The Danger Hall of fame football coach John Madden once said: “They’re on the right road, but there’s a long way to go on concussions.” The National Football League (NFL) is doing something about concussions, but it is not enough. In the NFL, there needs to be more player safety because of the immediate dangers of concussions and the increased chance of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and other mental diseases arising later in a player’s life. The immediate dangers of concussions call for more appropriate safety measures to be taken by the NFL. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, “a concussion is an injury to the brain that results in temporary loss of normal brain function.”(AANS) The most common symptoms are confusion, dizziness, headaches, and memory loss all of which can be lifelong effects. Concussions are a serious injury because they can damage the brain; therefore, there needs to be a way to limit blows to the head that cause concussions. If a player or anyone for that matter gets a high number of concussions, the life they live will be affected negatively. A report published by the NFL states that the number of concussions in 2016 was 244. That is a decline from 2012 when there were 261 concussions. The decline illustrates that there has been some progress in reducing the amount of concussions in the NFL, but there still are 244 players being exposed to the symptoms that can occur for their whole lives. The NFL needs to do more to
Many memories are made in football, but sadly some of the greatest players cannot recall them. The National Football League has been associated with concussions and brain traumas throughout the years, but lately it has been exposed by media and NFL veterans. The league recently “reached a $765 million preliminary settlement with thousands of former players who were suing the league over its treatment of concussions…” (Waldron). Many former players are experiencing the effects of taking hard hits over and over again; they were not properly treated, which makes the injury worse and long term. The concussion issue in the NFL is more prevalent today, because it affects not only the players, but the league as a whole.
A concussion is an injury suffered in the brain of an individual that can affect and alter a person’s ability to perform not only mentally, but physically as well. The New York Daily News reported on one of the finest cases of how serious the NFL is taking the issue on concussions, the current lawsuit that reached a “$765 million settlement reached between the two sides, 18,000 concussion suffer and the NFL” which states causes for important untold information the NFL refused to report to players about the prospective dangers concussions had for their long-term health, though this was later shot down by a federal judge claiming that it was insufficient sum. An NFL player may succumb from thousands of hits to the head playing football all
The NFL as you probably already know, stands for the National Football League. It is the elite league for the best players and best athletes in the world. These players are in tip top shape and are extremely strong. Now the big question is this. What is one of, if not the biggest problem in the NFL? Concussions. Nate Jackson, a former NFL player and writer says this, “Why is it that men who were the strongest and fittest people alive when they were young degenerate so quickly? That’s the million-dollar question.” With all of the protective equipment and top-of-the-line helmets, you would think that the players are safe from these types of injuries. But, there is a remaining problem of concussions that is still very
The acronym CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy which is a continuous disease that inflicts the brain of athletes who suffered ongoing concussions and traumatic brain injuries. This disease was known to affect boxers, however, recent reports published that CTE exists in retired football players and other athletes who have a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE triggers degeneration of brain tissue and can begin in months, years, or even decades. The symptoms of this disease is usually memory loss, impaired judgement, depression, confusion and impulse control problems.
Playing football is always going to be a dangerous sport because you don’t know if you’ll get a concussion. Concussion rating will go up each year and sometimes down when the NFL takes action and trying to protect the players. So why hasn’t NFL take more action on the concussion problem they are having each year and what are happening to the players when they get one. Football teams need to figure out how they can prevent brain damage from concussion by teaching the players how to tackle, understanding the signs of a concussion, and upgrading the equipment that they are
Concussions can cause long term effects if not treated properly. A player can recover from a concussion in a few weeks, but the lasting effects of a concussions still prove relevant. Retired players that have suffered from concussions during their careers and were not treated properly felt the long-term effects of sustaining head injuries that caused many to commit suicide, which has led to the NFL investigating their concussion protocol to keep the players safe. As the NFL uses its lead doctors to investigate and understand more about the brain it will lead to gains in the safety of athletes
Everyone loves to get at least a little physical while playing sports. Football is a major sport that has a lot of injuries and concussions in the game but many people continue to play because of the physical contact and the fun they have in the sport. Even though there is different technology being used to help prevent serious problems such as concussions many people still have serious side effects from them or worse yet die because of theirs. As claimed by, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/football-and-the-brain-nfl-60-minutes/ there has been 39 changes in the NFL to make the game safer. One change is that helmet-to-helmet hits are now illegal. To reduce the amount of head banging, the NFL and the Players Association have limited the number of full contact practices during training camp and the regular season. The league also estimates that heads slamming into the turf causes 7% of all concussions. Changes in the rules for athletic competition have thankfully reduced the number of sports-related concussions.
