Football Safety Equipment Research Paper

Hello everyone. I am aware that many of you in this room participate in collegiate sports and many of these facts that I will inform you one you may not like to hear but I feel that it is important for people to know. According to NCAA.org, 10,500 brain injuries have occurred, 3,400 of which have been from football alone. In addition to this, 30% of these have been in females. Brain injuries are extremely hard on the body and can result in life long damage or even death, and it is very important for the student athletes to be aware of these risks and what they can do to prevent them.

Thesis- I want you to better understand concussions, why they’re a problem in the NFL and what measures are being taken to prevent them.

Safety and equipment have come a long way in football in order to prevent brain injuries. A very important piece of equipment used to prevent brain trauma is the helmet. The helmet has evolved a lot over the years, even more in the past decade. The Helmets main purpose use to be just to stop skull fractures, then they added the facemask to prevent facial injuries. Concussions are more of a recent concern (Hand 1). Overconfidence in the helmets' protective power prompts many NFL athletes to deliver and accept hits that would have killed players of previous generations. Now the helmet is being revolutionized. Helmets aren't only being created to stop skull and face fractures but they are being created to help prevent brain damage such as concussions now. Helmets have gone through testing to see how to design a better preventative helmet. These newer helmets are being designed to reduce the amount of force that is being applied to the head by a hit that is received (Vandantam 2). Virginia Tech football has been monitoring helmet collisions since 2003, courtesy of Dr. Gunnar Brolinson. Dr. Gunnar Brolinson has outfitted the teams helmets with six sensors and a small antenna that records and transmits data to a computer on the sideline. This information collected is crucial because it will help find better ways to design a helmet that will prevent concussions(Goldman 1). Equipment isn't the only important part of football that can help prevent concussions.

In the sport of rugby there are a lot of different injuries that you could get in the sport for example a concussion. The reason why this topic is interesting to research is because the injurie which is called a concussion is a fascinating injurie. “A Concussion is a type of head injury. It happens when someone gets a significant bang on the head - so much which the brain is shaken and knocks against the inside of the skull. This causes the nerves and structures in the brain to be altered.” The reason why I have chosen to research into concussion in rugby is because I find it interesting how an injurie from when you were a child can have an effect on your body in later life, and how people have found out a way to prevent a concussion to happen. Also I play rugby so I wanted to find out what is a concussion in more detail, and by this research I have done I could get a better understanding of a concussion. And in my essay I will be talking about the Significant risk of concussion in children, Short and long term effects of concussion, Ways to prevent a concussion ,Concussion linked to mental health problems for ex-sportsmen, Teens who suffer a concussion and a result after a concussion.

As the Friday night lights shine down onto the field, the running back from Washington High School takes a hard hit to the head. He lies on the field motionless as trainers rush over to him. He is diagnosed as having a severe concussions. While there are immediate dangers of having such a concussion, the later effects of such an injury and this student's life in the future are unknown, and potentially life threatening. Studies have extensively concluded that CTE is an undeniable danger in the NFL, as well as in high school students. In order to continue the protection of our athletes and students, the NFL and other leagues will be required to further research of CTE and its effects, as well as continue the development of advanced protective

Based on my research, there are considerable lifelong health related consequences associated with participating in grueling sport activities such as professional football. What responsibilities should the National Football League (NFL) have in regards to providing an adequate support system to players suffering from a concussion during a practice or regular season game and from lifelong challenges as a result of traumatic head injuries sustained during the regular season or practices? The resources I have referenced in this proposal essay, provide evidence to answer this question and lends support to my position that considering the violent nature of professional football, the NFL needs to take more efforts to protect players during the games and afterwards if a serious injury has been sustained that affects their quality of life and future earnings. Current policies are inadequate and continue to contribute to lawsuits and cost lives.

