From WNYC in New York, this is On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield. And I'm Brooke Gladstone. We're devoting

this holiday weekend show to an American tradition of unsurpassed, symbolic, and emotional

resonance, one that showcases the best and arguably the worst in the life of the nation.

Sports. They break racial barriers while enforcing racial stereotypes. They venerate the power of the human spirit while displaying

the sovereignty of accumulated cash. They extol the virtue of perfect bodies while participating

in their devastation.

I've always had, going back to the 90s, problems with the fundamental viciousness of the game.

NBC's Bob Costas is speaking of football on the Hang Up and Listen podcast.

And it isn't just the contact and the violence.

There's a bloodlust.

Is it true of everyone in the game?

Of course not.

But it's true enough of a large enough strain within the game

that reasonable people ought to be concerned about it.

And too much of the media doesn't just gloss it over.

They'd rather just get on to the next thing and

glorify it and run the commercial.

Back in 2011, former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Dewerson committed suicide by shooting

himself in the chest to preserve his brain for study.

He was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain

disease that has been linked to many sports, especially football. Currently, a class action

suit by more than 4,000 football players against the National Football League is in the process

...