Concussions In Professional Football

An NFL football player will endure somewhere between 900 to 1500 blows to their head over the course of a single season. With an immense amount of blows like this comes an immense amount of damage to a player’s brain. This extensive amount of brain damage has been decided, by Dr. Bennet Omalu, to result in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Over the course of these discoveries and much controversy, the NFL has been targeted, denied all accusations, done very few things to lessen the risk of concussions in football, and the risks and number of concussions have steadily increased throughout the league’s

I. Introduction A. Attention Graber: For many people there is nothing better on a crisp cool Sunday afternoon, than sitting down and enjoying a good football game. The NFL, hosts usually the football games people watch. Recently, however the NFL has had a huge conflict on its hands regarding player health and safety, specifically regarding repeated head injury and concussions. Research indicates, the NFL has not done enough to protect its players from the damage of repeated head injury B. Ethos Statement:

Concussions themselves are a controversial topic simply because of their destructive forces on the lives of everyone, ranging from people who tripped and fell a little too hard, to people who make a career of hitting other people as hard as they possibly can. There are many people opposed to the idea of football’s inherent violence, yet advocates of the sport claim that removing the factor of colliding would make a completely different sport that cannot even be called football, which itself has become so ingrained in American society that it practically owns a day of the week from Week One of preseason to the closing seconds of the Superbowl. The fact remains though that if football were to suddenly cease existing, many people would be jobless,

This concussion “injury” should not be an issue because of the bigger problem that has arose. This has changed the game of football to tacking at the feet or leg area. The results are torn ACL’s, MCL’s, and hip injuries. This effectively ends that player’s season

While playing a contact sport a concussion could cause brain damage, end a playing career, or alter a someones life for the worst. A concussion is defined as a traumatic brain injury, caused by a hit, or sudden blow to the head that is able to alter the way your body

He shows that rugby tackling has proven to prevent as many concussions as possible, and if it was adopted by football it could prevent a majority of concussions. The author adds onto his idea of the change in tackling, by also suggesting helmet sensors to detect when a concussion occurs. Finally, Munger states that if the athletes created a mutual respect for their fellow athletes’ safety then this could cause a decrease in major injuries among athletes in football and rugby. Overall Munger tried to portray an urgency to change the tackling used in football and an increased respect for athletes’ health could cause a significant drop of concussions in football and rugby. Munger succeeds at convincing sports lovers and athletes to believe that the root of the concussion problem is how the athletes view concussions and their overall health because of his use of logic and personal experience in the sport; but he takes away from his overall argument with the choice to not restate his point in the conclusion, choosing to add another idea

Football is the most American of all of the sports we play. We have good memories of playing catch and watching games with our friends, however, there is a darker side to this all-American sport, the damage done to the brains of the players. While the NFL has attempted to make great strides in preventing further damage to players on the field suffering from concussions, the rates of concussions continue to rise. In 2014, 206 concussions were diagnosed, while in 2015, that number rose to 271 concussions. If these new regulations truly had an effect upon the safety of the players, we would instead see little growth, if not a decline, of diagnosed concussions.

It is not new news learning that concussions are a common occurrence throughout the sport of football. It just so happens that throughout the last two decades, former NFL players have or have threatened the NFL with lawsuits regarding their personal health, specifically brain injuries. Many experts and players also question if the latest technology used to prevent concussions from occurring are effective. Modern day CT scans can rule out bleeding in the brain, they however do not diagnose concussions. This causes many concussions to go unseen due to the lack of advancements in the use of CT equipment.

The sports world right now is helping with the bills and helping with money and in the game itself they are adding more rules and they are adding more padding and other sports are being more protective with what their players do after they get a concussion. Doctors clear that player either to go back into the game or he has to go the hospital. Doctors recommend that you don 't do anything but rest for a few weeks. It can affect you in the long run if you don 't what the doctors tell you to do. What needs to be changed is that 4 out of 10 of players will get ALS.

Following the season league officials and doctors got together to discuss the issue and they wondered if there was simply more concussions or if they just identified them better and more efficiently. “47% of all sports related concussions occur during high school football” (Head Case - Complete Concussion Managements). From 2012-2015 in the NFL there was no huge leap but still growing, in 2012 there were 261 concussions compared to 2015’s total of 271. 3,800,000 reported concussions in 2012, double that from 2002. Annually, 4-5 million concussions happen and the numbers are rising among middle schoolers.

“ Pretty soon guys are going to decide their lives are more important than playing in the NFL” (Borland).The danger that goes with the game is extremely risky but it's also here for entertainment so trying the balance out the two is fairly difficult. This shows that reduce an injury and still have it entertaining can really equal out and still make football very enjoyable to watch and play. “The NFL is committed to protecting its players from unnecessary risk, while keeping the game fair, competitive and exciting” (NFL.com). All things considered, making the health and safety to the players is priority, the game of football will still be exceedingly enjoyable. Professional football players health and safety is pirate ties with new NFL rules being implicated.

The topic that will be displayed in this research prospectus is how the NFL has poorly handled the ongoing concussion epidemic amongst its players and the problems that come along with it. Every time players step foot on the field they are taking the risk of suffering from a concussion due to the physicality of the sport. Concussions have an everlasting lasting effect on humans and can lead to serious mental health problems. After their careers, there have been many instances where concussions have led to players developing serious mental health issues. There have been many concerns around the league about the concussion protocol and how it has been processed.

Traumatic brain injuries sustained in the National Football League has risen steadily since the first game was played. The public, as well as players, have been inadequately informed of the severity of concussions resulting from severe head trauma. Players have been sent back into play with life threatening injuries that may be invisible immediately but detrimental when observed long term. The National Football League has covered the concussion issue due to the lack of publicly the sport receives when role players are out with a concussion or another injury. Concussions and traumatic brain related injuries have become a costly problem in the National Football League (NFL), and most instances are mistreated and covered up.

Carson Simpson Mrs. Gallos English 3 Honors 24 April 2017 Concussions in Football Although football is a very popular sport, changes need to be made. There is a lot of research and data showing head injuries in football and how they hurt the players. The NFL tries to just sweep these cases away because they know it would hurt the popularity and economical support of the sport. Head injuries and concussions are the most popular injuries in football because of the fact that they are one of the most dangerous injuries a player could have.

Understandably, Concussions in football are a very serious issue that can cause long term disabilities and can even lead to death, although these findings are well known, people continue to support playing football. The new discovery of CTE has made record breaking information well known to anyone interested in football and its participants. While knowing how dangerous this sport can ultimately be for the players, it is still America