Knee Braces

I agree completely. I see a lot of lineman wearing knee braces and I can understand why a coach would want their players wearing them. Inside that box, you do not know where bodys are going to end up. On the other side, I have talked to my line coach and we do not cut or do any blocking belowing the knees. In HS football, it is not necessary. I think it puts too much of a risk to players getting their knees injured. And if you add to that the lineman is having a great day against you, some dumb thoughts start to creep into the players head. I try to have my guys play the game the way it is supposed to be played.

Coach is also right about talking about it. This story is not completely the same, but does show how a player thinks. We had a TB who broke his ankle against a team. The next year we played them, he was completely terrible for the first half. He would come off the field telling us they were grabbing at his ankle on every tackle. It took a lot of soul searching and a little in your face yelling to get him over it. The second half, he was a different player. It is funny how kids can play this tough game but let the little things interfere in their brains.