There are lots of dangerous occupations out there, right now one of the most dangerous in the USA is being a Fisherman in the Bering Sea. People do these sorts of things because of family tradition, love of the work, or lack of other options or some combination (think coal mining families and not much else locally to do for decent wages). OTL until recently the "downside" of starting in Pop Warner football and trying to progress to a professional career was the risk of various orthopedic injuries. In this scenario, where CTE has been shown to be a high risk, and in fact the younger you are when you start getting bonked the greater the risk, you just won't see as many parents willing to let kids play or even push it. If there are no youth leagues, or HS or college football programs, by the time folks might be ready for the pros the pool will be small. Look at US soccer (European football). While the US is beginning to field decent teams for international competition, it took years because there was almost zero youth programs. Once youth soccer began to grow, you saw the adult quality/talent pool grow, and it was women first because there was no competition for talent from football...