It is something that I think about often. I used to watch boxing when there was a marquee match-up, but I just can’t do it anymore. I haven’t thought about giving up watching football yet, but being aware of CTE and its affects is something I struggle with for all the same reasons that you mention. I recently finished reading ‘Game Change’ by Ken Dryden. It is about concussions in the NHL. Dryden specifically focuses on the late Steve Montador who played parts of 12 seasons in the NHL before he died at 35 years old. He had several known concussions throughout his life as a hockey player, but he suffered a string of concussions in a short period of time during his last season in the NHL. Montador’s autopsy showed that he had CTE. Dryden uses the biography to chart the evolution of the NHL. How the game has gotten much faster and the players much bigger. Yet the NHL still uses rules that were implemented when the game was much slower and the players were much smaller. He makes several suggestions on how the NHL can alter some of its rules to reduce the risk of brain injuries, but he notes that commissioner Gary Bettman refuses to acknowledge the link between concussions in the NHL and CTE. So in that regard the NHL is behind the NFL in their attempts to make things safer for players. While I understand why some fans get upset by the rule changes that the NFL has made in the name of player safety I’m kind of happy that they are trying to do something. I have no idea if these changes will make a difference when it comes to brain injuries in football, but given what we know about CTE to not try to do something seems unacceptable to me.
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"It's nice to be nice to the nice." Frank Burns
