Steve Almond was like many of us at one point in his life: a voracious consumer of football who couldn't get enough. But multiple factors, most notably new information about brain injuries in the sport, led him to give it all up. He recently published a book, "Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto," and will read from it Tuesday at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. In advance of that, the Star Tribune's Michael Rand caught up with Almond.

Q What was your tipping point when it came to deciding to give up football?

A There was a larger sense that there was one realm of my life that had certain values that were wildly out of sync with the rest of my life and concept of myself as a dad, husband and citizen. I still loved the game, but I was increasingly being reminded every day of this … weird "no-morality" zone in which we could retreat. And I loved doing that, but at the same time it was getting harder and harder. Then the thing that tipped it for me was acute dementia my mom suffered. … Seeing her in that state, and she's since recovered, but we had no idea she would. … I loved watching [football players] make a hit and take a hit. But the reality of what happens 20 or 30 years down the line is what I saw in that hospital room.

Q So the recent concussion studies were the defining moment?

A To me, the thing that's really insane is 30 percent of the workers in an American workplace in 2014, by the employer's own admission, are going to wind up with long-term cognitive ailments. In what other realm would that be acceptable? … For us as fans, the moral question that the book is engaging is: "Is it a moral act to consume as entertainment a game in which we know the result is significant brain damage?"

Q Your book seems more relevant now than ever. You couldn't plan for the events of the past couple of weeks, but did you have an inkling the league was about to face this kind of crisis?

A Not at all. It's not like I'm sitting here saying, "Ha, ha, ha, I get to sell a bunch of books." It's heartbreaking that we could be seeing a mass number of people who paid for their athletic brilliance as young men by losing their minds, literally. That should be deeply offending everybody. As far as I'm concerned, everything that's happened is deeply tragic in nature. Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson and their families don't need a media scrum or people clicking on videos of the most painful, wrenching moments of their lives. They need counseling, support, and they need to be held accountable for their actions.

Q Will we ever reach a critical mass where more people are examining their football fandom?

A I think what's happening right now is an interesting cultural moment. There is a reckoning that's happening, but it's America. It'll happen for another week or so, and then, hey, the first quarter of the season is over and let's see who has a shot at the playoffs. This same thing was happening 120 years ago. It's this weird game that's played: How much of it is serious moral reflection and how much of it is fleeting moral consideration as a ritual you perform so you can then watch the game Sunday? For me, I had to get off that merry-go-round. Either I really believed these things, or I'm just part of the problem.