NFL phases way down by 1995, earlier knowledge of CTE, plus the high road.

Rugby is worse, that still don't avoid CTE, French is an nationald debate as their tackling is even more deadly https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/dec/18/france-rugby-union-deaths
Thank you for this reference, and yes, I see:
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/dec/18/france-rugby-union-deaths

" . . . World Rugby has improved its education programmes, increased awareness about concussion, strengthened the penalties for dangerous play, is trialling new tackle laws, which will lower the legal height of the tackle to below the nipple. But the hard truth is that all this may not be enough for a game where the players have grown so big, so strong, the collisions so fierce and so frequent, and the commercial imperatives so pressing. . . "
This potential reform is being tried out, and is not something already in place.
 
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. . . This link shows that in 1970 there was one guy over 300 pounds, 3 in 1980, almost 100 in 1990 and then more and more. So at the same time, a lot of 200 pounders were becoming 250 pounders, one would think. . .
Yes, the "arms race" in football, which also happens at the high school level, and most probably below.

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The other factor is the growth of popularity of spread offenses in which you send 4 or 5 receivers and/or running backs on pass routes, with an equal or greater number of defenders, all flying around.

This is the other side of the physics equation involving greater speed, and also more people crowding the field. And a somewhat greater number of total plays in a game since an incomplete pass stops the game.
 
From what I've read, I wonder if rugby wouldn't benefit from the introduction of some PPE, maybe not the bulky helmets and pads of American football (which are counterproductive to a degree because they can be used as weapons) . . .
Maybe old-style leather helmets provide a happy medium? and/or modern-material soft helmets
 
Why Do We Let Kids Play Tackle Football?

Slate, Stefan Fatsis, Nov. 14, 2012

https://slate.com/culture/2012/11/p...helmets-and-knock-each-other-in-the-head.html

' . . . [neurosurgeon Robert] Cantu said children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks, creating a “bobblehead-doll effect” that elevates the risk of concussion. . . '

' . . . Pop Warner, the formal name of which is, I joke not, Pop Warner Little Scholars Inc., is open to children as young as 5 years old and as light as 35 pounds.) . . . '
This is obscene, and crazy, and everything else. If it wasn't going on, we'd call it ASB. And it also shows the tyranny of the status quo over both common sense and reform efforts.

There are plenty of other good sports which kids could be playing that are a hell of a lot safer than football.

At a minimum, restrict tackle football to high school. And if I'd really have my druthers, we'd restrict it to age 18 and above only, and separate from educational institutions.
 
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At a minimum, restrict tackle football to high school. And if I'd really have my druthers, we'd restrict it to age 18 and above only, and separate from educational institutions.

If I had my druthers, youth/Developmental sports would be entirely separate from educational institutions, as they are in Europe. It's absurd that we've allowed establishments with an educational mission to have their workings and priorities hijacked by a side hustle that was always peripheral to what they did but became a monster because of its profitability.
 
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