It’s a hard time to love football.

The sport has been much maligned by the building evidence regarding its potential impact on the brain. Justifiably, many parents and players have expressed concern about or even stopped playing upon learning about CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).

As someone interested in becoming both a parent and a coach, I have my own concerns about the impact of football on the brain. If (as some research seems to be hinting at) CTE can develop without ever having sustained a concussion, I would have serious thoughts about if I would let my own children play the sport.

And yet, as someone who played football for several years of my life, I feel compelled to at least make a case for the good that can come from wearing the pads. I love the sport, and I don’t regret for a second the time I spent playing it – they were some of the best memories of my life. However, I must disclose that I have never myself sustained a concussion; perhaps if I had, I would be less apt to make this argument.

These are just a few of the reasons why football is one of the greatest sports on earth.

1. It's the ultimate team game

In a sport with 11 players on the field for each team at a time, the role of the individual is bound to be reduced. A great receiver is limited without a quarterback who can throw the ball well. A ball-hawking linebacker has a much more difficult job when their defensive line does a poor job taking up blockers. An entire offense is put at risk if the offensive line can't get a strong push up front. In other sports, one person can entirely take over a game, but in football it's not quite that simple.

2. There is unmatched camaraderie

A well run football team can function like a family. This can be true in many sports, but at least in my experience, football is most successful with building such camaraderie. This could be for any number of reasons; I tend to think that two in particular are the most significant contributors. It must be noted first that football is a very physical game that likely triggers high levels of adrenaline from the brain; in these moments, and in a sport that requires such significant teamwork to succeed, effective teams have to learn to lean on one another more than in any other sport. Furthermore, it's possible that we are more apt to bond with others when we share high stress situations with them.

3. It's a physical outlet

For young people struggling to understand the changes of life and often dealing with high levels of angst, football can be a constructive physical outlet in which to release some of those emotions. It makes sense to think that releasing anger in the controlled setting of a sanctioned game is preferable to expressing it through violence, as some youth with still-developing brains do in the wake of difficult situations.

4. It requires hard work and time management to succeed

All sports offer this to some degree – to be truly great at anything, hard work is a prerequisite. But a strong argument could be made that apart from wrestling, the physical demands of football are greater than any other sport. Especially for high school athletes who often play both offense and defense, anaerobic capacity plays a significant role. So too do size, speed, and strength, which require work in the weight room and the track in the offseason. And of course, there is the infamous two-a-day practice in the August heat, one of the most physically uncomfortable experiences I've ever endured. Despite all of these demands on my time and my energy, things that I hated at first, I grew to love them as I grew to love the game. That’s partially because of this final reason:

5. Football can develop strong leaders

When things go wrong - when the game is on the line - when the sun is bearing down on a 90 degree, fully-padded practice - that's when leaders step up. Great teams have them, but they come in short supply. Some people can show the way in easy times, but who among us can lead in the hard moments? Football taught me to speak first through my example, not my voice. After all, who wants to follow someone who is unwilling to do that which they ask of you?

Football may not be around forever, and I’m okay with that if it’s shown as too dangerous to continue. I just hope that if our society decides to get rid of it, we replace it with something that has similar power to build character. The greatest argument for football is that all of the aforementioned qualities come together to provide youth with a stable environment – stability, attachment, and positive life lessons.

Football gives a structure that might be lacking in the home or in life, as well as a place where youth from various backgrounds can come together and share a field in pursuit of one goal.