James Harrison

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker

(This is the first in a series of occasional columns that Harrison, nicknamed “Deebo” after a character from the movie, “Friday,” will contribute this season for USA TODAY Sports, in collaboration with NFL columnist Jarrett Bell.)

My sons, James III and Henry, are 8 and 6 years old, and I already know they will be playing tackle football.

I’m not putting any pressure on my boys to play tackle football. I’m also not telling them that they can’t play. I want them to decide what they want to do, so I’ve tried to expose them to other sports. Right now, their interests are in karate, track and flag football.

I’ve tried baseball, golf, basketball and hockey with my kids (yes, I know how to ice skate). They didn’t have interest in any of those. I took them to a baseball game, and they lasted about two innings before they were ready to leave. I also took them to a hockey game and they didn’t like it because they were expecting to see a fight and they didn’t. But if you take them to a football game – rain, sleet, hail or snow – they’re into it from beginning to end.

James has been asking me to allow him to play contact football for more than a year. I told him he could start playing when I’m able to be there, and he has to get straight A’s. I will say that I was buying myself some time when I said that, because he won’t get actual letter grades at his school until the 5th grade. But I think he’ll do that because he’s very smart, and he really wants to play tackle football.

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Nowadays, everyone is talking about whether or not they should let their kids play football, and if so, when the best time is for a kid to start putting on the pads. I want that to happen sooner than later for my kids. I’m thinking somewhere in the 8-to-10 age range will be the right time.

If I wait until they get to high school before I allow them to play, they’ll be way behind. They’ll be playing against kids who have been already playing for five or more years – kids who already know how to correctly make tackles and take on blocks. I believe that waiting that long would put my boys at a severe disadvantage – in both performance and safety – because they won’t have had enough playing time to develop the proper techniques and skills they need to safely and effectively play the game.

I started playing tackle football when I was 9 or 10. My mom had to be convinced by my dad to let me play. I played tight end and linebacker for a pee wee team called West Griffin, in Akron (Ohio), and I would just run around the field trying to hit people.

We’re at a place now where we have a better understanding of safety concerns, including concussions and dealing with and trying to protect against them. My main concern is that I want to be sure my boys are taught the correct way, so they’re aware of everything they’re doing and why. And I’ll be right there to make sure that happens.

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My biggest piece of advice to parents thinking about getting their kids in tackle football is to ask other parents with kids in the program what they think about the coaches. The main thing to make sure of is that the coaches have the kids’ best interests at heart.

When it comes to my boys, I’m going to let them play because it’s something they want to do. They’ll learn that the game can be played more safely if you use the proper techniques, but also that there are some injuries you just can’t prevent, which has happened to me throughout my career. In 2010, I had three herniated disks, and ended up needing two microdiscectomy back surgeries to fix them. I’ve also had surgery for a broken orbital bone; double inguinal hernia surgery and had my knee scoped twice.

If you play this game long enough, injury will unfortunately be a part of it. I make sure to point that out to my sons. James came home one day from a flag football game, saying, “I’m sore.” I was like, “Dude, that’s nothing. Just wait until you put on the pads.”