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Throughout this football season, a debate has raged over the savageness of America's most popular sport, says Buzz Bissinger in _The Daily Beast_. Responding to numerous studies and
articles linking concussions to mental deterioriation in later life — and to a series of brutal early-season collisions — the NFL banned helmet-to-helmet hits, in an effort to prevent the
most crippling injuries. Still, last weekend, two players were battered in bone-shattering plays that could have sent them to the hospital. Yet there's no reason to "feel the least
bit upset or concerned," says Bissinger. Football can't be tamed — it is by nature "animalistic" and "raw." The sport isn't just violent, it's a
"celebration" of violence. Take away the "savagery" and "the game will be nothing." Here, an excerpt: "I REALIZED OVER THE WEEKEND how much I actually
relish the speeding blur of the game and the possibility on every play of a hellacious hit. I realized how much I liked the clear derangement of the defensive backs, human sacrifices for a
bone-splitting tackle. Every player in the NFL knows the possible risks down the road, whether it is Alzheimer's or the well-known realities of crippling arthritis and being able to
walk only with a cane. I venture that not one of these well-paid performers has any regret about his chosen profession. I also venture that the vast majority would like helmet-to-helmet hits
reinstated, because until this season they were a part of the game." SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple
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