Just as it does with American sports fans and on the big screen, the pigskin reigns supreme in high school sports.

Despite well-established health risks and an increasing number of former NFL players suffering memory loss, the number of high school football players continues to dwarf participation in other sports, namely track and field, basketball and baseball. In 2011-12, nearly 1.1 million American boys played on an 11-player high school squad, compared to just 575,628 athletes who pounded the track and 535,289 who played basketball, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

“It is the sport in our country, and it’s been sitting there for a long time — for ever and ever,” NFHS spokesman Bruce Howard told FoxNews.com. “It’s like soccer in other parts of the world.”

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