It is important to analyze the NFL and concussions among its players as an interrelated issue rather than looking at individual instances. When a player sustains a concussion they then undergo physical repercussions from this traumatic brain injury. The case that really started all this concussion discussion was back in 2002 when Hall of Fame Center Mike Webster was found dead. Webster’s death spurred debate on the issue that still continues today. Meanwhile, the NFL’s role as a business has also played a significant role in limiting its ability to address the concussion problem and other brain injuries that result from playing professional football. Prior to his death, Webster had suffered from such severe pain that the only
Concussions in the NFL have become a very serious issue. A concussion is a complex process that effects the brain, usually from a trauma, it can be caused by either a direct blow to the head or an indirect blow to the body. Symptoms usually reflect a functional disturbance to the brain and may include headaches and nausea, difficulty with memory and concentration.
In 2012 there were 261 concussions in the NFL. Then in 2014, concussions in regular season games rose 58 percent according to ESPN. Football is one of the most popular sports in the world and is beloved by almost everybody. But a huge problem in today’s society is concussions. Football is the world leader in concussions per year. Some solutions to solving this problem are new helmets, changing or making new rules, and better educating the players to prevent them from getting concussions.
Over the past couple of years, there has been a growing concern for NFL player’s safety and the amount of concussions occurring over the past years. A concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury that may be caused by either a fall; a direct blow to the head, face, or neck; or a blow elsewhere on the body that transmits force to the head (JAAPA). There has been a high attention directed towards concussions in many sports, but mainly football. The purpose of the research I will be conducting is to educate the players, coaches, and future players of the NFL on ways to prevent concussions. Several topics I will touch upon my research topic are how concussions associate with musculoskeletal injuries, how long a player should be sidelined before returning to play, the amount of research that has been done to prevent concussions, how teammates can have an effect on whether a player continues playing through a concussion or if they take the safe route, how coaches who are educated annually on concussions can decrease how bad a concussion is and ways coaches have been educated in the past and how effective that method was. I will specifically be paying attention to what is known and what other ways can the members of the NFL be educated on concussions. I want to know what they know and what steps are they taking towards preventing concussions. I also want to know what damage does it cause to the brain over time.
Science says concussions are inevitable; 96 percent of all NFL players and 79 percent of all football players test positive for brain disease (Source: Frontline League of Denial 9/18/15 Concussion Watch Article). Prior to 2002, the NFL’s approach to preventing, treating, and managing concussions and CTE was very different than it is today. My essay will explore what some of those differences were and whether or not changes in the NFL are improving the outcomes and quality of life for current and former NFL players.
The number of concussions in professional and amateur football has been rising and has sparked much controversy in recent years. These concussions are most likely linked with disease and even the deaths of some pro and semi-pro football players. New research is attempting to solve the problem but the issue is still prevalent in football today.
Concussions have plagued NFL ever since football was invented. There have been 29 concussions in 2015 and the number may continue to grow. Munro Cullum, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and his colleagues reported that having a concussion can have long lasting effects. 28 former football players were studied and 8 of those were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment; they had some deficits in memory. While having the best equipments can increase the amount of damage sustained, there will always be a chance of concussion because brain floats in the cerebrospinal fluid in our skull and when there’s an impact, the brain hits the skull causing cell damage. Best way to tackle this is to
This does not mean in the NFL you won’t get hit in the head. The percentage for concussions in the NFL have been on a uprise since 2014 with over 58% of players have gotten a concussion during the season of 2014. This is a big issue for the players in the NFL , but the real question is how is the NFL going to fix this growing problem so the players are