Former Sun Devils hoping to teach young football players proper tacklng, as health concerns spread

The dangers of concussions in sports is well documented, but a pair of former ASU Sun Devils are helping to teach young football players the proper techniques of tackling.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, better known as CTE, has been linked to football, and it's definitely a scary thing. The degenerative brain disease has been linked to repeated hits to the head, and the new study has many people concerned.

"It's scary stuff," said Scott Peters. "The CTE issue is not going away."

Peters spent seven years in the NFL, and before that, he played football in High School and with ASU. Studies about concussions and CTE definitely alarmed the former offensive lineman.

"We want to get proactive here," said Peters. "Teach people the right way to do it."

Peters founded Safe Football, a skill development program that's trying to tackle the concussion problem, by teaching different techniques that also improve player performance.

Since a study published in July found that 99 percent of players' brains donated had CTE, Peters said pro players are now talking about it

"I heard a couple players at dinner talking about CTE," said Peters. "It's on their minds. There's guys retiring now."

Neurologist Javier Cardenas said it's important to remember that head injuries don't happen in just football.

"We see this issue in all sports. Do we see it more in football than we do in soccer? Of course," said Cardenas.

Safe Football
https://www.safefootball.com