On a scaled-down football field in the heart of Chicago's Grant Park, 6-foot-3, 294-pound defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche and two dozen other NFL superstars-in-waiting are teaching nearly 100 shrieking, gyrating boys and girls that football is a fun--and safe--game. Pharrell's "Happy" blares over loudspeakers on the eve of the NFL draft, a three-day event that will transform 31 first-round picks into millionaires and dozens of other later-round selections into very wealthy young men. But for these draft prospects seeking a spot on a 53-man NFL roster, putting personal safety first isn't so easy. And that's a price they're willing to pay. "At the end of the day, the game is a dangerous game. It's a collision," Nkemdiche said after the 6- to 14-year-olds taking part in the NFL's youth football clinic finished their running, catching and tackling drills, posed for a group selfie and headed for …show more content…
Concussions and repeated head trauma have been linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease also known as CTE. It has been diagnosed in the brains of 88 of 92 former football players examined after death. A study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma last month was even more troubling, finding that repeated blows to the head that fall short of concussions can be just as damaging, if not more so. That's largely why Borland chose to retire from the NFL after just one season, despite the fact that it meant forfeiting future earnings and repaying a portion of his signing bonus. After contacting the leading neurologists in the field, he concluded that there simply were no guarantees for his long-term health as an NFL player. Tarpley concluded the same, explaining on his Instagram feed that he was leaving a game he loved "to preserve my future health" after suffering the third and fourth concussions of his career in a single NFL
Concussions in the NFL have been a big topic over the years and will continue to plague the League and the Players. In fact in 2015 alone 271 players suffered a concussion over the whole season (CNN). However People don’t realize what happens to the player after they get a concussion in the NFL. Concussions change players lives after playing the NFL. As a result of concussion sustained in the NFL, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and dementia occur.
Even though football players are aware of the dangers the game can bring upon them, they take part despite it. The passion, the joy it creates; for professionals it’s also the devoted fans and compensation they receive is what keeps the players motivated. Today players are much bigger, faster, smarter, bigger, better. The game is more physical. The sport has never been so competitive. The popularity has reached new peaks, as much that the NFL has thoughts of moving a team to London, England. Additionally, Super Bowl XLVII (47) was one of the most watched television events of all time; an astonishing 108.4 million viewers (The Associated Press). Fans worship their teams and love to see big hits. Football is a contact sport; injuries are no
The football players are aware of the risks involve with the sport and make the conscious decision 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.
I fought for the awareness of CTE, which is most commonly found among NFL players. People who suffer from CTE has symptoms of progressive dementia, amnesia, and parkinsonism, just to name a few. CTE is usually caused my multiple concussions.
The lack of knowledge that the majority of athletes enter the league with causes experts on the NFL’s policies to believe that the front office does not see the injury as a serious problem in the game today. “With the subsequent deaths of several relatively young retired NFL players, the autopsies of their brains, and the newly minted diagnosis chronic traumatic encephalopathy, we know the problem is real” (Carroll). This quotation intensifies the emphasis on the true problem the National Football League seems to be avoiding. Every injury, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant, needs to be addressed. “Even the only game that matters doesn't matter as much as your brain” (Flynn). There is nothing wrong with a person participating in the sport he loves, but when a blow to the head occurs, quick and efficient action must be taken to address the situation at hand. The National Football League and its policies do not suffice in relation to this area of concern. The fact of the matter is that no game, activity, or sport is worth a person’s
Concussions have been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or “CTE”, which has led to player suicides and other debilitating symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression, anxiety, headaches, and also sleep disturbances. “In CTE, a protein called Tau forms clumps that slowly spread throughout the brain, killing brain cells. CTE has been seen in people as young as 17, but symptoms do not generally begin appearing until years after the onset of head impacts.”(What Is CTE). This is why people are studying and trying to understand concussions fully in order to prevent and treat future ones. Concussions are very serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly which is why it has become a major topic in football. As much as professional and young athletes want to prove their toughness and continue to play, new research is proving that concussions are far more dangerous than anyone could have predicted.
