49ers’ love of game versus reality of research

Kyle Juszczyk might be the only economics major from his graduating class at Harvard who is working a blue-collar job that comes with significant health risks. Juszczyk, 26, who signed a four-year, $21 million contract with the 49ers in March, could be doing something else with his Ivy League education. [...] he was recently asked if he'd ever considered how long he wanted to stay in a profession that requires him to routinely run full-speed into 250-pound linebackers. Juszczyk spoke last week four days after a major study generated a new wave of questions about the long-term effects of playing football. The study published by the American Medical Association examined the brains of deceased former football players and found that 110 of 111 brains of those who played in the NFL had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition that can be diagnosed only after death. On the same day news of the study broke, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, 31, announced he was retiring from the NFL after six seasons and donating his brain to concussion research. Hawkins said his body wasn't responding during the offseason after he signed with the Patriots in May. Two days after...