You overstate the entire case far too much.  There is no evidence that Junior Seau's suicide was linked to any sort of head injury.  That's pure speculation. 

In the city where I live, there are a lot of old football players, from eras where the helmets and technology around them was a lot poorer.  Hell you can still go down to Fuzzy's Bar and talk to Fuzzy Thurston, even though he's nearly 80. He played 10 years in the NFL in the 50s and 60s.


The other factor you completely disregard is money.  There is a huge amount of money, even when it comes to high school football.  College? Big money. Even for the players considering the cost of education. Greed will keep the NFL in players.

As to the insurance issue, they will just offer waivers.  And people will sign them. 

In my mind, I don't think that the school systems should pay for ANY athletic teams with public money. Those teams, football, basketball, hockey, baseball and the rest should be supported via donation and ticket sales. But that's another discussion.


Disclaimer:  *I live in Green Bay.  You wouldn't have ever heard of Green Bay if it wasn't for the fact that we trapped an NFL team here in the 50s. That may bias my view a bit. Football is a hard-core tradition here.

"So I will be hitting the snatch hard, I think, tonight." - gzt

For a few reasons.

1. I am not a statistician, but I think we can assume that in any population slice we look at, there will be an incidence of mental illness. Injuries to the head or not.
2. Why can't we make the argument that perhaps football attracts more of the populace who would be susceptible to mental illness? Think about it, what kinds of boys are usually attracted to football? Large and athletic. Academics is usually a secondary, if any, concern.

2a) Take a look at the NFL Combine's Wonderlic test (avg intelligence) results for average football players.

3. I don't doubt that repeated head injuries probably does aggravate injuries to the brain. But we don't know if there is a pattern or are only certain players susceptible due to genetics or the position they play or what have you.
4. I definitely would not argue that players for the most part are encouraged to sacrifice their health to play. The average career is 3.5 - 6 years depending on their rookie roster status. And I don't think there is enough health screening for these players.

At the end of the day, the problem is that injuries to he brain are hidden as opposed to injuries to the knee.
"...she dares to indulge in the secret sport. You can't be a MILF with the F, at least in part because the M is predicated upon it."-CBB

I think the dangers of football have been known since the days of the flying wedge. I'm pretty sure the "football drops life expectancy by 20 years" (for 3-5 years of NFL ball + 3-4 years of NCAA) has been known since the 1970s.

Best guess is that it is more an issue of views deciding that maybe watching men destroy each other's lives may not be so wonderful. Also, the internet makes leaks so much easier. It is much harder to sweep things under the rug like payment for causing injuries now.

One way to check this is if there is any willingness to avoid downhill skiing (mainly just the downhill event) and keep bicycling away from mountains (a huge change, and probably heavily resisted considering the importance of climbing). While auto racing has managed to create extremely safe cages for racers (at least at the levels the mainstream sees), these sports just can't be made safe.

Wumpus

What Junior Seau's Death Tells Us About the Future of Football

I'm not certain. I don't think boxing was ever as integrated into the American way of life as football is.

What I can see, though, are rules that limit the number of concussions a player can take in their professional career, age limites, annual brain scans as part of being certified as fit to play, and more rules about what sorts of hits are allowed.

Personally, I'd also like to see almost all padding removed. But I don't see that happening.

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There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic

...but assuming the results do show concussion-related brain damage, I do think this might be a tipping point for major changes.

At the very least I think you'll see some rule changes designed to minimize the number and ferocity of such hits. We'll probably see the elimination of kickoffs at some point. There could be a movement to reduce the amount and (for lack of a better term) quality of padding players can wear, to try and slow the game down. Maybe we'll see weight limits for various positions. They'll likely crack down more on big hits like they're already doing.

We're only going to see more incidents like this, and not to be ghoulish, but I think this might even lead to more of them. Sort of like the school shooting thing; other players who are struggling might be unduly influenced by the media coverage and get it in their heads that they're doing something honorable, to help others down the road. I guarantee you that Seau won't be the last NFL player to shoot himself in the chest and request a brain autopsy.

Even now that the risks are better understood, players knowing what they're getting into/signing waivers/etc, I don't think that's enough. The potential rewards are so great, it's going to cloud the judgements of young people who naturally think they're invincible anyway, and largely come from poorer backgrounds.

No easy answer, but the boxing analogy is apt. If even subconsciously, people are going to continue to gravitate away from the sport unless major changes are made.