The real way to severely punish Ray Race for his horrific act of domestic violence might be to not ban him from football but to force him to play. For the first time, the NFL has acknowledged that a high rate of serious brain damage is endemic in the game. It’s a remarkably popular sport, in the same way that boxing used to be. From Ken Belson ta the New York Times:

“The National Football League, which for years disputed evidence that its players had a high rate of severe brain damage, has stated in federal court documents that it expects nearly a third of retired players to develop long-term cognitive problems and that the conditions are likely to emerge at ‘notably younger ages’ than in the general population.

The findings are a result of data prepared by actuaries hired by the league and provided to the United States District Court judge presiding over the settlement between the N.F.L. and 5,000 former players who sued the league, alleging that it had hidden the dangers of concussions from them.

‘Thus, our assumptions result in prevalence rates by age group that are materially higher than those expected in the general population,’ said the report, prepared by the Segal Group for the N.F.L. ‘Furthermore, the model forecasts that players will develop these diagnoses at notably younger ages than the generation population.’

The statements are the league’s most unvarnished admission yet that the sport’s professional participants sustain severe brain injuries at far higher rates than the general population.”