Gladwells’ argument is that playing football causes brain damage in kids and in the pros. He talked about a college football captain at Penn State who killed himself due to depression and mental unstableness caused by numerous amounts of hits to the head and no diagnoses. Gladwell is trying to portray that it takes a long time and a lot of proof to change someones mind. For the miners, it took 75 years for someone to speak up and say that what they are doing is killing them. He saying that we can’t wait 75 more years for someone to take a stand and say that football causes brain damage and CTE. It is difficult to change someone minds because they believe that is won’t happen to them on the field. They are in disbelief about the science behind the sport and don’t want to listen to reason and proof. They also have motivation to keep playing the game because it is fun.

I agree with Gladwell’s argument because playing football and other contact sports, you are bound to get hit in the head on more than a few occasions. He stated that at the victims home, he had helmets set up from his entire football career and every single helmet had paint chips all over them. That is from numerous head to head collisions. This player was an offensive linemen, so when the defender charges at him, their heads usually collide. I think Gladwell’s argument was a success because he has proof of why football is dangerous, but he can’t tell everyone to stop playing. Those players at Penn State, who knew the person who killed himself, still were on the fence about playing football. Football is what got most of them into college, and without it, their academics will suffer and lose their scholarships.