"Hit 'Em In The Face As Hard As You Can," Then Pray: Pee-Wee Coach Shows Why Football Won't Be Getting Less Violent

A reader sent in this video of a Texas U6 team getting a pep talk from its coach before a game. He exhorts the Frisco Gators to push hard, be tough, and "hit 'em in the face as hard as you can." (One of his kids corrects him—"in the chest"—to nervous laughter from parents.) But before the face- or chest-hitting can commence, a team prayer that no one gets hurt.

That's American football at its most pure, isn't it? Obliterate the guy opposite you, and put your faith in God (and medical science) he's not maimed? The game is fundamentally violent, and those fundamentals are learned early in life, because let's face it: hitting people is fun. Football's no fun without the hitting, and it's not going to change. So strap your kid up and send him out there, and trust in your deity or Riddell to send him home safe.

*Brief clip from postgame included because it's cute when 6-year-olds are forced to say nice things to girls.