NFL Held Responsible for Brain Injuries

After the NFL commissioner came under scrutiny from Washington lawmakers on whether or not the injuries in his sport were the cause of traumatic brain disease. The commissioner enacted a policy that players had to pass a series of test by a neurologist prior to them being allowed to return to play( Grove, J) This policy change is similar to a normal employee passing a physical from their primary Doctor before they could return to work. The Commissioner enacted this policy to prevent players from returning to the game to soon. The current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wasn’t the first recognize that his sport had a problem taking care of its players. In 1962 the rule of no “Face masking” was enacted. This rule prohibited a player from grabbing another player’s facemask (Grove, J 657). In the late 1970’s an additional rule was enacted. The NFL finally passed a rule prohibiting players from using their helmets to

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.

Among the terms of the agreement is that the settlement is not to be regarded as an admission of guilt by the league." The NFL knows of the dangers the players are in. The rules change but the equipment increased. Without more or better equipment the players are still in danger. In a PBS Frontline documentary about injuries in football Dr. Robert Stern said," In football, one has to expect that, almost every play of every game and every practice, they're going to be hitting their heads against each other. That's the nature of the game. Those things seem to happen around 1,000 to 1,500 times a year. Each time that happens, it's around 20 g or more. That's the equivalent of driving a car at 35 miles per hour into a brick wall." The players in the NFL know the risk of playing but it is up to the NFL to make the sport safe for the players. Many people may argue that since the players know the risk and they are paid for their athletic performance is ok. However you cannot put a price on a person health. There is no way of rationalizing the behavior of the NFL. Yes, the athletes are paid to perform, but it is up to the NFL to make the sport safer. The NBA has increase rules and is aggressively making the sport less physical. In a Radio interview with XTRA 910 a Phoenix, AZ, Former NBA player, Robert Horry said, "… If you

The spectator of this sport has an obligation to the players of the sport, to make sure that the organization is protecting and looking out for them. Yet not only should the viewer be held accountable for the lack of communication in consequences between the player and the pro scene, but the organization of the NFL needs to make sure that their players have a full understanding of what is going on and how they need to protect the players. The current situation that is understood, contents contain implied knowledge that all parties of this table are in uniform knowledge and agreement to what comes of playing football. Finally, this should also happen at the youth level when kids are just getting into the sport, as it would better inform the parents and the kid if they understood the full

Here is why. In 2015, the NFL diagnosed 271 players that had concussions. There has continued to be an increase in the number of concussed players over the past several years. With the continual increase in concussions over the years,it is a reasonable question to ask whether the NFL is doing enough to protect their players or not. I am going to start this issue by discussing a movie I am sure you have heard of. Concussion. A Forensic pathologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu was the first doctor to discover chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers' center Mike Webster, who was 50, when he committed suicide. Dr. Omalu made the bold statement that football is the reason that Webster had mental issues, and ultimately the reason for his death. There continued to be a trend of NFL players passing at a young age due to mental health issues, and Omalu was certain that all of it was because of football. He examined the brains of these players and found correlations in their brains that suggests that the repeated blows to the head they received during their career caused severe damage. As you can imagine this discovery was a huge threat to the NFL as people and players saw this evidence and couldn't help but be scared about the outcome football has on an individual. The NFL basically just tried to cover up clear facts stated by Omalu, but eventually it became to evident to ignore. This movie made a large issue in the NFL apparent to many people and creating a film to do so was a very effective platform for displaying it. To make a long story short, since this discovery in 2002, there has been a drastic change in player safety rules, concussion protocol and guidelines, and strictness of teams to follow such protocol and guidelines. In

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.

It wasn’t until Dr. McKee and other researchers presented evidence of CTE in football players during a congressional hearing with the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2009, that the NFL changed its approach to addressing these findings. Later that year, during an interview with The New York Times, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello stated “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussion can lead to long-term problems.” This was one of the first times the league admitted that concussions and brain injuries had long-term impact on players. Admitting that there was a problem was one of the first steps in overhauling their approach to CTE’s impact on football players. Towards the end of that year, there was a shake up

The NFL has decided not to directly address the mental health problems of current and former players in fear of negative publicity and financial consequences league wide. Also, they have not compensated players for their injuries or put in enough time or effort to improve the conditions for players. These things are deemed unethical, because in a sense by being injured, these players are being stripped of their freedom to do things the way that they want. Also, the NFL is putting the greed for money over the health and well being of the community.

