Greg Kostenbader

During my one and only season of participating in organized tackle football, Greg Kostenbader was a teammate. He played both sides of the ball, meaning running back and linebacker. More than once he was carted away in an ambulance during a game after running with the ball into a gang of tacklers. Probably made him decide that delivering a blow was far easier than taking one, and this helped earn him the distinction of being an all-county linebacker.

I don't watch tackle football anymore because of the shocking hits to the head and bodies that football players endure. This macho "play through pain" just seems out of step with believing we are a civilized nation.

Not saying Greg, who recently passed away at the age of 60, died as a result of brain trauma.  Though there has been plenty of research on football and brain trauma, and it always sounds an alarm in my mind when I hear about athletes dying young.

Maybe it's time for amateur athletes from earlier generations to come forward and donate their brains to science for examination after they die. Sounds contradictory since the jock has always been someone who people would make fun of behind their back for being less than bright. Might be the ultimate irony if athletes did come forward to help produce the research necessary to ban blood sports like tackle football. The game of football is loads of fun when the the gratuitous shots to the heads and bodies are not included. The highlight film hits which make us all groan aren't truly necessary for a competitive game to be played, it's just a crack-brained tradition. One which the athletes suffer for long after their glory years of playing sports have long been forgotten.