if this is what happened.. it's not the game, it's (extremely) bad timing. if it was more common there'd be dead kids all over the country. one NFL player on national TV might just prevent more from happening in the future.

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188 kids about 15 y/o "and fewer than one in five survived the incident."

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you need a chest pad for football and baseball and polo, and rugby, and cricket, and hurling....baseball is not violent. but a pitcher taking a come backer could drop dead if the ball hits the wrong spot at the right time.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commotio_cordis

Commotio cordis (Latin, "agitation or disruption of the heart") is a rare lethal disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the area directly over the heart (the precordial region) at a critical time during the cycle of a heartbeat.[1] This leads to disrupting normal heart electrical activity, followed instantly by ventricular fibrillation, complete disorganization of the heart's pumping function, and cardiac arrest. It is not caused by mechanical damage to the heart muscle or surrounding organs and is not the result of heart disease.

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Some of the sports which have a risk for this cause of trauma are baseball, American football, association football (soccer), ice hockey, polo, rugby football, cricket, softball, pelota, lacrosse, boxing, professional wrestling, hurling and martial arts (see Touch of Death). Children are especially vulnerable, possibly due to the mechanical properties of their thoracic skeleton.[1][5] From 1996 to spring 2007, the USA National Commotio Cordis Registry had 188 cases recorded, with about half occurring during organized sports.[6] Almost all (96%) of the victims were male, the mean age of the victims during that period was 14.7 years, and fewer than one in five survived the incident.[6]

In what way is that minimizing? Like seriously. Read it again.

He’s saying he believes that it isnt wrong to love and respect something dangerous. And that we as a people shouldn’t just get rid of or change every dangerous thing. The NFL and the people who play it are very aware of the dangers of the game, are trying with every passing season to make the game safer, and most importantly they CHOOSE to play this game. The people playing the game now had access to way more technology and information regarding the effects and dangers of football than the players from the 80s and further back. They know more than anyone how dangerous it is, which is good. Because they know better than anyone how to minimize the damage caused by the game they love.

No one. And i mean NO ONE. Is downplaying how dangerous football is. Strawman argument.