I disagree. I played at the college level and had two diagnosed concussions in my career. One was serious. By today's standards of a concussion, I expect I may have had many many more. Why? You know the term "getting your bell rung"? I know what that is. It's when you take a hit to the head and things get confusing for a few seconds. You actually do see stars of sorts. There is a ringing in your ears and you are disorientated for a few seconds. You do get an instant headache for a few minutes but it goes away after a play or two. There are differing degrees. But from varsity football on, I would guess this happened to me (and likely many others) about once a game (not every game but close)and likely during practice once a week. I never wanted to give an opponent the satisfaction of seeing that a hit hurt.
Maybe I have done some damage to my brain. I certainly don't feel it (my wife may have a different opinion). But what I learned in football and the character I am today, I attribute a good measure to my experience in football. See my previous post about the game in this thread.
I have a similar background to yours. Many games, our trainer had a bottle of Tylenol in the sidelines so she could give me a half time dose to help relieve the headache that had developed in the first half from “dishing out punishment” to opposing players.
I have no doubt that my short term memory has been negatively impacted. Perhaps we should plan to compare notes about our cognitive condition in twenty years... Assuming we can both remember how to log into our accounts.
For the record, I have four sons. None of them played football. We encourage running, which they are fantastic at.