My husband and i don't have sons, so we never had to ask ourselves how we'd have felt about them playing football. But we have learned through our daughters the toll that head injuries can take, and so I confess to a bias when it comes to weighing whether any sport is worth the risk. Sean Gregory's cover investigation explores that question through the wrenching story of Chad Stover, a smart, gifted, well-liked wide receiver and defensive back in Tipton, Mo., who died last year after suffering a traumatic brain injury during a game. We've all been watching football this fall-the games as fervently as ever but the headlines as well, about players behaving badly, beaten wives, rapacious owners and a complicit commissioner. But there is also news about the other football scandal, the one involving years and years of adamant denial about the toll the game takes on players' health. As many as r in 3 NFL players will develop dementia, Alzheimer's or some cognitive problem, the league predicted in court documents in the case of the 5,000 former players who are suing for damages. And the diseases will hit them at younger ages than they will for the general population.
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