re: California trying to ban contact football for kids under 12

I played tackle football from age 8 thru high school. By far the most fun I had (and the least dangerous imo) was age 8-11. I had as much or more fun at practice than the games thru that age. We simply didn't get enough momentum up to cause a head injury/concussion. I never saw a real injury until junior high when coaches started legislating the speed of the game and had us go half-speed and "half" had a different meaning to some of us

I totally agree about the helmet size/weight on kids though, to the point I wouldnt be opposed to pee-wee football being played in bike helmets. In Jr High, we went from the lighter weight hutch style helmets to the heavier Ridell helmets. I have no idea if that made a difference, but it wasn't until jr high school that I would get some pretty intense head aches from simply wearing a helmet for too long of a period, and it wasn't until high school that I got a concussion playing football. And even then it was hitting my head on the turf at old Bernie Moore, not another kid.