CTE in football players is a health crisis. It’s time for us to stop watching

The useful part

A new study offers more evidence that America's biggest sport produces life-altering head trauma. The NFL will never turn itself off, so it's on fans to do so As a new NFL season begins this Wednesday, the danger of America's most-watched sport has never been more clear. Of the 235 donated brains in that period, 215 had evidence of the degenerative brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

How it works

• That group of 215 comprised 24.5% of the former players who died during that period in total.
• Given the finding, the study's authors estimate that the prevalence of CTE among players who died in that period was at minimum 24.5% to a maximum of 97.7%, with the actual rate likely somewhere in between.
• Nathan Kalman-Lamb is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick.
• Derek Silva is Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology at King's University College at Western University.
• In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.

What to take from it

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.

Example or evidence

• A new and widely circulated study published in the British Medical Journal examined the donated brains of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 and compared them with the overall number of...

Details worth keeping

In Australia, the crisis support service <a...