TRENTON — A proposed bill would ban tackle football for kids under the age of 12 in New Jersey.

"We are not closing down football, but at least it starts the conversation, parents are aware of the risks,” Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen, told CBS New York. Details of the bill (A3760) are not posted on the legislative website.

"Athletes who begin playing contact sports at younger ages are at a greater risk for neurological impairment later in life, including CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy)," read a copy of the bill obtained by TAP Into Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge/Teterboro. The bill also encompasses school programs, including physical education classes.

Children would still be able to play touch football and flag football.

Vainieri Huttle, who is deputy speaker of the Assembly, told TAP Into she doesn't think the bill will pass the legislature without changes, but hopes it begins a discussion about tackle football.

The bill joins others like it being proposed in state legislatures in California, Illinois, New York, and Maryland.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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