Should Sports Managers Be More Protective Of Their Players?

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.

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.

In sports, the best athletes are the individuals that give each team a chance to win every game. The bad news for the best athletes is that sometimes their health gets put second to their abilities. Roughly 1.8 to 3.6 million sports related concussions happen each year (Concussion Statistics). Stronger and faster athletes as well as more impact of the hits or falls have doubled the number of concussions in a decade (Concussion Statistics). Concussions can happen to every athlete, but when it happens to the star athletes, it is different. Schools have to follow direct concussion safety laws, but professional sports have more leniencies (Get). Wins are more important in the professional leagues compared to the high school and amateur levels.

Player safety has been an issue for the National Football League since the start of the league, but has taken on a greater importance in recent years. Now, when a player is injured after a play, he must sit out for at least one play to allow the team’s trainer to assess his injury and make sure he is fit to return to play. Many say the NFL is very invested in player safety, and the protocols recently introduced have drastically changed the way athletes are assessed and eventually released to return to the field. These changes were necessary in order to protect players from serious injury and long-term health issues. There are many possible reasons the NFL has increased its emphasis on player safety, including, many people are disturbed by the violence of the game, fewer kids are playing football at the youth and high school levels, league sponsors are worried about bad publicity, and there are lawsuits against the NFL dealing with the long-term effects of brain damage. These reasons make many ponder, “Does the NFL really care about player safety, or are they just saving themselves from bad public relations, and the detrimental economic effects that may result from them?”

Concussions in football have always been a problem. Recently the NFL is doing more to protect players from this serious head injury. a couple of moves made by the NFL to prevent concussions is that they moved the kickoff line up 5 yards resulting in a higher chance of a touchback. Another move to prevent concussions is that players are getting fined for illegal tackles that occur. The NFL is doing more to protect players because they realize concussions can have serious effects later in life like losing the ability to remember things. According to Nadia Kounang “NFL football players are 3 times more likely to have a neurodegenerative disease compared to the average population”. Examples of these diseases are Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The target population is football players who have received concussions in their playing days. Many of these head injuries were caused by players who wanted to excite the crowd with a big hit knowing a lot of the fans were just there to see violence and that the player would become more popular to those

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

Many Americans love sports, including football, basketball and hockey. What most people do not think about, is the injury and risks that come along with playing sports. Concussions are a major part of this, and can cause severe brain damage and loss of basic functions. Many sports leagues, however, do not have the right protocol to increase player safety. The National government should implement rules and regulations to improve safety for players.

When participating in a sport, the players are aware of the risks. Physical damage is always a strong possibility, but what about the mental damage that a player can receive. Concussions have been known to occur frequently in contact sports, making the rules based on injuries in need of change. The current rule is that after an injury occurs, players have to have a medical professional sign off before they are allowed to play. This is great for injuries related to the physical form of a person, but when it comes to the mental aspects, these rules need to be re-written. Things such as the types of people affected by concussions, how vulnerable concussions can be on the mind, and how concussions can affect everyone around a person that has been inflicted by a concussion, should be brought into consideration while deciding a specific set of

In America, the sports industry is one of the largest and most powerful country; whether the sport is football, baseball, basketball, or any of the other sports the country has. Recently reports and documented cases have risen involving some of these sports’ greatest athletes, as well as current players, dealing with concussions (Famous sports concussions, 2012). Numerous athletes, some of them being the sport’s highest profile players, were found to have several mental illnesses and diseases, that have been attributed to head injuries sustained while they were playing their sports. The biggest and most predominant of these injuries is concussions. They can cause not only immediate issues, but also a lifetime of health problems (Smith, 2009). Sports related concussions lead to brain deterioration, which leads to long lasting effects throughout life.

The safety of young football players for years has been a long growing concern and controversy for parents, players, high school coaches and school officials, and as well as NFL coaches and medical professionals in America. Parents worry about their children getting injured or concussions during the game. Furthermore, many parents believe that football can be safer and that the organization of football is not doing enough to protect players and their safety. However, to some football players concussions are not a big issue. Some players are too worried about their playing time to realize the consequences of getting concussions repeatedly. Therefore, some football players do not tell the coaches about their concussions. In addition, coaches also have a problem with the safety of football affecting their programs. Some coaches fear that football programs will shut down because of the controversy of how football can lead to brain damage. Besides parents, players, and coaches, doctors have a big say in the controversy. Neurologists, who are specialists in the disorders of nerves and the nervous system, have recently studied the link between football and brain damage. According to Jacob Vanlandingham, who is the founder and president of Prevacus Incorporated, a company who primarily studies concussions, said that “Doctors diagnose approximately 67,000 concussions in high school football players every year” (Vanlandingham, p.1). Nevertheless, some stakeholders, including ex-football players, believe that everything has already been done to make football as safe as possible. Football organizations have made new rules and placed new programs in order to keep young players healthy and to keep football programs from shutting down. The big controversial question that all stakeholders are asking is, “Is football doing enough to protect young children?”

In relation to concussions, the NFL players have to be knowledgeable of all the risks involved. Because they were not fully made aware of the risks of concussion, because of lack of information, assumption of risk does not apply. The athletes are however, partially to blame for contributing to their injuries. Of the 160 athletes surveyed, 30 admitted they had failed to report a concussion. Failure to report led players to return to action to soon (Hanna, 2010).

Critics dispute the idea of doing more to prevent concussions because almost every sports league believes that players should be responsible for his or her actions during the sport. At this point, officials believe that they should not be associated with a players’ injury for their own actions. Critics point out that officials don’t always need to be included; it’s the parents and coaches, officials say that should responsible for their players’ injury (House 3). Take the case of a player going unconscious, an official won’t know what to do and shouldn’t know what to do. Officials will always take the side that has the coaches and parents responsible. Now, football teams today have started to obtain more hits to the head during practice, and now more players than ever are getting more and more concussions. Coaches believe that it is okay for kids to hit a lot in practice, so that they could get used

Players in the NFL have been diagnosed with cognitive diseases such as dementia and alzheimer 's, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) at a rate of about thirty-five times more often than the general population (Breslow). There is not much argument that the risk of developing a cognitive disease is due to the violent nature of the game. The concussion problem is often justified by the players knowledge and acceptance of the risks of playing football. While players accept the risks of participating in a sport that is violent in nature, more measures should be taken are to make the game as safe as possible for its players.

Sports organizations should change their practice styles so players lower the chances of concussions and other brain injuries. Like Matthew Futterman said, “The NCAA is recommending that the college football teams should abandon two-a-day practices and scale back the number of full- contact days”(Matthew Futterman A.16). This way college football teams narrow the percentage of concussions and other brain injuries before and during the season. Don't forget about the retired athletes. Back then sports organization didn't have safety gear to wear when playing in a sport which is why Lynn DeBruin said, “The NFL is trying to launch a comprehensive wellness health program for current and retired players-including a confidential mental health phone

New surveys and data reports showing that repeated trauma to the head can cause CTE which seriously affects the brain and human body overall. Symptoms such as dizziness all the way to the most extreme like loss of motor function, dementia, etc. With all of the recent buzz about this phenomenon, The NFL, NCAA and state sports committees such as the WIAA have been trying to prevent the future generations of athletes and sports players suffer from these diseases. Acts such as reducing practice time allowing full contact and also schools buying the best helmet protection available shows how schools are really working to help kids across America. In addition, the NFL has publicly shown responsibility for head to head injuries and the lack of supervision and serious along with them. The organization is actively pushing technology to protect the brain as best as