This football thing started with a lot of skinny guys with sparse padding on their bodies. A 200-pound player was considered huge, weightlifting was shunned and a "supplement" was a milkshake or a cool longneck, depending on one's religion.

Air conditioning did not exist, and when it was hot everyone sweated. Everyone sweated all the time. Those of us who played in those days accepted the "blind staggers" (i.e., heat exhaustion) as part of two-a-days, and a request for water was a sign of weakness.

We helped build a mindset of being "football tough." When we became coaches, we conceded that water was necessary, but we didn't want to give up "football tough."

We listened to the medical, strength, conditioning and nutrition people. We diligently sought to understand the evolution from quick 200-pound bodies to even quicker 300-pounders.

We stopped asking most players to play both ways. We added muscle, added hours, added protein supplements and tested for drugs that might be harmful.

We did all that and it was not enough. It was not enough for Korey Stringer or Eraste Autin. The very fact of their courage perhaps drove them beyond their limits.

I believe in football. It is the only sport I know of in which every player needs every teammate on every play to survive, to triumph. People learn unselfishness or are forced to move on.

I believe in "football tough." I owe most of what I have earned to my sport and my coaches. But all of us who love this game need to stop, look, listen and think.

Sound minds can find ways to monitor a guy like Stringer, even if that means an individual device for each player on every play. Maybe we need to revisit the wisdom of a freshman like Autin striving to get ready for a dream of varsity play in year one.

We are all responsible. Can we demand courage from our players without extreme risk? You know we can.

Whatever we do, now is the time.

ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry played with four teams over nine seasons in the NFL, including the Green Bay Packers under legendary head coach Vince Lombardi. After two years as an NFL assistant, he spent 17 years as a head coach in the college ranks, at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky.