I found this quote from a coach to be very interesting. 

“High-school football still is an institution and a way of life for many people and communities across America. We have to fight to keep it that way.”

Well, obviously because we don't emphasize sports enough in this country.

When Terry Bradshaw is going public that soccer offers the same benefits for kids with much less risk of serious injury I take notice. Also there are fewer type AAAAAA volunteer coaches in the other sports.

What bothers me in that article is not the kids giving up football because of fear of head injuries, and not the kids givign up football in favor of other sports, but the ones giving up football because practicing outside is too much work, and because they'd rather be inside paying video games.

We've discussed this before on here.  Just like many former NFLers, my son is not going to play football.  His parents are going to prevent it.  Does that make sense?  Maybe not.  After all we watch a lot of football.  But, its gonna happen.  There's plenty of other things for him to do.  Such as solve the US National Team's problems at left back by 2030 or so.....

I thank my lucky stars my Mom wouldn't let me play football back in the day.

Yep, there is very much a limitation to how much helmets can solve. Even if future helmets could drastically cut concussion rates, you still have things like spinal cord injuries often caused due to weird/fluke collisions.

Wow, playing football was one of the greatest things my mom ever made me do. Taught me character, how to be a team player, how to play through adversity and never give up. I attribute playing football in highschool and walking on at OU to helping me in business and in managing people. Taught me to not give up and be tough when the going gets tough.

I'm sure this is true.  But, many other sports do the same thing.

Agreed. I'll add though that mouth guard and neck/spine support are just as much a part of the equation as skull protection.

I would back off on football under 12 or 13, shorten schedules and tackle practice.
I'd like to see it stay forever, but the lawyers will finally kill it some day.

Being the father of only one child, a 17 year old daughter, I have not had to consider the question about a child playing football. 

My daughter is a pole vaulter which is a very dangerous sport.  Olympic Champion Jenn Suhr suffered injuries to her ribs, wrist, neck and hands after her pole snapped recently during a training jump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbWVoCac_-Y

Penn State pole vaulter Kevin Dare was killed during a meet in 2012 when he became disoriented during a jump.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/stories/2002-02-23-dare.htm

My daughter (now a senior) first started jumping in 7th grade attempting heights of five feet and the thought of injury was not a great concern.  She has now cleared 10 feet twice and is working at becoming inverted during the launch.

She has not been seriously injured vaulting although I would assume despite normally landing in the pit feet first she has probably jerked her head and neck a few times.

Her most serious injuries have been a broken hand playing field hockey, stress fractures from running during training and another broken hand when she went ice skating with one skate and one walking boot.

I do worry at times about her being injured vaulting, but my faith helps give me some peace of mind.  My daughter trains year round for vaulting including during field hockey season (she is icing her leg right now between two-a-days for FH).  Her passion for vaulting has given her discipline and has helped her to set goals both academically and athletically. Some of her best friends are in her pole vault club and their is a high level of mutual respect among pole vaulters even during competition. 

Like golf, vaulting is very technical and can be very frustrating at times.  Her junior year was not quite what she hoped for but she and her coach have a game plan for training and I could not be more proud of her perseverance.  As others have mentioned about their experience playing football, the life lessons my daughter has experienced from pole vaulting and field hockey will serve her well in life. She hopes to vault in college but has the mindset that she is giving it her best effort and will have no regrets about the final outcome.  As a parent, that is all you can hope for in various facets of life for your children.

As for football, hopefully young players will continue to be taught proper techniques for tackling which will not eliminate injuries, but hopefully reduce the number and severity.