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And yet the stereotype of the dumb football jock who's had his head knocked a few too many times has been prevalent as long as I can remember. It's just that previously it was used as a punchline in sitcoms rather than seen as a serious health risk to our children.

Except for 'Varsity Blues' (1999) I guess, and I'm sure other examples, where the evil coach telling the kid to play when another head injury could kill him was a main plot line.

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That may be so, but the widespread knowledge that most/all football players sustain serious brain damage was not there yet. Big hits that left the opponent slow to get up or unsteady on his feet were celebrated, on the assumption that he’d be able to shake it off after a day or so.

That said, I do think the destructiveness of football in knees and backs has long been known. I remember them being detailed when reading “where are they now?” articles in Sports Illustrated as a kid (I’m 30).

The scientific knowledge was not there yet, but I feel like it’s not hard to put together that football players and boxers suffer damage from being knocked in the head to dozen times a day for decades. My guess is probably this would have been figured out earlier if there wasn’t such a strong cultural desire to keep playing these sports.

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