Researchers found that a rule implemented in American high schools 12 years ago to prevent head injuries during football has led to a significant reduction in lower body injuries among players. Nolan Tanji and his colleagues at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa analyzed emergency room data from before and after the rule, which bans hits above an opponent’s shoulders, was introduced. They discovered that the number of lower-extremity injuries dropped by nearly 20% nationwide, with knee injuries also decreasing. However, there has been an increase in collisions between players since the new regulation took effect.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In 2013, American high schools introduced a rule banning football players from hitting opponents above the shoulders to reduce head injuries linked to CTE, a progressive brain disorder. Researchers from Brown University and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's John A. Burns School of Medicine found that this regulation unexpectedly led to fewer leg injuries among high school players. Initially concerned that lower body injuries might rise as players avoided tackling opponents' heads, Nolan Tanji and his team analyzed emergency room data and discovered a decrease in lower body injuries instead. However, the study also noted an increase in collisions without significant injuries.
Written for “High School Football Rule Benefits” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 12179 · logged 2026-09-15
A high school football rule, introduced 12 years ago to reduce serious head injuries among players, has had an unintended benefit: fewer leg injuries.
asserted
rule → introduce → benefit
The nationwide rule banned American football players from hitting opponents above their shoulders, in an effort to protect their heads.
asserted
rule → ban → heads
Head impacts in football have become an increasing concern for players and their families because of recent studies tying head injuries to CTE, a progressive brain disorder that raises the risk of dementia.
asserted
that → become → dementia
But new research shows that the high school rule is having an impact in an unexpected way.
asserted
rule → show → way
Emergency room data showed there were decreased numbers of lower body injuries among high school players.
asserted
data → show → players
The researchers were surprised because they had feared lower body injuries would increase with the regulation that reduces tackles to the upper body.
asserted
that → fear → body
“We were just thinking as people are avoiding the head and neck, they’re going to be tackling lower in the body, so maybe the injury burden might be getting shifted lower in the body,” Nolan Tanji, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine student, said in a statement.
uncertain
Tanji → think → statement
However, it was not all good news - there were more collisions between players after the rule than there were before.
asserted
it → be → rule
The researchers hope further data will be able to shed light on why that’s the case.
asserted
that → hope → light
Tanji and his classmates examined more than 14,000 ER entries of athletes aged 14-18 from five years before the rule’s implementation and five years after it took effect.
asserted
it → examine → effect
The data showed that there was a yearly average of 7,315 lower-extremity injury cases before the rule and only 5,611 afterward.
asserted
data → show → rule
Using those cases to estimate the same drop nationwide, the researchers said these injuries plummeted from an average of 242,000 before the rule to 193,000 injuries after the rule.
asserted
injuries → use → rule
There were also fewer knee injuries after the rule took effect.
asserted
rule → be → effect
“It’s not completely safe but, you know, it’s looking promising for the future in terms of injuries in football,” Tanji noted.
asserted
Tanji → ’ → football
The findings suggest that the rule is more beneficial than previously believed and there has been a decrease in neck injuries since 2014, separate research uncovered in 2022.
asserted
rule → suggest → 2022
However, the researchers say that the rule cannot necessarily be credited for causing the decline.
asserted
rule → say → decline
Changes in training, injury prevention and equipment technology may have all played a role, the researchers suggest.
uncertain
researchers → play → role
And the database also only included injuries treated in emergency departments and there was no way of knowing which positions the injured athletes played.
asserted
athletes → include → positions
Running backs that rush the ball and linemen that protect the quarterback are the most likely to receive hits, 2011 research from Brown University found.
asserted
research → rush → University
Football is one of the top sports for head injuries, federal data shows, with tackling responsible for 63 percent of concussions.
asserted
tackling → show → concussions
There are an estimated 100,000-150,000 concussion cases linked to high school football each year, according to the Athletic Equipment Managers Association, though around half of all concussions are unreported.
uncertain
half → be → concussions
Repeated concussions can lead to CTE, also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Boston University researchers say.
asserted
researchers → lead → encephalopathy
The Aporia
