I recognize you've already been through an extended conversation about this, and clearly don't relish another, so I'll just leave it at this:
- There is no way to have a contact sport like this, predicated as it is on physical dominance at many points, and not have to draw boundaries on that contact (with resulting enormous gray areas)
- Even plenty of supposedly non-contact sports have frequent injuries, as I surely don't have to remind you. The key is preventing life-altering brain injuries.
- I would argue there is nothing problematic about "blindside" hits over and above "recipient-aware" hits, so long as they are within the rules (particularly in avoiding hits to the head or hits that use the helmet to deliver the impact). For the same reason that drunk drivers survive wrecks at much higher rates than their victims: they're relaxed and don't tense up in anticipation.
- Where I suspect we agree is the need to encourage rugby-style "wrapping-up" tackles, which are more about controlling the opponent's body than trying to truck on through somebody. So many of the "big hits" in the NFL are actually sub-optimal for the purpose of, you know, getting the ball-carrier to the ground, and that kinda drives me nuts.