Father defends decision to let his young son play tackle football: 'It toughens you up'

PHOTO: Luke Zaleski opens up about his decision to let his 

9-year-old son Wyatt play tackle football in an interview 

with 'Good Morning America.' (ABC News)

A father is opening up about his decision to let his young son play tackle football, despite studies linking the sport to brain damage and concussions, saying he thinks football "toughens you up," and has brought him closer to his son.

"It's scary," Luke Zaleski, the former research director for GQ magazine, told ABC News. "There's been a lot of news and ... conversation about the risks. So people are just using common sense.”

Zaleski, who played youth football and remains a huge fan of the sport, said it caught him off guard when his then 8-year-old son Wyatt asked if he could play tackle football.

"I never thought about whether or not he would play until he asked. And then it was like, 'Oh, my God he actually wants to play football,'" he said.

Zaleski is no stranger to the risks of tackle football, and has been covering concussions extensively with GQ over the past few years.

"In fact, the movie ... the 'Concussion' movie that Will Smith starred in was based on a GQ article," Zaleski said, referring to the 2015 film. "So I knew that it was dangerous."

Zaleski said he was torn between his safety concerns and his young son's desire to play the sport, before finally deciding to allow Wyatt, now 9, to play. He chronicled his soul searching in a GQ article titled, "What Kind of Father Lets His Son Play Football."

Full story at Yahoo News.

By Suzanne Yeo Linsey Davis and Catherine Thorbecke.