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Concussions In Football Essay

Decent Essays

Football is an amazing tradition that is ingrained in American culture. Americans are drawn to it’s amazing athletes, big hits and a fan culture like no other. It’s a hard hitting, violent sport and that’s why we love it, but that comes at a cost. The collisions that occur during these games are putting athletes at high risk of serious brain injury. Athletes, coaches and fans everywhere are becoming more and more aware of the dangers of concussions. The tradition of watching a violent sports has been popular since the age of gladiators in ancient Rome. Plain and simple, people like watching men compete physically. Football is obviously not a fight to the death, but the premise of the sport is rooted in physical violence. It’s an amazing test of mental and physical ability. These athletes are the most elite in these areas which raises the problem of injuries. Athletes are so mentally tough that even when they are truly hurt, they will play through it. Granted, that is amazing in itself but it becomes extremely risky with head injuries. Not long ago, if you got your “bell rung” you were expected to play through it. By doing so, athletes are putting themselves at risk of what’s called “second impact syndrome” or SIS (NCBI). This occurs when an athlete has been previously concussed, even mildly, then experiences a second impact to the head. If the second impact can occur anywhere from minutes to weeks after the initial blow. The second impact causes catastrophic swelling

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