I know this is a snarky comment at football players for not seeing the obvious, and it really isn't worth a reply, BUT let's walk through this. I played footba

I know this is a snarky comment at football players for not seeing the obvious, and it really isn't worth a reply, BUT let's walk through this. I played football all through middle school and high school, and was fairly good. When you are playing as a kid, unless you are extremely elite, you aren't thinking about the NFL and potentially hitting your head hundreds of times into NFL sized players. You are just having fun and playing a sport. Then maybe you start getting good and someone tells you if you get a bit bigger and faster you might be able to go to college for FREE! You think, "no one in my family has ever been able to go to college!" Suddenly that sport-for-fun becomes just a means to an end that you never thought was possible. So you work your ass off, get really good and college recruiters start showing up to games. You know they are there and this is your chance to shine. So you run extra fast, hit extra hard, you aren't showing any mercy to your opponents and you certainly aren't thinking about your brain at age 40. Maybe you get hit a bit hard and feel like you need to throw up. Your coach knows about the recruiters also, so he helps you hide the fact that you threw up. He stands in front of you pretending to talk to you while you bend slightly and puke in a water cup. You aren't thinking about brain injury, you are thinking about not showing weakness in front of these people. Now MAYBE you are the ~1% that gets a full ride scholarship. You are playing college ball on a scholarship and you know the only reason you can stay in school and finish a degree is if you stay on the starting squad. You aren't staying on that squad as a linebacker unless you are ignoring your own personal safety. MAYBE you are again the ~1% that make it the four years and are maybe good enough for the NFL. You can either say "nah, I'm good with my accounting degree" or you can see the potential to make more money on one signing day than your entire family has made in all of their lives combined! I can keep going, but I hope people get the point. When millions of kids start playing football in 6th grade (12 years old), them and their parents weren't thinking about the potential they'd ever be "mashing your head into the helmet of a 300lb person" in the future. As a parent now, me and my friends are thinking about that now. For some players (like the one in the article) it is 30 years too late.