I believe that football has become a gladiatorial sport, like boxing. All boxers, if they fight long enough, will suffer brain damage. The reason is CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is a degenerative disease caused by repeated head concussions. CTE is very common among professional boxers. It is also common among professional football players, and it will become even more common in the future. That’s because football players are getting bigger, a lot bigger. In 1980, there were 3 professional football players who weighed 300 pounds or more. Back in the 1980s, a 300 pound football player was so unusual that everybody knew their names, like William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry, and crowds cheered when one of them came onto the field. Today, there are over 400 professional football players who weigh 300 pounds or more. On many teams, 300 pounds is just the average weight of the line. The size of players on college football teams is also growing. I just checked the roster of this year’s U.C. Berkeley football team and found 10 players who weigh 300 pounds or more, and remember, these are college students, many of whom are still putting on muscle and weight. I don’t think it’s possible for 300 pound men to head butt each other hundreds of times every season without inevitably suffering brain damage. In TV interviews, retired football players often show obvious signs of CTE: slurred speech, confusion, and memory loss. I don’t think that this trend will be reversed. It is in the nature of football that size and weight are advantages to a team, and team owners and coaches are not likely to throw away advantages that win games. As Vince Lombardi put it: “If winning isn’t everything, then why do they keep score?”