I have liked watching football, but it is obviously one of the most physically punishing sports, even with all the protective equipment worn today.
I have my dad’s old 1930s high school yearbook, with a picture in it of their football team, and dad in that picture. The team members have their uniforms on including their head gear. The padding under their uniforms is so skimpy and their headgear so thin that by today’s standards they might as well have played in their regular gym clothes.
It was probably safer than with helmets, proper tackling techniques were abandoned for getting that hit that makes “ESPN SportsCenter”.