I am a seriously techno-savvy guy. I can build a PC from scratch.  I am conversant a whole slew of computer languages, and programming suites and have created about 100 websites or so. Gadgets? You name it, I’ve owned it. I am now on my fourth iPhone. I have a hilariously nerdy home set up with media servers, numerous digital outputs for content, whatever it is, throughout my place.

I’m a geek, okay? So, when the flatscreen in our bedroom started to come in digitized on just a few particular channels, I figured I could handle it.

That was in June.

Since then I have replaced the PVR. I have had three cable guys over, who in turn have replaced the PVR again, they’ve replaced all the cable in the house, bumped up the cable to the house, even changed the junction box both at the house and at the poll and had the cable company jack up the signal.

All to no effect. It’s been driving me crazy.

Then on Sunday Leslie was cleaning the bedroom and moved the TV – it’s on a swivel mount – and no more broken up pictures or sound.

It was the HDMI cable. I never checked it, nor did any of the three tech dudes from the cable company.

It should have been the first thing I did, but I didn’t, and I assume the tech guys assumed I’d checked it, so they didn’t.

So what does this have to do with sports?

Well, the NFL has a serious problem, one so serious that it is quite literally killing its player and potentially the game itself, and they are doing the exact same thing.

They are not looking to the most obvious solution.

It’s no longer a theory. It’s a fact. Concussions or any kind of dramatic head trauma can lead to something called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that can cause depression and dementia and has in many cases led to suicide.

And it’s particularly prevalent amongst ex-professional football players. More than 20 former pros have been found to have suffered from CTE. That might not sound like a lot, but consider the only way you can determine if CTE was present is from an autopsy. They are autopsying a lot of NFL football players these days as they are dying at a remarkably early age in comparison to the general population. While U.S. life expectancy is 77.6 years, the average for NFL players is 55, 52 for linemen.

If that pace keeps up, it’s not only the players who will get killed off. If the game doesn’t change – and change like now – the NFL itself could go.

At least as we know it today.

Why?

It’s this simple: If all of those health stats up there are true, no matter how much you love the game – would you allow your kid to play football?

To “knock heads” for years in hopes of making it to the NFL – and even if he didn’t (which is far more likely) to end up suffering irreparable brain damage along the way that could lead to chronic depression and suicidal tendencies?

This spring Owen Thomas, a 21-year-old college player hung himself in his apartment. It turns out the team captain for the University of Pennsylvania was suffering from CTE – which is not diagnosable until its too late.

Once more cases like Owen’s come to light, and more autopsies are performed, don’t you think even in football nuts America, having kids try out for the baseball team will make a lot more sense to a lot of Moms and Dads?

Concussions are just now becoming an issue in the NFL, and to address it they have to change the way the game is played.

Here’s a simple solution: If a player is diagnosed with a concussion, just like in boxing, that player is out for a minimum of 60 days and can’t return until a non-team affiliated specialist gives him clearance.

Then there is the deterrent: the guy who dolled out the hit that caused the concussion is out at the same time as well.

It’s a tough problem and one with lots of high speed and heavy moving parts, but sometimes the most obvious solution is the one that’s always overlooked.

Until it’s too late.

Cheers – Gavin McDougald – AKA Couch