Should the NFL be Held Accountable for CTE?

As many of you have probably heard, future NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide this past Wednesday.  Seau had an illustrious football career and was loved by many fans, friends, and family.  This is what makes his passing such a tragedy.  One wouldn't expect Seau to take his own life, but another incident with many similarities took place a little over a year ago which has led to speculation that the reason Seau did this was because he was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).  On February 17, 2011, NFL defensive back Dave Duerson took his life.  The similarity to his case and Seau's is that he also shot himself in the chest.  Duerson specifically asked for his brain to be donated to science so that studies could be done on the effects of CTE.  Although there have not been any found requests from Seau to make this same type of donation, many believe that it was his intention based on the fact that he did not shoot himself in the head.  CTE is caused by repeated trauma to the head and leads to many problems such as depression and dementia.  The link between repeated concussions on the football field to the lifelong effects of CTE were not connected until recent years.  Many studies have been done on this issue and even though the NFL initially denied this link, since evidence has proven it, the NFL has accepted its responsibilities of educating and protecting its players.  According to an article on espn.com, more than 1500 players have sued the NFL regarding this issue and there is a pending lawsuit involving over 100 former players going on right now.  Another article written by George Shunick goes as far as to say the NFL is completely to blame for CTE.  He acknowledges that CTE is caused by repeated head trauma over long periods of time and also acknowledges that the only way to avoid it is by not playing football.  But he continues to attempt to downplay the changes the NFL has implemented to protect its players and the amount of money these players receive for playing a game they choose to play and LOVE to play.  How can you blame the NFL when these players are the ones making the decision to take the risks?  Gene Frenette writes about a player named Tom McManus who has been repeatedly asked to sue the NFL for possible compensation for being exposed to severe head trauma while playing football, however, McManus refuses to blame the NFL for his condition.  McManus has admitted that he suffered concussions while playing football in high school and college, but he made the decision to continue playing football for the NFL.  It has been proven that CTE is caused over "long periods of time".  Who is to say what exact moment in a players' life led to the disease.  It could have developed from several hard hits in a high school football career, it doesn't only happen to NFL players.  I am very saddened at the sudden loss of one of the best defensive football players in recent history, but what is even more sad is the way that lawyers and the media are hovering over the NFL like vultures using Junior Seau's death as a chance to extort millions of dollars.  These players knew what they were getting into when they chose to suit up and play the game.  They played the game at the level they did because they loved what they did and they were good at it.  They were also more than fairly compensated for their playing time.  It is absurd to blame the NFL for injuries that players sustained especially when year after year they add new rules to protect the players.  People love this game and it is not going anywhere, so when someone makes the decision to play, they should be well aware of all of the risks.