Before the Dallas Cowboys took to the field for their preseason home opener this past Saturday, hundreds of moms and their young football playing children had already warmed up the turf at AT&T Stadium.
With help from the NFL and USA Football, the Cowboys hosted their first-ever Moms Football Safety Clinic – an event exclusively for mothers of young football players (or potential football players) to get all their questions answered. Topics included how to detect and treat concussions, proper equipment fitting, heat and hydration safety, certification of coaches and much more.
Participants heard from panelists Cowboys executive vice president and chair of the NFL Foundation Charlotte Jones Anderson; internationally renowned neurologist and co-chair of the NFL Committee on Head, Neck and Spine Injuries Dr. Hunt Batjer; USA Football executive director Scott Hallenbeck; former Cowboy and USA Football ambassador Tony Casillas; and Michelle Witten, wife of Cowboys tight end and nine-time Pro Bowler Jason Witten and mother to two young football players. Participants were later surprised by the appearance of former Cowboys and USA Football ambassadors George Teague and Rocket Ismail, as well as Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett who gave the event’s closing remarks.
“It’s really an amazing day,” Garrett told NFL Network. “The moms were literally going over the bags and working on their form. This Heads Up Football is so good for our game. Football is an amazing game. It’s the ultimate team game. You learn teamwork and hard work and discipline and accountability. I think the NFL has done an amazing job with this program, really teaching the moms and the coaches to just do this thing the right way. We’re teaching them to play the game the right way by keeping their head up and how to wear your uniform, how to practice. It’s amazing to have 500 women here going over the drills and it’s great for everyone who loves this game.”
Each participating mom was permitted to bring one child of youth football playing age (7-15). Youth participated in a PLAY 60 football clinic led by USA Football Player Safety Coaches before being joined by their mothers to practice Heads Up tackling techniques.
Participants received complimentary lunch, an event bag and t-shirt as well as a pair of tickets for mother and child to attend together the evening’s game, which was dedicated to celebrating youth football and raising awareness for USA Football. As the club’s preseason home opener, the game also marked the Cowboys’ Thank You Fans Jersey Exchange, for which 14 Moms Clinic participants won a raffle drawing to participate.
To learn more about USA Football and efforts to make youth football a better, safer game, visit http://usafootball.com/headsup.
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