Football Isn’t Preparation for Life

Madison Shockley’s Sept. 2 column (“Being a Player, Becoming a Man”) is so full of braggadocio and amateur social and psychological analysis that I wonder why he isn’t a football coach. I’ve heard all this before as a player and as a fan, ad nauseam. How many more decades of this football evangelism must we endure? Football is not the best preparation “to tackle the big problems of life.” Could it be that boys best learn about life through empathy, education and real-life experiences? Mr. Rogers gets my vote over Vince Lombardi every time.

Henry Reichenbach

Las Vegas

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It is disheartening to read an entire column devoted to the advocacy of the witless game of football as a noble test of manhood and an admirable rite of passage for our young men. Shockley’s article only serves to confirm the further decline of our civilization. Get a life, man!

Len Thornback

Ventura