Much will continue to be written about brain injuries acquired on the field by professional football players. Grown men make a career decision to engage in a dangerous sport where the objective is to win at all costs, leading to on-field concussions that can be fatal.

Given the dangers and brutality of the sport, which has been likened to gladiator spectacles, is it ethical to watch the games? The New York Times posed that question in its always thought-provoking Sunday magazine column, “The Ethicist.” First, let’s consider the facts.

• The sport is played recklessly by celebrating the most dangerous plays and by pushing injured players back on the field. The New Orleans Saints were busted for paying their defensive players a bonus to injure their opponents.
• The National Football League has taken steps to better protect its players without regard for the lesser head injuries, perhaps dozens of times in a single practice, that can be just as harmful.
• Players are grown men who decide to play pro ball, knowing full well its dangers to their physical and mental health and well-being.

All of which leads back to the central question. By merely watching the games, which are always brutal, are we, in some ways, ethically responsible for supporting that behavior? Or is that being too cynical and a way to justify our obsession with the sport?

The answer is very individual, of course. If you don’t like the brutality, don’t watch the games. Malcolm Gladwell, who has written extensively on the dangers of football, predicts that in 15 years or so, no reasonable person will admit to watching football.

Turning off the TV may not be the answer because millions of others will not. Advertisers know that and will continue to pour millions of dollars into commercials, thereby ensuring the games are broadcast. But what if there was a groundswell of people who stopped watching? Could it change history?

That probably won’t happen in the short term, so it all boils down to personal values. Your act may not make much of a difference, but still, it’s a choice and, in some ways, a vote that could lead to change.