... article in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell writes about the toll professional football takes on the brains of former players—how the years of collisions eventually lead to serious mental problems down the line.

At issue is whether the sustained legal hits to the head—as opposed to illegal actions—cause the long-term damage many players suffer from later in life.

Gladwell even draws a parallel to football and dogfighting, suggesting the brutality of the two sports is similar, and pondering whether football as we know it can vanish over the coming years.

This issue is particularly near and dear to Patriots fans, who saw Ted Johnson's career cut short ...

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