Bordow: Concussion worries don't scare kids away from football

• High school football numbers are on the rise for the first time in five years.
• The NFHS executive director credits precautions against concussions for lower risks than ever.

So what do you know? Football is still a pretty popular sport among kids.

We've heard for a couple of years now that the linkage between football and brain-related injuries would result in fewer kids playing the game in Pop Warner or high school.

Mom and dad, the theory went, would encourage their kids to play sports in which their brains might not get scrambled.

But the most recent survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations reveals that's not the case. In fact, the number of boys playing football is on the rise. For the first time in five years there was an increase in participation numbers, with an additional 6,607 boys playing the sport in 2013-2014.

"We are pleased with the increase in participation numbers in the sport of football for the 2013-14 school year," Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director, said in a statement. "With the precautions that are in place nationwide to address concussions in all high school sports, including football, we have maintained that the risk of injury is as low as it ever has been. Certainly, this rise in football numbers is a confirmation of those beliefs and indicates the strong continued interest nationwide in high school football."

The numbers also confirm what I've thought all along: Football is bulletproof. Players can die young. They can commit suicide. They can grow old in broken bodies.

Kids will still want to play and parents will thrill in watching their kids on Friday nights.