But if an 18-year-old student losing his ability to breathe and walk on his own is not a national news story, if we refuse to ask ourselves how we let this happen, then we are all complicit.
We are complicit in the deaths that take place on the football field, including those that occur at the high school level every year. We are complicit in the head injuries that keep student-athletes out of class. And we are complicit in the long-term health impacts — from post-concussion syndrome to degenerative brain diseases like CTE to depression and even suicide — thousands of football players face across the country.