It's the 4th quarter of the hotly anticipated state football championships. High-school running back Kristopher Marital charges full steam for the endzone, shielding the ball to his chest; he lowers his head and braces for oncoming impact. Boom! He is blindsided by a tackle and smashed helmet-first into the turf. Marital stands up and brushes himself off, thinking he might have a bruised shoulder in the morning. But inside his brain, these blows are doing something much more sinister and subversive. That was just one play. Imagine an entire career. 

       Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by repeated hits to the head: in short, it causes your brain to break down. The stereotype of the 'dumb jock' is undoubtedly unfair, but the origin likely started with CTE - having your brain ricocheted within your skull places tremendous stress on your brain cells known as neurons, which are composed of extended, spindly signaling constituents called axons. A protein known as tau is an integral stabilizing component of these axons. According to Dr. Ann McKee, under exposure to trauma, "there is a build-up of huge amounts of this protein [tau] in the form of… neurofibrillary tangles", and the unique pattern of these tangled protein aggregates can kill neurons, leading to their degeneration and ultimately CTE. Damaging these circuits will inevitably result in a reduced ability of neurons to communicate with one another via electric signals, ultimately affecting cognitive function. 

       After his high school football career, Marital started experiencing noticeable changes in his brain. From daily migraines to bouts of forgetfulness - like his wife's birthday and his son's middle name - his decrepit condition spiraled into far more severe issues such as his alcoholism and sudden bursts of uncontrolled rage. Although doctors were convinced that Marital was suffering from CTE, there was no way to know since the disease can only be diagnosed after death. And Marital is not alone. Of the 202 former football players studied in the Journal of American Medical Association, nearly 90% were clinically diagnosed with CTE. Despite this overwhelming evidence, league officials often disregard correlations between CTE and the trauma it causes to players' cognitive well-being.

       Forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu states that brain trauma from sports is "the civil rights issue of our time." With the vast majority of pro football players being African-American, a segment of the populace more likely to be underprivileged, the younger generation becomes guided by the false notion that this sport is the key to climbing up the socioeconomic ladder. Furthermore, football is inextricably tied with American culture, so community leaders are doing all they can to cover up this disease because some communities are built around watching these teams play - even the local economy shapes around it. But this raises the question, should teenagers sacrifice their livelihoods on the altar of entertainment and economics? It is time to shine the lights away from the stadium and towards this pressing issue so that we can all experience a brighter, healthier tomorrow.