There is no doubt that violent sports lead to injuries.  Participants and fans bemoan it, but most accept it as "part of the game."  Kids, of course, see themselves as "bullet-proof".  Of course, they aren't and the more they play the more injuries they're likely to have and the more they are guaranteed lifelong damage.   

Football is part, a big part, of our culture.  It's the most "manly" of "manly" sports.....I exclude boxing and MMA "cage fights" as "beyond manly" into the realm of suicidal in terms of propensity for injury.  There are, according to the latest statistics, over a million young men (and yes, a few young women) playing high school each year.  Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of them will suffer various levels of brain injury.  Athletic, especially football, participation is socially important to young men in our country.  It's, whether we like it or not, for many of them, part of their developing masculinity.  

(cont.)