Why This Doctor Won’t Be Watching Football this Fall

The football season kicks off this evening with the defending champion New England Patriots playing the Kansas City Chiefs.

I won’t be watching this evening. In fact, I won’t be watching any games this year or any games any more. It isn’t because I am from Atlanta. It is because I am a doctor.

We learned in July about research shows that 99% of football players damage their brains through playing the game. If that isn’t enough, we know that Tom Brady himself, the main attraction in tonight’s game, may have early stages of CTE, according to his wife Gisele Bundchen.

As a doctor who has seen to much in so many years, I cannot fathom continuing to engage in an activity which can be so detrimental to one’s health. I can also no longer play a contributory role, knowing what has been confirmed over this summer, in watching it.