Ummmmmmmmm... This is a sport where giant men deliberately crash into each other at high speeds as the audience cheers. Devastating injuries are the norm.

And our concern for their safety is focused on them... eating too much? LOL. :)

Point well taken.

I wonder if football will ever be played with robots instead of humans.

It's possible but I doubt it will be anytime soon. I think we want the drama, the personal investment and connection with a person. Sports is very tribal and emotional, not rational.

And part of that pure emotion is the danger of real damage. It's electrifying.

And I think we're quite torn over that as a country. We've been in denial about the dangers of football for decades.

I'm not advocating a ban but until very recently many were trying to ban Mixed Martial Arts because it was "violent and dangerous" whereas football was "All-American".

With the research on concussions and the reports of the late-life suffering of former players coming to light only now are many realizing that "All-American" and "violent and dangerous" are not mutually exclusive.

Nobody wants players to suffer. And nobody wants our children to see something quite so dangerous -- which they're encouraged to participate in during high school -- as the primary route to popularity, money and fame.

But nobody wants to give up their Monday Night Football either.

Collectively, we have some cognitive dissonance to resolve.

I keep thinking about some articles you've posted in the past, like the intersection of the NFL's popularity and its violence.

Football IS the Roman Arena, for an American Age.

It lifts some people out of poverty -- The Blind Side storified this -- and others it takes their lives.

Football has tremendous consequences.

Some of which we don't fully understand yet.