I love football. I played it in high school and almost made a college team. I watch the NFL, CFL and NCAA.
Having said that, I really think there should be more done to prevent negative long term effects. It’s pretty clear that the major danger is not from the occasional high speed collision between receivers and defensive backs, but rather from the many repetitive collisions between linemen, running backs, and linebackers.
This could easily be alleviated by simply allowing teams to carry more players on their active roster which would see more of a rotation being implemented (if only for stamina reasons) and fewer hits per individual player. I also think the season should be shortened and/or more down time should be allowed between games.
It’s easy to say players are responsible for their own injuries if they choose to play the game. But the league is also responsible since it makes lots of money while the players suffer the consequences. Reducing long term negative effects should be a priority for the NFL, especially when the solution could be as simple as expanding rosters or shortening the season, without any fundamental changes to the game itself.
I think steroids are the real problem. Players retire, get off the steroids and then have mental problems. Not hard to figure out. Concussions are just a socially acceptable excuse for this pathetic behavior. Eliminate steroids and you would cut down on the size of these players colliding with each other as well.