Is Football A Dangerous Sport?

A nationwide epidemic is occurring throughout the United States and is on the rise. Although many know about it, they fail to realize the side effects and diseases that can that lay dormant, waiting to be awakened and devastate their lives and potentially end them. Concussions are increasing annually among athletes in contact sports. Children and adults participating in these particular sports are potential victims of concussions and the long lasting side effects. The concerns of athletes receiving concussions is rising because as studies progress, many are leading to the conclusion that concussions impose future health complications.

Athletes from over one-hundred high schools and one-hundred-eighty colleges were studied in order for researchers to investigate the epidemiology of concussions and to compare the rates of concussions among high school and collegiate athletes. Two injury surveillance systems, High School Reporting Information Online (RIO), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance system collected data and this data was analyzed to calculate concussion rates, describe patterns, and evaluate potential risk factors for sports-related concussions. It was then discovered that 8.9 percent of high school athletic injuries and 5.9 percent of collegiate athletic injuries were concussions. Rates of concussions for both collegiate and high

“Concussion,” as defined by Elizabeth D. Schafer and Amy Webb Bull from the Salem Health Magill’s Medical Guide, is “the mildest traumatic brain injuries that impairs neurological functions” (Magill’s Medical Guide). In making this comment, Schafer and Webb suggest that the effects of having concussions may affect or alter the normal functioning of the head causing serious, fatal damages or deaths. Moreover, the numbers of concussion discerned in athletes are increasing drastically. For instance, in the article In Football, Stigma of Concussion Creates Incentives to Hide It from Chronicle of Higher Education, Brad Wolverton, the author, presents revealing evidence about the increasing number of concussion in recent years. His study is based on the data from the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention. It was concluded by National Collegiate Athletic Association that 4.7 was the average number of concussions per team during 2011-12 season, but it increased to 6.5 in 2013-14 season. These findings show the interesting number of players who incur concussions in recent years. An anonymous study assembled in January of 2014by ESP. it revealed that “320 NFL players play in the Super Bowl with a concussion. Eighty-five percent said yes” (Almond 49). Based on this study, NFL players are putting their lives in risk. They are ignoring the fatal risks that concussion can cause long-term complications. If the

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.

Furthering my focus, the sport that has the highest concussion rate is football. Football is the most popular and fastest growing sport in America. Football is a contact sport and the head of almost all players participating is directly contacted on every play that occurs. With a growth in popularity, kids all over America are being exposed to football at younger and younger ages. Of all the age groups to participate in this sport I would like to focus my attention towards High School. Over 1.1 million athletes in the 2012-2013 school year participated in the sport, making football the No. 1 participation

On November 6th, 1869 the young American sport called football was born. In 1903, the addition of the football helmet was introduced; however, the helmet was not mandatory for all players until 1943 (“History of the”). Since the mandatory protocol for the use of helmets, the football helmet has advanced in safety. The helmet evolved from a plastic shell-shaped helmet to a more protective rounded plastic helmet with a face mask and chin strap. After those improvements, the modifications for safety increased. Today, professional football players have impact indicators on their chin straps to identify head injuries. As players have gotten bigger and stronger, head injury awareness is a major part of player’s safety and if they are not aware, it often results in a concussion. Many players and viewers of the game do not know how concussions occur, what the effects are, and how engineers and associations try to prevent the occurrence.

The NFL is big part of many Americans life during the fall and the off season. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that hosts the most watched 4 hours of television in America. As an athlete who played football for many years, I wanted to ask the question; is the NFL’s new rules and penalties preventing concussions? During the first two weeks of April, I have compiled six different resources relating to this topic. Some, such as Trevor Horn’s article "Tackling seminar teaches new methods, inspires faith in safer football” cover the aspects of how youth and high schoolers are effected by concussions and what role the NFL plays. Other articles talk about research being put towards helping diagnose brain trauma in athletes, and also whether or

Player safety has always been and will always be one of the most controversial topics in all of sports. In particular, the safety of young football players is an extremely controversial topic. Many different studies have been conducted on concussions specifically. These studies research the different variables and what causes concussions and the most effective ways to prevent them. A recent study was done by the University of Pittsburgh and Cornell University, they tracked 468 participants ages 8-12 from 4 different youth football leagues. The basic information that they found was that nearly every concussion was sustained during a game, only

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.

Sports is a major part of mostly everyone’s life either you watch it or just participate in it. Though it has it benefits, everyone has the reason why they participate or enjoy watching sports. With the benefits comes with some consequence. When a football player puts on a helmet, he knows what he gets himself into. Although they have a helmet on, they are not guarantee not to get a concussion, according to Press Release “there was a new study that found out that football helmets currently used on the field does little to no protection against hits to side if the head” (AAN).

Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.

On fall Friday nights everywhere, high schools are buzzing for one thing: football. The players have practiced all week and are excited to get on the field. Students, parents, and fans alike are all counting down the minutes until kickoff. However, in one play all that excitement can be taken away. One helmet-to-helmet hit is sometimes all it takes for a player to sustain a concussion. Concussions happen frequently in football. Many people do not realize the risks associated with this type of injury. High school coaches need to be better trained on how to recognize potential concussions, athletes need to be better educated on concussions, and stricter concussion

Concussions in youth sports has recently became more popular in the news. Mukand and Serra recently discovered, “about 1.6- 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur every year, and a recent study found that 182,000 football players may sustain at least one concussion annually in youth (99,000), high school (76,640), and NCAA football programs (3,905), or about 1 in 30 players and 1 in 14 high school players” (16). The amount of concussions should be alarming to athletes and the parents. Hospitals have noticed a growing number of visits from children and young adults with concussions because of sports, but it is unclear if the rise is due to more concussions or more reports due to better awareness of concussions (Mitka 1775-1776). Concussions could be on the rise or more people are recognizing the symptoms of concussions and then reporting them. Either way, concussions in youth sports need to be reduced or completely eliminated. Sports related concussions in youth can be prevented with proper education and technique. Efficient and reliable equipment and better rules and regulations in youth sports can also prevent concussions and brain injuries in youth and adolescents.

Ranging from the late 1970s/1980s until the early 2000s, there were roughly thirty-eight million participants in football at all levels. From 2011-2016, there were roughly 18.7 million participants, thus making football the most played sport in the country at any level. Already when comparing the two time periods, player participation is currently greater. Since the 1990s, concussion rates have increased. In fact, the current rate of concussions (when averaging all the levels of participation) is 0.61 per 1000. This compares to the early time periods of the rate resulting in 0.505 per 1000. The rate is steadily increasing since the 1990s. Daneshvar et al states that, “Over the ten-year span from 2000 to 2009, there was an average of 6.2 cerebral

Concussions can occur virtually anywhere, and everyone is at risk of getting a concussion, whether they participate in sports or not. Athletes, who take part in any kind of contact sports, no matter the age level, are all susceptible to suffering from a concussion. Football is one of the sports that expose young athletes to higher risk in getting a concussion. According to Headcase, football is said to have one of the highest concussions rates (64-76.8) when being compared to other sports. According to a study done by Frontline, high school football players are twice as likely of getting concussions compared to college players. In the study conducted, there was a rate of