Football is a dangerous game. It’s always been a dangerous game. Over the past century, the game has evolved with better and more efficient equipment. Men (and boys) who play football are bigger and faster than even players of 20 years ago.
I only played three years of high school football. I played in an era where a helmet-to-helmet tackle wasn’t just allowed, it was rewarded and encouraged. I know I was concussed at least twice, once when I staggered toward the sideline and was told to get back in the game. I was never told to stop hitting with my helmet. I wasn’t alone. A lot of my teammates were concussed. We’d laugh about it after the game. Multiply that by 10,000 boys being concussed every Friday night. Some suffered grade 3 concussions – which might have only manifested damage in later adulthood.
Not too long ago, NFL players were told to “get back in the…
