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Arguably the biggest football-related story of the week involved the revelation<\/a> that a study showed that at least 25% of former NFL<\/a> players who died from 2016-21 suffered from the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as “CTE.”\u00a0<\/p>\n During a conversation with Matt Verderame<\/a> of Sports Illustrated, Baltimore Ravens<\/a> safety Kyle Hamilton<\/a> spoke openly about the risks he accepts while playing a sport that could shorten his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It\u2019s a dangerous sport, it\u2019s a collision sport,” Hamilton said about football. “It\u2019s something we all acknowledge. If I can put my future self, my future family, my kids and their kids in a position of success, and I sacrifice a little bit, I\u2019m fine with that personally. I don\u2019t know how I feel about my kids playing football necessarily; there\u2019s so many other things you can do. But from my perspective, I see it as I fall on my sword for people who have provided for me and people that I will provide for.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The NFL has taken noteworthy steps to make play safer, such as attempting to eliminate hits to the head, allowing players to wear Guardian Caps<\/a> during games and changing<\/a> how kickoffs are completed. That said, recent history shows there’s no way for the league to fully prevent players from suffering worrisome head injuries each season.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2023 and 2024, members of the football community called<\/a> for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to retire due to his concussion history. Jaxson Dart\u00a0of the New York Giants<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>has been\u00a0<\/span>checked<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for a concussion on six different occasions already in his young career, and he missed two games last November while in the concussion protocol.<\/span><\/p>\n “I\u2019d probably push [my future kids] in a different direction,” Hamilton said about his children possibly playing football past the high-school level. “But if they\u2019re like, ‘Dad, I love football, and it\u2019s what I love and what I want to do,’ then I\u2019ll teach them about safety and all this other stuff. But there\u2019s only one way to play football, and that\u2019s physically.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile, it continues<\/a> to seem like it’s a matter of when and not if the NFL will switch to an 18-game regular-season format. The NFL Players Association opposes such a plan for reasons<\/a> related to safety, but Hamilton can see the writing on the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t think it\u2019s really realistic in terms of union versus shield power,” Hamilton explained. \u201cI think everything these days dilutes itself. \u2026I think we\u2019ll be at 20 games before we know it. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised in the next 10 years or so if that happens. It\u2019s about money at the end of the day.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that expires in 2031, the NFLPA must agree to expand the regular season.\u00a0Such a change\u00a0<\/span>reportedly<\/span><\/a>\u00a0won’t happen before 2028 at the earliest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nKyle Hamilton willing to “fall on my sword” and accept the risks of playing football<\/h2>\n
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Kyle Hamilton understands the reality of an 18-game season<\/h2>\n
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