Rj Matson Biography

The topic I will be discussing in this draft is the debate on whether the National Football League should be held liable for injuries that their employee’s sustained while playing professional football. The injuries that I will discuss are concussion and traumatic brain injuries related to multiple concussions. In years past this injury wasn’t know n to be as prevalent because that game was played at a much slower speed. Players in todays’ game are bigger, faster and stronger than ever. It has been documented that the players themselves willingly know the risk they are taking yet still take the chance at playing the game. Players and player group representatives are now seeking compensation for their player and player’s families.

The documentary starts off talking about a football member who played in the Pittsburgh Steelers named Iron Mike who after being a number one player in his team, received all the glory from his fans, ll years after he retired Iron Mike was found dead at the age of 50. Mike’s dead came to be a surprise to everyone because he died at a young age. After the body of Iron Mike was taken for an autopsy, Bonnet Omalu a trained Neural Pathologist and Medical Examiner was doing further investigation and pointed out so many damages he had, yet his brain was looking “normal”. Doctor Omalu observed that he looked very old, beat up, worn out and drained at an early age. His legs and feet were damaged and destroyed due to playing football, immediately he mentions to himself that he must have some type of brain-damaged. When the Medical Examiner opened up his brain, he found that the brain seemed to has no damage and it looked normal.

While examining his brain, they found the first case of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in a football player (Ezell). Dr. Omalu continued into the brains of football players. He diagnost another player with CTE. After that, two other doctors connect concussions to dementia. Dr. Bailes and Dr. Guskiewicz wrote, “that the onset of dementia-related syndromes may be initiated by repetitive cerebral concussions in professional football players” (Ezell). This was the first major finding connecting football to brain injuries.

While many of these films have shown the different aspects of sports, not many of these films have really touched upon the negative effects of contact sports (Landesman, 2015). Based on the aforementioned research conducted by Dr. Omalu in 2005, the 2015 film Concussion highlights the prevalence of CTE in contact sport athletes, particularly football players (Landesman, 2015). In this film, Dr. Bennet Omalu, who is played by Will Smith, examines the brain of former NFL player Mike Webster after he was reported to be displaying erratic behavior. From the post-mortem examination of Webster’s brain, Dr. Omalu finds that he presented with a pathology that was similar to that of CTE (Landesman, 2015). Later on in the film, Dr. Omalu examines the brains of two more football players who displayed cognitive and emotional issues as well prior to their deaths. Omalu then concludes that all of the players had CTE, and the publication of his results creates uproar with the NFL (Landesman,

This paper will discuss the NFL Concussion Scandal and analysis of the ethical issues regarding the scandal. American football has always been defined as a contact sport. Individuals know before playing the sport that they take on the risk of physical harm to their bodies. However, concussions and other repetitive head-blows could end in death and permanent damage. Also, American football has been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy(CTE), which can lead to suicidal thoughts, memory loss, and dementia. With players undergoing a lot of physical harm without the proper care, many may see the NFL as an unethical business.

Concussion revolves around Dr. Bennet Omalu and the research that established Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Omalu is a forensic neuropathologist from Nigeria who came to America to chase dreams as a doctor and researcher. Omalu’s discovery began in the brain of Mike Webster, a National Football

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

In 2002, Mike Webster, a legendary football player, suddenly died at the age of 50. After examining his body, Dr. Bennet Omalu became curious as to what exactly was the cause of Webster’s death. Being a neuropathologist, Dr. Omalu knew Webster’s death was related to his brain. Omalu took samples of Webster’s brain and studied it over

It is the moment football fans live for: the running back brakes through the line and heads up the field only to be sacked moments later. In the time it takes for the crowd to stand and cheer, the running back has forgotten where he is. His struggle to remember the four words he was just given on the sidelines increases every moment. His obvious concussion will keep him from playing for a few weeks but then he will be as good as new and ready to play again, right? But what about the long term affects of his concussion? When Mike Webster died at the age of 50 in 2002 from heart failure, his autopsy showed more than just a heart condition. Dr. Omalu, from the University of Pittsburgh found chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, which shows atrophy to the brain similar to Alzheimer 's. CTE is a progress degenerative brain disease said to be caused by repetitive brain trauma, such as hard hits in football (Tanaka and Wells). Dr. Omalu 's discovery of CTE has brought up many questions including what is CTE and what are its effects, and did the NFL know about the possibility of CTE and why do they keep denying its existence. Because of Omalu 's discovery CTE and the NFL are in the limelight as players past and present worry if they are at risk. As more and more people learn about CTE, the level of urgency to find answers to these questions rises. In response, the NFL and other companies are backing research in hopes of finding ways to prevent and cure CTE, all while learning

It’s the moment football fans live for: the running back brakes through the line and heads up the field only to be sacked moments later. In the time it takes for the crowd to stand and cheer, the running back has forgotten where he is. His struggle to remember the four words he was just given on the sidelines increases every moment. His obvious concussion will keep him from playing for a few weeks but then he will be as good as new and ready to play again, right? But what about the long term affects of his concussion? When Mike Webster died at the age of 50 in 2002 from heart failure, his autopsy showed more than just a heart condition. Dr. Omalu, from the University of Pittsburgh found chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, which shows

After his retirement, he was suffering from amnesia, depression, and dementia. He lived out in his old pickup truck and died of heart attack at the age of 50. The problem was that after the examination, I did not find any abnormalities of the brain whatsoever. I decided to do a self-financed, independent research and analysis of his brain tissue. It costed me a fortune, but it did pay off and I did make a startling discovery. Mike Webster suffered from a degenerative brain disease which I later named CTE. After I presented my discovery to the public, many fans loathed me and I was officially fighting a war against the NFL. In June of 2007, I was invited to a NFL concussion summit and I was planning to present a medical paper I had written back in 2005 on CTE. When I arrived at the summit, I was informed that I wasn’t allowed to speak. I was really disappointed, but Julian Bailes a friend who also assisted me in the discovery of CTE, presented the paper. Unfortunately the paper was turned down and the committee said that there’s not enough evidence and our research was fallacious. Despite the NFL’s denial, I continued to push forward and put more effort into examinations on former players, which costed a lot of money and time. I performed further autopsies on Terry Long, who played eight seasons in the NFL, and Justin Strzelczyk, who played nine seasons and passed away at just the age of 36. Both of these players suffered similar

Throughout Concussion Laskas characterizes and associates negative traits to the NFL. By personifying the entertainment conglomerate, the reader is better able to understand the NFL’s role in creating the concussion dilemma. In the following excerpt the NFL is characterized as a monster who only cares for its own well-being and reputation rather than the health and well-being of their own employees “Athletes suffering head injuries, pressured by a league and, in fact, a culture that said, Get back in the

Concussion is the true gripping story of one man’s decision to stand up to a multibillion-dollar business. Nigerian pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu works at the coroner’s office in downtown Pittsburgh. Here he made a discovery in the body of one of the greatest football players ever to play the game, Mike Webster. He suffered a decline in his body and started to act very strange by living out his car and tasering himself till he was unconscious so he can go to sleep; he was only fifty years old. Omalu discovered that Webster had a disease caused by multiple blows to the head from his football career, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which could affect everyone playing the game. Omalu felt that everyone should know of this and the harm

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.

Diagnosed at such a young age, usually non-athletes get diagnosed with ALS at the age of 40-70 with average age at 55. Non-athletes don't suffer with injury to the head as much as Athletes do. Athletes however, tend to be diagnosed with ALS between 20’s and 30’s. CTE was discovered in 3 of 14 high school players and 48 of 53 college players. One Athlete named Junior Seau, who committed suicide in May, two years after retiring as one of the linebackers in the NFL. Seau suffered from the type of Chronic brain damage. The family of Seau stated “ a lot of head-to-head collisions over the course of 20 years of playing in the NFL, developed the detention of his brain and ability to think logically” (paragraph 4), resulted to the disease of CTE.