[wils1245]

That may be so, but the widespread knowledge that most/all football players sustain serious brain damage was not there yet. Big hits that left the opponent slow to get up or unsteady on his feet were celebrated, on the assumption that he’d be able to shake it off after a day or so.

That said, I do think the destructiveness of football in knees and backs has long been known. I remember them being detailed when reading “where are they now?” articles in Sports Illustrated as a kid (I’m 30).

[code_duck]

The scientific knowledge was not there yet, but I feel like it’s not hard to put together that football players and boxers suffer damage from being knocked in the head to dozen times a day for decades. My guess is probably this would have been figured out earlier if there wasn’t such a strong cultural desire to keep playing these sports.