Professional Football: A Life Or Death Game

Even though some people believe that the NFL does not need stricter rules to help prevent concussions, stricter rules are definitely needed. According to Casebook in Is Football Too Dangerous, Several NFL players have committed suicide over the last few years, and medical evidence suggests that brain damage-the consequence of years of violent on-field collisions and concussions. This evidence shows that multiple blows to the head have caused CTE in former NFL players that have played a role in their deaths. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma (“What is CTE?”). How many more deaths are going to happen to former players before the NFL make the current rules stricter? The NFL can make the current players safer for their futures outside of football. The evidence is there to show why the NFL needs to make stricter rules.

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.

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

In the NFL preseason, tight end Austin Collie ran a route, caught the ball and was immediately tackled to the ground. He lied there on the ground for almost 10 minutes not getting up. He was hit in the head by a defensive on the opposite team. When he came back to the game after 2 weeks he was hit again in the head and had to leave because of getting a concussion. Since getting that concussion he had to miss another 3 games and after that he ended his NFL career for good. Football teams need to figure out how they can prevent brain damage from concussion by teaching the players how to tackle, understanding the signs of a concussion, and upgrading the equipment that they are using.

In the NFL there are many different types of injuries that occur some more serious than others, however one type of injury sticks out the most when it comes to trauma after they retire, that type of injury are concussions, concussions are a very serious issue because, they can ultimately lead to CTE and the retirement of young players, this ultimately will be the demise of the NFL if something is not done. There are many signs of concussions such as headaches, imbalance, memory loss, and confusion. One of the main issues with concussions in the NFL is the way they are treated, Dr Dias Jr. stated in a recent article he published,” 91 former NFL players

"From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk” (“Chris Borland”). This quotation from former San Francisco 49er, Chris Borland, exemplifies the concern for the increase in occurrence of concussions in the National Football League. A concussion is defined as “a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head” (“NFL Concussions”). The debate on who is truly responsible for the injury’s increasing presence in the NFL continues to be disputed in the league today. Whether the blame is to be placed on the administrative personnel of the league or the players and their actions, change is the one common denominator in the stances taken by both sides. The National Football League is not doing enough

The NFL has changed equipment a lot over the years to protect professional football players. “Helmets protect and prevent Players from getting a concussion or head

One of the most controversial discussions in sports today is concussions and how the athletes who play sports are being protected. Concussions in the NFL has been a constant argument over the past decade because of not only the number of players who were diagnosed with concussions but also in addition to the number of retired NFL players that reported having depression problems, drug addictions and eventually taking away their own lives by suicide. Football is know to many as “Americas game” and because of this fans live for and look forward to these hard hitting brut athletes that suit up and take the field for battle each week not knowing the facts on how concussions not only ruins the athletes chances of playing again but affects the brain

Herm Edwards former football player and coach told SB nation, "If you're injured, you can't play. Hurt? The only guys who don't hurt in football are the ones who don't play,” (Bien). Although Herm Edwards does make a good point, there is a major difference between getting some bruises and permanent brain damage. Football players will not protect brains but a better protocol will. The protocol should reduce the risk of brain damage (Kilgore). Concussions have enough of an impact that they can affect someone long term. It is evident that this is something that in the future a former athlete would regret. Protocol needs to be enforced and more strict if there is any hope of saving these football players from doing something they might

Could you image you having a mild concussion? Or even your kid having one? Thinking that it will be gone in a few days, but not knowing that you could have life threatening injury to your brain, just by a blow to the head, by playing a sport. According to Sports Illustrated, in July 2014, a federal judge approved to the NFL, $765 million settlement, after 4,500 former players filled lawsuits against them, but recently, that settlement has been raised to $1 billion, covering more than 20,000 former players for the next 65 years. Professional organizations try there hardest to make the game as safe as possible, but like anything, there's flaws. Organizations like the NFL, NBA, NHL, and even the MLB, are trying to make sports as safe as possible

First, I am going to talk about the science behind concussions, CTE, and why it is such an issue for a football player. Concussions are very damaging to the brain and experiencing a lot of them can lead to CTE. I will also discuss people that influenced the understanding of concussions and CTE. In 2002, a neurologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu tried to tell the NFL about the brain damage he found while doing a former NFL player’s autopsy, but the NFL did not really listen. In 2009, another researcher by the name of Dr. Ann Mckee tried to get the NFL’s attention about her concerns about football players and concussions as well. The NFL once again ignored these assumptions. However, the NFL did listen to Dr. Elliot Pellman, who told the league as early as 1994, that concussions were not a big problem and just part of the game. I will discuss how NFL players were treated when they got their “bell rung” during a big game; and what kind of medical treatment they

NFL teams are too lax on their concussion protocol examination after a player’s head has been hit helmet to helmet. The NFL has protocols for injuries that any player suffers. The main one is the concussion protocol. It’s when a player is hit helmet to helmet. It’s in play due to the fact that players that have suffered a head injury have developed Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It creates brain tumors that spread and kills your brain

Well the NFL makes the extremely smart decision of taking them out of the games…sometimes. If they are taken out of the game into the locker room, more often than not they are encouraged to take it like a man and to play for the team being doused by drugs to mask their symptoms which is partly due to the pressure put on their trainers by their coaches to get them playing as soon as possible. The rehabilitation and surgical approaches for injuries are often decided by team doctors and trainers who are paid by the organization and have no vested interest in the long-term health of the man who is hurt (Jackson, 2011). This is how the NFL works, just like a train only pausing to draft new players and dumping the dead weight of broken bodies, just for the sake of money. Despite the “extensive” research done by the NFL on concussions, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell refused to acknowledge the existence of a connection between head injuries, sustained during a football career, and debilitating brain diseases, such as CTE, that develop later in life (Drysdale, 2013). By stating this, it only serves to further prove how the NFL just does not care nor take responsibility for their players as they suffer these possible life threatening injuries which is mind boggling. People like Dr. Bennet Omalu who bring upon legitimate evidence to back the fact that repeated head trauma suffered to the head during a typical NFL game causes diseases like CTE are attacked, with their research being discredited (Dodd, Herbst, & Boudin, 2016). Eventually enough players will get to know of these alarming facts about the dangers of head trauma warranting a change throughout the entire league which is what exactly

This does not mean in the NFL you won’t get hit in the head. The percentage for concussions in the NFL have been on a uprise since 2014 with over 58% of players have gotten a concussion during the season of 2014. This is a big issue for the players in the NFL , but the real question is how is the NFL going to fix this growing problem so the players are