NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Jon Butler, executive director of Pop Warner Little Scholars, announced Thursday in USA Today's opinion page that the NFL is launching a partnership with Pop Warner youth football to work with USA Football's Heads Up Football program.
USA Football is the sports' governing body of football, but it had yet to receive buy-in on the Heads Up program from Pop Warner, the country's biggest coordinator of youth football.
Goodell and Butler wrote in USA Today that this is the right time for the partnership because the game is safer than ever, thanks to safety measures taken in recent years.
-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor
