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In the stories, accepting the gifts of fame and fortune often leads to disaster.  Recently, I've begun to think about an old issue through that lens.

How much would I have to pay you for the opportunity to do something you love and you do very well; with the promise of fame and fortune beyond anything you've known; with opportunities available no where else; with the chance to bring joy to others and the power to be heard when you use your voice?

Strangers will look up to you, emulate you, admire you.  You'll have generational wealth, enough money to do real good, should you choose, or to live indulgently, if that's your bent.

And all it will cost you is somewhere between a 25 and 40 percent certainty of developing CTE, a degenerative brain disease.

I read that article and this article and I heard about it on NPR and the evening news, and I kept asking myself how much money it would take for me to accept that risk.

Just posing the question makes me shudder. 



Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 24, 2026 at 5:36 AM

    I had a coworker who had been a star player, and through him I was privy to some details of his friend who was an early example of CTE (this was in the 1990s, before it began to be heard of). It was a close up look at such a tragedy. I was never a big fan anyway, but it really made it impossible for me to think of it as a harmless game.
    Nina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ashleigh BurroughsSeptember 24, 2026 at 9:23 AM

      I'm having that same reaction, Nina. It's no longer a harmless game to me.
      a/b

      Delete
  2. Jim DavisSeptember 24, 2026 at 11:14 AM

    I was too small to play football in high school, always envied the guys who were big enough to do so. Not any more. I realize I am a voice in the wilderness on this, but I think it is wrong to have football in high schools. The danger of CTE is real.

    ReplyDelete

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