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

If any of these player safety rules have been broken recently, the NFL has come down swiftly and harshly against the culprits. These swift and efficient actions performed by the NFL have taken notice by the parents and fans of the sport. These forms of punishments come through fines, suspensions, and in extreme cases bans from the league for years or even indefinitely. Recently a defensive coordinator on the New Orleans Saints was found to have installed a “bounty program” on his defense. This program would fund the defensive players with bonuses for various actions in a game. Although this may seem okay, it is actually highly illegal in the NFL. This bounty program would fund the players for knocking out other athletes they were competing against. Injuring players was one of many forms of bonuses that players would be able to accrue. The problem with this in sports is because football is already violent enough. Now teams are actually “gunning” to injure others on purpose. The NFL’s quick and extreme punishments for the creation and participation in this bounty case definitely put the player’s safety aspect into the mainstream of what the NFL is worrying about these days.

A great majority of kids and adults football careers are ending shortly because of brain damage and concussions. To this day scientist and people in sports are trying to find a way to decrease the number of brain damage and concussions. There been so many head injuries in the game of football. It got real serious over the past 20 years. In the NFL and College football league, players and coaches can know if someone have a concussion because of the technology they have at the game. It’s mandatory for every team in college, and in the NFL to have doctors and the technology they have at each game they have.

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.

Since much of a player’s life is manage by his team, whenever a player obtains an injury, all of the player’s medical treatments are handled by the team and the team doctor. Furthermore, the organization is required to report that an injury has occurred and the type of injury. The doctors responsible for treating the players should be focused on regaining the player’s health and strength so the player can continue with his life and football career as quick as possible with no long term effects. However, this idea does not seem to be a reality among NFL teams. Many NFL doctors have been obeying the directions of the same stingy owners that neglected Dexter Manley. With this direction, NFL doctors have been losing sight of any concept of ethics, and the doctors have been aiming to get the players back on the field as soon as possible. This aim does not solely affect the treatment of players, but also the reporting of injuries. For example, Calvin Johnson, an All-Pro wide receiver and future Hall of Famer for the Lions, could not even count the number of concussions he has had. In fact, when he was asked about whether or not he had an exact number he answered “It’s simple to get a concussion, you know. … I don’t know how many I’ve had over my career, you know, but I’ve definitely had my fair share” (qtd in “Calvin Johnson’s Retirement”).

People love to watch, play, and enjoy sports or cheering for teams. In the majority of sports that are physical and require a lot of contact that could potentially cause injuries. The most physical of sports such as hockey, soccer, football, and boxing can make the people who care about them worried for their health. Some people don’t understand that the helmet the players wear don’t always prevent the athletes from getting concussions or the fracture of your skull. You can get a concussion by having your brain constantly hit your skull. The NFL should take more necessary precautions every time a player suffers from damage. There is are diseases called CTE which means chronic traumatic encephalopathy players get playing that turn into medical bills need to be paid for by the NFL because players often are pressured to ignore the symptoms of a concussion and go back out to play. Players should be aware of the consequences and risk that can occur when they make these decisions. I believe that they should study about what can actually happen to their health so that they can prevent getting concussions and acknowledge the negative effects.

The NFL has games three nights per week, and it’s extremely rare to watch a game that is free from head injuries. Concussions are so prominent during games that the NFL was forced to employ independent neurologists to assess brain injuries on the sidelines. Based on the fact that the NFL is aware of the risks involved, additional rules and equipment should be explored annually. The NFL puts profitability ahead of player safety. The NFL has a total of 32 teams, with a total estimated league value of $74.8 billion dollars (Gaines). Instead of properly evaluating players during and after games for brain injuries, the NFL continues to allow players to participate in activities while injured. The NFL is currently paying out close to $1 billion to former players and wives of deceased former players as part of a lawsuit that charged that the NFL did nothing to protect players from Chronic