It was also discovered that in relation to that, one in every 20 NCAA football players will be diagnosed with a concussion per season. A shocking fact is that more concussions are received at the high school level, than the youth and collegiate levels combined and doubled. Concussions have become such a fear, that NFL players are retiring and giving up millions of dollars just to prevent themselves from getting them. Chris Borland, a former linebacker of the San Francisco 49ers retired after last season to, what he claimed, do what was best for his
Football brain injuries are somewhat common and people are more aware of the types of damage it can cause to the brain. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury. It can occur after an impact to the head or after a whiplash-type injury that causes the head and brain to shake quickly back and forth. Concussions are usually not life-threatening, but they can cause serious symptoms that require medical treatment. Concussions are traumatic injuries that result in an altered mental state that may include becoming unconscious. It disrupts the normal functioning of the brain. Anyone can become injured during a fall, car accident, or any other daily activity. If people participate in impact sports such as football or boxing, they have an increased risk of getting a concussion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that in 2010 approximately 2.5 million people in the United States visited the hospital with traumatic brain injuries. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is the term used to describe brain degeneration likely caused by repeated head traumas. It is a condition of brain damage which persists over a period of years or decades and which is the result of traumatic impacts to the brain. CTE is diagnosed only by an autopsy by studying sections of the brain. It is a very rare condition.
Football is a rough sport. Many fans of the game watch it for the hard hits. These hard hits and the potential for injury is part of what makes the game so exciting. Some people say that football is too brutal and should be banned. Parents all over the United States don’t allow their children to play because of the risk of head injuries. Others allow their sons, and every now and then their daughters, to play and risk injury for a chance to earn a college scholarship and for a small percentage of players, the chance to play in the National Football League (NFL).
“Damage to the brain caused by concussion can last for decades after the original head trauma, according to research presented at an AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Annual Meeting in 2013.” (Nordqvist)
They are: cerebral neurasthenia, chronic traumatic brain injury, chronic brain injury, compensation hysteria, concussion neurosis, delayed traumatic apoplexy, dementia traumatic, encephalopathy traumatica, litigation neurosis, postconcussion neurosis, post concussion syndrome, post-traumatic concussion state, post-traumatic head syndrome, post-traumatic psychoneurosis, terror neurosis, traumatic constitution, traumatic encephalitis, traumatic encephalopathy, traumatic encephalopathy of boxers, traumatic hysterias, traumatic insanity, traumatic neurosis, traumatic psychosis, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. (2) Dr. James Noble, a Columbia University neurologist who was invited to write an editorial to accompany the article, said he hopes this case will bring attention to amateur athletes who may be at risk for CTE even if they don’t play professionally. But Eric Nauman, a professor at Purdue a member of the Purdue Neurotrauma Group, said while the case provides more evidence of the danger of repeated impact to the head. Researchers should also be looking for cases of CTE in individuals without obvious symptoms, Nauman said. Toward the end of his time on the field, he felt his brain slowing down and knew something was wrong. He saw himself in the stories of former NFL
Chris borland recently left football after signing with the NFL for only one year because he deemed it too dangerous. He is not the only one either. Corey Robinson, son of a football hall of famer, left football for the same
I conducted research regarding head injuries such as concussions in athletes and came across to find many sources have said the leading cause of death from sports-related injuries is traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury can happen when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters the brain tissue. A concussion is a part of traumatic brain injury which happens a lot in sports like football. According to a report made by NCCSIR, several football players associated with brain trauma complained of headaches or had a previous concussion before deaths. There have been suggestions made that the cause of concussions in football players happen because of many hits over time not by a single
Football, to many, is America’s past time. It is the most popular sport in the United States and is played all over the world. American football has originated from the sports soccer and rugby. The first official football game was played on November 6, 1869, which was played between Princeton and the Rutgers. Football to this day is seen as one of the best sports, but many people do not realize that football can cause severe damage to a player. Approximately thirty-six million kids play youth football every year. Many of the thirty six million children have endured injuries ranging from minor scratches to severe head damage. Football is not as magnificent as people perceive it to be. Youth football has become too