Dear The National Football League,

My name is Sofie De Wandel. I'm a twenty-year-old college student who grew up in a small town in Georgia and I am concerned about the NFL. I would like to say you've done an amazing job building yourself an empire throughout the years. Every high school seemingly has a football team, communities have little league teams lining kids up who want to be like their favorite football player and football itself has provided many students the opportunity to continue their education in college through scholarships. Many of my former classmates are able to finally make it out of our small hometown because of the opportunities that football gave them. You've successfully turned a sport into a lifestyle. Seriously, how many weekend nights are spent at a 100-yard field in a coliseum - like a stadium with tail gaiting before and victory parties afterwards? How many televisions are turned on to games? However, an issue in your football "lifestyle" and your manners in attempting to resolve the issue is hurting your empire. The issue is mild traumatic brain injuries, specifically concussions. The manners in which you are attempting to resolve the issue are unethical, selfish, dishonest and have shattered any integrity you once had as an organization, business and empire. I fear that if you continue to treat the concussion issue the way you currently are, the football empire you have built will one day collapse.

I don't feel the need to discuss the actual research that is being done on concussions, C.T.E., Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or football in general for that matter. Let's face it, you would most likely do exactly what you have done to hundreds of other researchers; you would ignore the facts. However, I do wish to discuss how you can still save your multi-billion dollar empire.

I can image your reaction already. A sly smirk across your face as you sit in front of a computer screen or a desk reading this letter with a cup of coffee in your hand. That's if you even get the chance to read this. I bet you have an incredible urge to hit the x on the top of the screen and go on with your life because what could a small town college girl possibly know about how to save a multi-billion dollar industry. Probably not a lot, but I'd like to mention four things.

First, you're going to have to come clean about the link between concussions and football. The claim made on March 14th, 2016 in which one of your senior officials finally admitted there was a link between concussions and football was a major step in the right direction. However, one official announcing it isn't enough. Everyone involved with the NFL on every level needs to recognize the link between concussions and football. This includes people on the legal, medical and business aspect of the NFL.

Second, you're going to have to stop acting like the stereotypical teenager who just got his/her phone taken away and demands to have it back. The reason why you are being compared to the tobacco industry is because you've acted like them. If you would have admitted from the start the link to concussions and football, the analogy could very well never have been formed. Your recent demands to have the New York Times retract an article haven't exactly helped to provide you a more mature image. Why have just the New York Times retract its statement comparing you to the tobacco industry? What happened to the comments reported by an article in 2014 on the online website "The Daily Caller" titled "Climate Scientist compares NFL to Global Warming Alarmism, Big Tobacco" or statements from the 2009 hearing before the joint House judiciary committee comparing you to the tobacco industry? Why don't you ask for those statements to be retracted as well? The only way you can truly have the comparison stopped is if you confess to any mistakes done, any unethical research and/or any questionable behavior that has caused this analogy. Whatever you do, stop digging yourself into a deeper hole by trying to get things your way. Tell the truth while people still believe you.

Third, raise your own standards. How is it that an organization as powerful as yours manages to survive with such low standards when it comes to doing what's right? Start properly educating your athletes about concussions and the risks of multiple concussions. Provide conferences for NFL, college and high school athletes, coaches, and their parents and families to attend with little or no cost so they can learn about the dangers of football and the benefits of playing. Provide these conferences for not only all levels at which the sport is played but provide access to information like this to every socio-economic class at which this sport is played. Don't leave out the small town communities who, such as the town where I grew up, see football as a ticket for a better life and future. Give people an equal chance to form an unbiased opinion on whether or not they should continue to play or not and allow them to understand how to recover successfully from a concussion. Also, take some initiative. Change the rules about head hits. Work with little league, middle, and high school teams to have rules against head hits. Show that you care about your athletes - not just by throwing money at them - but by preventing concussions as much as possible. Yeah, the game might not seem as "entertaining" because it's less violent, but would you rather have a less violent game or no game at all?

Fourth, apologize. Yes, you are going to have to stand up and do the hardest thing anyone has to do. You are going to have to face an entire population and say "I'm Sorry". You're going to have to apologize for the research you may or may not have skewed, for the people who's reputations you've ripped apart because you feared the research they did or are doing could bring down your empire, for the athletes who's families are hurting because of the effects that repeated brain injuries have caused and for the fact that it's taken you way too long to wake up and realize just how many people are affected by your mistakes. You'd be surprised, but I think I speak for the majority of the football fans that we'd all be willing to accept your sincere apology if you truly mean it.

I realize these four things are huge mountains to climb. Honestly, I'd be surprised if you even completely climbed of these. However, I do believe that if you restore your integrity, while you still have the chance, that people will be willing to listen and forgive you, that you can save your empire. Athletes will still love the game, people will still watch football, and kids will still want to be like their favorite NFL hero.

The question remains, are you willing to do what it takes to save yourself before it's too late?

Sincerely,

Concerned