Additionally, it's far too small of a sample size (40-50 players or so) to definitively say a majority of football players have CTE, when there is hundreds of thousands of players suiting up every season.
110 out of 111 players is not a sample size of 40-50. You should know from high school that 111 is a good sample size and 99.1% confirmation rate is damn good evidence.
People like to make the argument that football is dying, but in reality, it isn't going anywhere.
Studies by the NFHSA and Football USA, among others, show that youth AND prep football participation rates are declining steadily. Regardless of the reason for decreasing numbers, you don't have college or professional football without high school football.
Football makes far too much money and is far too popular to die out, and unless definitive proof is revealed that says football is near certain to give you CTE, that will not change.
If peer-reviewed scientific studies aren't good enough, what will it take?
In addition, I would like to add that no one ever seems to acknowledge that football is voluntary. No one is forced to play. Yes, some play because they view it as a path to a better future, but a large majority do so simply for a love of the game. I have played for 11 years of my life now, with one final season to go. I know more about the risks today than I ever have, and I still would not change a second of it. Football has been extremely valuable to me, and the rewards far outweigh the risks in my experience.
If that's not bias I don't know what is. Look, I love football too and played up through high school. And I honestly don't see what I would interpret to be any symptoms of CTE. I never had a concussion and the hardest hit to the head I ever took was getting hit with a ball while base running in a college baseball game. But, I do think that when you move on to playing college football and beyond, the sheer number of hits (which get harder and more frequent the higher the level you play at) add up and it's been scientifically proven that repeated sub concussive hits and concussions cause brain damage. 110 out of 111 subjects, regardless of whether their family members suspected it, is convincing evidence. And way, waaaaay beyond this study are tons of people still alive who are speaking out about it now where it got swept under the rug.
Brett Farve says he can't remember his daughter being born and can't remember attending his kids sporting events. He also said he can't stand being in sunlight without sunglasses.
Bernie Kosar...listen to the guy speak and how he forms his sentences. It's short blocks of words similar to how a 4 year old talks and he sounds like he just slammed a 12 pack.
Jim McMahon says he can't leave the house anymore alone because he can only remember where he's going for about 10 minutes. He said at one point he pulled over in a random parking lot crying because he didn't know where he was, what he had left the house for, or how to get home.
Tony Dorsett, Lance Briggs, Antwaan Randle El, Jamal Lewis, Tim Shaw, Mark Duper, Dorsey Levens...all living players that have publicly admitted they've been diagnosed with ALS or early onset dementia and there are tons more.
I'm fine with personal choice; if someone knows the risks then it's their life. I also enjoy watching and following football and I don't apologize for that. But don't make the claim that something is bullshit when there's so much evidence out there staring you in the face. You really are going to sit here and tell us you think that all these football players got this way because of some miraculous coincidence? Come on man.
