

I used to enjoy football, began going to college games when I was in middle school, and when we moved to the Bay Area in 1970, we began going to every Stanford home game, taking our then quite young children. But now I don't go at all, although my Stanford grad husband remains loyal and attends every game. As I've become more aware of CTE, my reaction is something needs to be done. And the injurty situation is just unacceptable. Yes, football has always been "violent," but I honestly believe it is more so today than in the past. And one thing that so many comments before this miss is that the players of today are much bigger, stronger, faster, etc. than in years past. That's not insignificant re the injury issue. 

One thing that does make me think more positively about Stanford football than that of other schools is that my sense is that Shaw actually cares both about his players as people and also as students. Yes, I know that Shaw has been strongly criticized on the Cardboard, but frankly, I think he's a really good fit for Stanford in that he appreciates academics and wants players who feel the same way. I never felt that way about Harbaugh. He might have been a good football coach, but I never had the feeling that he "got" Stanford, that he had any understanding that his players were there to get an education as well as play football. Further, I believe that if a coach values education, he's less likely to put a player with a questionable concussion situation into a game, and if he cares about that player as a person, he's not going to let an already injured play demand to be put in.  Sorry all you football fans, just my rant on this.