So apparently society fell a long time ago. We’d bounce footballs off of parked cars all the time, usually on accident (we were kids after all, not exactly the most accurate passers). I thought that’s why Nerf got invented, bounce of almost anything and not leave any damage. And the reaction of parents was pretty much what you experienced, if the kids didn’t actually break anything then nobody really cared, if they broke something we’ll pay for it. This was the basic plot line of most Dennis the Menace comics, it’s really nothing new.
It’s a real football, not a nerf.
Back then cars were made to withstand a little abuse. Cars of today get dented and fall apart if looked at cross eyed.