Next time you are watching a football game with a group of friends, pay attention to the reactions after each tackle. Whether it’s a cringe or gasp, football players get hit so hard that you often can’t help but let out an “Ouch!”

Luckily, we are watching the pain unfold from the comfort of our living room couches. The players, on the other hand, are forcefully tackled to the ground in real life. How can that be safe?

As it turns out, it’s not. Although helmets used by the NFL (National Football League) have been modernized to prevent concussions and players are ordered to sit out for a couple games after serious injuries, I don’t believe that helmets provide nearly enough protection against long term effects of these concussions. It’s unfortunate that earlier generations were football’s guinea pigs, but just because we are a little more knowledgeable about concussions and helmet safety today doesn’t mean that football doesn’t come along with the same risks. In my eyes, one concussion is one too many.

In my nearly 20 years of football watching (yes—I was born on the ’93 Notre Dame-Pittsburg game, I truly mean 20 years!), I have yet to witness a season where a player hasn’t had their facemask pulled or experienced illegal contact that resulted in their helmet flying off. The National Collegiate Athletic Association calls foul on this type of ruthless play, but I think a foul is a small price to pay for potentially inflicting a brain injury. Statistics show that this is an urgent problem affecting a considerable number of players. According to the University of Pittsburgh, 34 percent of college football players have had one concussion and 20 percent have experienced multiple concussions. As for NFL players, PBS states that 160 players went down with a head injury during the 2012-13 season.

I know what you’re thinking—football players should already be aware of the risks that come along with the sport before they decide to put on that uniform. However, extensive research about the long-term effects of concussions is now surfacing. Not only have I researched the facts, but I’ve also become aware of this issue through the lives of my father and his teammates at Notre Dame. My father played football at both the collegiate and professional levels. Throughout his years on the field, he had a torn ACL, a broken ankle, broken ribs, a broken finger and was once diagnosed with a concussion.

Not once did he sit a season out.

Luckily my dad has yet to experience any serious repercussions from his injuries, but many of his fellow teammates weren’t as fortunate. One of my dad’s Notre Dame teammates, Dave Duerson, appeared to have everything going for him. With a successful NFL career and two Super Bowl rings on his finger, no one ever expected Duerson to commit suicide on Feb. 17, 2011. Neurologists later confirmed that Duerson had suffered from a neurodegenerative disease linked to concussions. Who could have predicted such a grave outcome nearly 20 years after his football career ended?

Hopefully current players will internalize this information and understand that most complications don’t show up until many years later. While players need to take initiative in protecting themselves and their health. In addition to that, we must be realistic—we can’t leave all health and safety decisions up to the players themselves, because nearly every player will claim that he “feels fine” and is ready to get back into the game. We must trust that the medical staff and the NFL organization as a whole will make proper decisions when dealing with concussions and injuries.

Perhaps Pop Warner, a children’s football league, was on to something when they announced new limitations for the amount of contact allowed in their practices. Although it’d be a stretch for the NFL to model their guidelines after a football league designed for kids ages five to 15, the NFL needs to have more regulations that allocates a maximum number of injuries before a player has to take that helmet off for good. As rewarding as a championship ring may seem, it is not worth shaving off 30 years of a person’s life.