Nfl Player Safety and the Effects of Concussions

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

Football is one of America’s favorite sports. It originated from soccer and rugby. This kind of sport is very competitive. The main point of the game is to score points by carrying the ball from a starting point to a 100-yard long by 53-yard wide field into a marked zone. Each team has a Y-shaped structured called the field goal the players. The game is divided into timing sections ranging from 12 to 15 minutes quarters. Often times, the players become violent during the game. This happens when they have to tackle each other for the ball. During this tackling period, players injured, but like anything in life it possesses risks known to the athletes before signing a contract with the NFL’s (National Football League) owner.

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

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.

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.

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.

The NFL has established a strong set of rules through the years focused on player safety, designed to promote fair competition while attempting to minimize risk of harm to the player. While many of these rules have focused on reducing contact to the

In recent years countless newscasts have been filled with stories pertaining to the physical repercussions of football on its players. Don Banks, the author of “What Price Football?” informs his audience how just recently, the NFL has agreed to pay $765 million to former players to make the concussion-related lawsuits acting against them, disappear. Now, obviously this “settlement” remains ineffective to the ultimate goal of bringing a halt to these injuries because the game continues to be played unchanged and unabated. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease that has become more apparent in players of the National Football League. Several retired players such as Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson and All-Pro Linebacker Junior Seau, have committed suicide. Research and medical evidence suggests that CTE may have played a role in these deaths. According to Jim Trotter’s Sports Illustrated article “Heading For Trouble,” currently more than 1,000 former and current players are plaintiffs against the NFL, claiming the league failed to adequately treat concussions and educate players about potential long-term consequences of brain trauma. These facts prove that the NFL’s clear higher motive pertains to the money profited from the sport versus conducting a game that ensures every players safety. Professional football will remain a life-threatening

The significance of my findings is that fans of the NFL believe that more sufficient rules and guidelines should be put in place for the protection of the players. According to Catherine Sullivan, “let’s face it, the NFL is not going to make any further changes until it starts feeling pressure from the players association” (Sullivan). Sullivan’s quote along with eh other four interviews leads me to believe that the participant believe the NFL is not permeable o make changes unless they start hearing about it from the players. This proves that the culture surrounding the leagues officials is not acceptable, when there is a conclusive decision that the NFL doesn’t seem to care about concussion prevention. I believe this research to shows the irresponsibility of the league. It goes to show that fans feel that as long as the league keeps making money, and there is not pressure from the players then they are content with the current rules. However, this is interesting considering you there has been a decline in the length of players careers as well as researcher showing the severity of concussions.

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).

First, players of the NFL and NCAA or of any football league should know that playing football has a high risk for them to have head contact. If players want the rules to change they can quit. This is because you can take the fundamentals out of the game, there is a lot of hitting, that's just going to make the game boring they need contact. Also, players did not sign up to die. They do football for its value and that they like the sport the commissioners and every top rank of NFL cant listen to every complaint that players make. This is bad because there too many rules to follow and the refs would have to pretty much call a penalty every play, the refs don't want to change the

Personal conduct in the NFL, National Football League, is an issue that is starting to spiral out of control. Late September, 2014, “the league [had] suspended at least 20 players for actions including assault, substance abuse and use of performance-enhancing drugs” (White); this was only a few weeks into the regular season of play for the league. The NFL has grown enormously since it was founded on August 20, 1920 in Canton, Ohio. But, this league has become more and more lenient with its players and personnel. Many professional athletes in the NFL receive special treatment regardless of their improper actions, thus allowing them to elude the consequences and in turn setting a misleading example for their young fans. In order

The league had a culture that looked the other way when it came to players’ improprieties. There was history of giving personal conduct violators a mere slap on wrist. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, of the 32 teams that make up the NFL, 21 employed players who had domestic or sexual violence charges last year. Since 200, more than 700 NFL players found themselves arrested. The NFL’s responses were either a brief suspension or no suspension at all. Those players who the NFL released from contracts were “benchwarmers” who most likely had no impact on the team winning. The ‘ostrich manager’ syndrome was present. The league did not accept blame but rather made domestic violence a societal issue, and therefore, not their problem.

Personally I do not think the NFL policy is working. There have been many cases of domestic violence involving NFL players in the last 3 years. Ray Rice was initially suspended 4 games for knocking out his now wife in an elevator. After a the video of Rice hitting the women went viral, the NFL then changed the original suspension from 4 games to indefinite. The behavior of the players on or off the field has no impact on wether the follow the NFL or not; but those who have children interested in the sport may think different. The behavior of the NFL employees as a whole definitely has an influence on the sponsors who associate themselves with the

American football is a contact sport accountable for generating copious amounts of concussions through extrinsic factors (such as temperature and altitude), as well as aspects corresponding to certain positions of players and types of play utilized within games (Yengo-Kahn, Johnson, Zuckerman & Solomon, 2015). Despite available rehabilitation treatments, concussive impacts are culpable for the diagnosis and lingering of an array of hardships upon even the experts of this sport. However, undercounting still persist in the National Football League (NFL), as exhibited in an analysis of concussions in the NFL through the years 1996 to 2001 (Schwarz, Bogdanich & Williams, 2016). NFL committee members claimed that 887 total concussions were diagnosed by the medical staff of every team, yet further investigation declared that more than 100 concussion-related cases remained unreported (Schwarz et al., 2016). Therefore, establishing and scrutinizing the connection between an increased number of concussions and a decreased state of well-being (with particular focus on mental and physical components) in the lives of retired NFL athletes, is essential in promoting the importance of immediate recognition and treatment of these detrimental injuries.