For this research synthesis I choose to write about concussions in football, specifically in youth football. I chose to focus more on youth football because concussions are such a big problem within the football world, so instead of focusing on them at a professional level it should be looked into at the entry level. If things can be done in youth football to prevent or lower the risk of concussions, then those steps should be taken. The main thing I wish to focus on is if tackling in youth football should be allowed. I came to choose this topic because I was deciding between whether or not football players should have to go to college before the NFL or concussions in football, but I chose concussions in football. Concussions in football was the topic I ended up choosing because I felt there would be more information about this topic. Also, I chose a topic dealing with sports because I grew up playing them, so I have always like them and I am a sport administration major, so I picked something that is talked about a lot in the sports world. This is an important issue because concussions can cause serious, lifelong medical issues, so they are something that needs to be addressed. My classmates should care because most of them have either played football or had a family member that played and they could have been effected by the negatives of concussions.

Since the 1920s, there has been a severe disease linked to athletes. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a disease that effects athletes that have had head trauma. The trauma causes the brain tissue to deteriorate. The changes can become apparent after months, years, or even decades. CTE is linked to memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia. (“What”, 2009). CTE has caused football to change as well as the equipment. CTE is now widely known and is effecting, not only professional athletes, but also high school athletes. Concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy are serious conditions that can affect anyone and have adverse effects.

In the world of football, big hits are something that are looked at in a positive light. They are seen as a way of asserting dominance over other players and it is celebrated by teammates. Big hits are a very crucial, almost necessary, part of the game that millions of people gather to watch every Sunday. However, in the past decade, the NFL and other organization have realized that concussions can lead to very serious problems later in life. One of these problems is known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It is a degenerative brain disease, much like Alzheimer’s, that mainly effects individuals in high contact sports such as boxing or football. Over time, this connection between concussions and CTE has become more common knowledge and more people have started asking the question “do the risks of children playing football outweigh the benefits?”. The answer to this question is yes, football is entirely too violent for children to be playing. According to “Big Hits, Broken Dreams”, one in ten football players gets a concussion, and 35% of players have more than one. The video also states that only 50% of high schools in the United States have a certified athletic trainer on the field (CNN, 2012). If concussions are really a concern for the schools, then why are there not more athletic trainers on staff at these schools to deal with sports injuries? This also forces the public to question these schools even more because if they are willing to cut costs and not hire a

Player safety has been an issue for the National Football League since the start of the league, but has taken on a greater importance in recent years. Now, when a player is injured after a play, he must sit out for at least one play to allow the team’s trainer to assess his injury and make sure he is fit to return to play. Many say the NFL is very invested in player safety, and the protocols recently introduced have drastically changed the way athletes are assessed and eventually released to return to the field. These changes were necessary in order to protect players from serious injury and long-term health issues. There are many possible reasons the NFL has increased its emphasis on player safety, including, many people are disturbed by the violence of the game, fewer kids are playing football at the youth and high school levels, league sponsors are worried about bad publicity, and there are lawsuits against the NFL dealing with the long-term effects of brain damage. These reasons make many ponder, “Does the NFL really care about player safety, or are they just saving themselves from bad public relations, and the detrimental economic effects that may result from them?”

Thesis: Youth and High School football teams are not adequately protected from the danger of concussions and head trauma.

Introduction- Specialized headgear and better concussion protocol should be utilized in high school sports to prevent serious brain injuries.

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.

Football can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”(Science Daily, 2014). The study also found that standard football helmets worn by the majority of players on the field today, only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by 20 percent compared to not wearing a helmet at all (Science Daily, 2014).

There has been extraordinary improvements of helmets from the old leather to the modernized-plastic football helmets along with the face mask and energy- absorbent padding. In addition, the concern over preventing concussions, have led to helmet changes, impact testing methods and reconstruction of injuries during play helping to provide insight on concussions(4). Helmets have been successful in decreasing the risk of traumatic brain injuries, but there is much concern over concussion; therefore, scholars argue the importance of technology development to address concussion(5). As the author(s), David Viano and David Halstead discusses, there is room needed for understanding the types of collisions associated in youths and the impact condition addressing collisions. There are many variables to consider addressing concussion and where they occur.