Brett Favre, Tommy Kramer and the uncomfortable price of football glory

But football continues to exist only because even with the knowledge of what might happen to them down the road, the ability to compete, achieve, win, earn millions, gain fame and live an amazing life for however long it lasts is enough to drown out the dark side of a distant future.

“It’s unfortunately part of our game,” Jets QB Aaron Rodgers said when asked about Favre, his former teammate. “That’s part of the risk of playing in the league, and we all in the back of our minds know that could be a reality at some point. We hope medicine at some point can catch up and either make the symptoms easier or eradicate some of these issues that we have.”

It’s an uncomfortable thought for a lot of us to digest. A lot of us are more risk-averse, aspiring to have good health for as long as possible — making trade-offs that might rob us of short-term good times when we are younger for the hope of being here a long time. Many of us earn our living with our minds more than our physical gifts. Almost all of us compete on a much smaller scale and earn far less.

Kramer played football the same way he has lived his life – and the same way many of us might want to live ours if we were being honest and had the chance: A little bit reckless, but with the understanding that the highest highs would make up for the lowest lows and leave space for no regrets whenever the end might come.