[OutsiderFan]

At least for football, I imagine the long term health effects of concussions will be much worse than that of covid. Plenty of football players haven't been dissuaded by those relatively more known long term risks, so I doubt many will forgo football due to unknown covid risks.

That's a fair point.  I counter by saying concussions that do long term damage won't limit the ability of athletes to perform within the next 5 years unless there is a real serious problem.  Covid-19 can degrade physical performance capacity, the thing on which these athletes are relying on for their income. In that light, it becomes much more serious. Certainly more currently pro athletes should be concerned than college athletes, but there are a number of college players planning to make a career from playing pro sports too.

[OutsiderFan]

At least for football, I imagine the long term health effects of concussions will be much worse than that of covid. Plenty of football players haven't been dissuaded by those relatively more known long term risks, so I doubt many will forgo football due to unknown covid risks.

That's a fair point.  I counter by saying concussions that do long term damage won't limit the ability of athletes to perform within the next 5 years unless there is a real serious problem.  Covid-19 can degrade physical performance capacity, the thing on which these athletes are relying on for their income. In that light, it becomes much more serious. Certainly more currently pro athletes should be concerned than college athletes, but there are a number of college players planning to make a career from playing pro sports too.