We’ve all met the person that doesn’t like boxing or MMA because the sports are too violent. That’s nothing new or out of the ordinary.

But have you ever met someone who lumps the NFL in with the above two sports? If you haven’t yet, he might be appearing more frequently very soon.

One of the biggest news stories of today is the number of the reports that show a link between playing football and brain damage. It’s important to note that the researching being conducted on this topic is fairly new and nothing is considered universally conclusive.

It is also worth nothing, however, that some of the findings are truly disturbing.

As damaging as one concussion can be, experiencing multiple can deteriorate your brain to the point that it resembles that of an 80-year-old with dementia. This goes for everyone from high school to the pros. The evidence is right there in front of us every Sunday and Monday. I’m not just talking about the bone-crunching hit in the open field. I’m talking about the linemen that go helmet-to-helmet every single play.

Think about the last time you bumped your head. Maybe it was really hard on the kitchen cabinet. Or maybe it was a light tap on your car window. It probably stung for a minute, didn’t it? Imagine doing that over 100 times every week. It’s a little scary, isn’t it? This is what NFL players go through, and it’s about time we started talking about it more openly.

MMA and boxing matches are stopped when one fighter can no longer continue. With football, by contrast, players continue to go until they can no longer physically play.

Pro athletes are tough human beings. They play through all kinds of injuries, including sprains, twists, breaks, and fractures.

“Shake it off,” they’re told.

And if the player is fine with hopping around on a sprained ankle to gut out another performance, that’s his choice. Should it also be his choice when the injury is more severe, such as – oh, I don’t know – the brain? I’m not so sure, especially when research in his sensitive area is in its infancy.

The fact that football is so popular in our country isn’t surprising. We are, by and large, a nation of fans of violence. We like anything that involves blood and guts, knives and guns, fighting and killing. Football may not be that extreme, but to pretend its impact is so diluted does nothing to help this conversation.

It is true that, yes, these players volunteer to play and are paid millions of dollars. But given how new this research is, do you think all of them would do it all again if they were presented with some of these findings during high school? Many sign up at an early age looking for an extracurricular activity. They are completely unaware of the fact that there are some long-term brain-related injury concerns to consider.

I have no simple answer or conclusion to reach on this topic. I would hope that the vast majority of us could agree that this topic, at the very least, deserves more research and louder conversation.

Is the answer to ban football? To make helmets with better protection? Make certain hits illegal?

I’m not sure what it is.

What I am sure of is this: the days of plopping down on the couch to watch 12 hours of NFL action without thinking about the side effects is over. Reports today indicate the NFL is close to adopting a rule that would prohibit a concussed player from returning to the same game. It’s nice to see the NFL taking a step in the right direction. I just hope they realize that they have not yet reached their destination.