American Football is a de-facto relgigion. Not in any kind of sarcastic way, it is a core component of social life and holds a sacred and holy status in many rural parts of the us south and midwest. It's the cornerstone around which the social world is arrranged. It's far more important to them than a little traumatic brain injury.

The inevitable cte will be worth it when it pays for college

the american people are not intellectual, to put it mildly