‘I can’t blame anybody for my death’

MALCOLM GLADWELL’S damning profile of the relationship between American Football and brain injury, which he wrote for the New Yorker over two years ago, has stuck with me ever since.

Michael Vick had just been released from prison for running a dog-fighting ring. The then ex-Atlanta Falcons quarterback’s cruel hobby provided the perfect metaphor for Gladwell.

This multi-billion dollar industry which generated its income partly from the suffering of its athletes was, for Gladwell, no better than a primitive tussle between snarling mutts who knew no better.