The audio is an excerpt from Dan Carlin's Common Sense Podcast #206. The newest podcasts are available to download for free on iTunes and the older ones can be downloaded for $1 a piece here.
http://www.dancarlin.com/

Can fans sit back in face of evidence of football's risks? Guest viewpoint

The warm August days in Oregon move leisurely toward cooler, quicker September — and another football season is almost here. But I don't feel the old anticipation.

Instead, I'm bothered by a gnawing uneasiness. It has nothing to do with the noxious cloud hanging over the Ducks' recruiting methods. It goes deeper, to the heart of the game.

My discontent is caused by mounting evidence that playing football causes permanent brain damage.

The connection is impossible to ignore. It's been all over the media. The New York Times' Alan Schwarz has himself written more than 100 stories about it. Punch the words "football brain damage" into Google and you'll get 2.24 million hits.

So most of us probably know about the two dozen deceased former NFL players whose brains were autopsied. All but one showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a disease caused by repeated blows to the head, leading to early dementia. Andre Waters, 44-year-old former Philadelphia Eagle, had the brain of an 85-year-old man in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

We know, too, that the danger of CTE is not confined to the pros. An autopsy on the brain of a University of Pennsylvania player who hanged himself showed that the lineman already had developed the disease at the age of 21.

We know, of course, that concussions can cause permanent brain damage to high school football players, as well as to the younger kids in the youth leagues. But, and perhaps more alarmingly, we also have learned that repeated lesser blows — sub-concussive hits — also can cause brain damage.

Attempts are being made to mitigate the danger at all levels of the game. NFL officials have emerged from denial and are making sketchy attempts at toning down the most violent hits. Ivy League college teams have drastically cut full-contact practices, where much of the pounding takes place. But even these measures have been derided by some critics who fear the game will be sissified.

Other safety measures include teaching young players safer tackling methods. Concussions are supposed to be monitored more closely now, at all levels. There have been attempts to set helmet standards, with little success. Helmets are effective at preventing fractured skulls, but are not so good at stopping concussions.

In fact, the hard shells of helmets can cause them.

These measures may help cut down the number of concussions, but they will continue to occur, as will the steady drum-beat of sub-concussive blows and ultimately, in all probability, instances of permanent brain damage.

Of course, other sports also cause brain trauma, but the numbers in football are way beyond scary: Of the 4.4 million kids younger than 18 who play the game, an estimated 500,000 suffer concussions every season. At least 50 died from their injuries since 1997.

Football, after all, is in essence a blood sport — and that is not likely to change. In what other American sport do players kneel together before a game and pray to God for their safety?

Despite the violence, or maybe because of it, football is America's game. It's woven into our cultural fiber, as well as our economy. It's a multibillion dollar industry and a rite of passage for millions of children.

Football is not going away.

So, given what we now know, what do we do? What is our responsibility?

That's a tough one for parents. Do they make the hard choice of denying their kid an opportunity to be part of the team, to share the camaraderie, the chance to test his courage? Or do they make the equally tough choice of pushing aside their dread and letting him play?

People trying to do the right thing will no doubt differ. People in the same family will differ. My oldest son thought it over and decided that the benefits of the game outweigh the risks for his own two sons. I'm not so sure, but it's not my call.

It is my call, though, as to whether I continue to watch college and professional football, which I greatly enjoy. But can I, can any of us, just sit back in the comfort of our easy chairs while young men risk the ruination of their brains for our entertainment? I was able to do so last winter when I watched the BCS Championship Game and the Super Bowl. I pushed my troublesome thoughts aside and enjoyed both games.

Then, 11 days after the Super Bowl, Dave Duerson, a former star player for the Chicago Bears, shot himself to death. At the age of 50, the four-time Pro Bowl safety was suffering from memory loss, headaches and blurred vision. He fired the bullet that killed him into his chest, preserving his brain for an autopsy.

-John Hurst