Sports Head Injuries Essay

While professional sports have their benefits as multi-million dollar industry, professional athletes are under a considerable amount of stress, not only to their bodies but also their minds. As an elite and professional athlete, one of the most crucial and devastating things that can happen is sustaining serious injuries both on and off season, which are unfortunately and frequently an unavoidable aspect to sports. For professional athletes, playing the sport becomes their life. In the competitive nature of the sports world, “These lifelong devastating injuries can be seen in all sports including football, basketball, cheer, leading, lacrosse, soccer and even Track & Field” (Chrzanowski, et. al., 2011). Although many injuries in athletics

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.

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

There needs to be more safety in the NFL because of the immediate dangers of concussions. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, “a concussion is an injury to the brain that results in temporary loss of normal brain function.”(AANS) The most common symptoms are confusion, dizziness, headaches, memory loss all of which can have lifelong effects. Concussions are a serious injury because it can do a lot of damage to the brain; therefore, there needs to be a way to limit the blows to the head that causes them. If one gets a high number of concussions, then there is a high chance of their life being affected in a negative way. A report published by the NFL states that the number of concussions in 2016 was 244. That is a decline from 2012 when there were 261 concussions. The decline shows that there has been some progress in reducing the amount of concussions in the NFL, but there still are 244 players being exposed to the symptoms that can be an occurrence for their whole lives. The NFL needs to do more to protect its employees from concussions via safety rules. A major problem is the concussion protocol. The NFL states that if a player exhibits symptoms during a game, then they “must be removed and evaluated by the Club medical team,” (NFL Concussion Protocol 4). This seems like a good rule, but there is a lot of gray area in this rule because a team can have an examination, but they can falsely claim that the player does not have a concussion and place him back in the game. In an article for USA Today, Jarrett Bell writes about a play where Indianapolis Colts quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, was hit in the head and it seemed that he would not come back, but the Colts cleared him after one play with no concussion. In the article, Chris Nowinski,

Sports-related concussions might just be the biggest worry for any athlete at any level. A concussion is a thing that every athlete battles over time. Everyone knows that injuries are given when it comes to sports. Especially concussions which can put an athlete out for weeks or even forever. Many student-athletes have been a great issue that can easily be resolved from thorough and informative Training. Concussions can prevent or reduced if we are if we go through concussion prevention training in high school, which is usually the starting point for most athletes. Concussion training can help athletes diagnose a concussion, treat a concussion, and to even use proper technique to prevent and minimize sports caused a concussion. Even though every athlete does not experience a concussion many people can benefit from the training that could save a life.

The NFL is big part of many Americans life during the fall and the off season. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that hosts the most watched 4 hours of television in America. As an athlete who played football for many years, I wanted to ask the question; is the NFL’s new rules and penalties preventing concussions? During the first two weeks of April, I have compiled six different resources relating to this topic. Some, such as Trevor Horn’s article "Tackling seminar teaches new methods, inspires faith in safer football” cover the aspects of how youth and high schoolers are effected by concussions and what role the NFL plays. Other articles talk about research being put towards helping diagnose brain trauma in athletes, and also whether or

One company is attempting to generate a new helmet meant just for that. “‘Current helmets were never intended to deal with concussion,’” explained Browd, chief medical officer of VICIS. “‘To take a product that is built for one purpose and to try to retrofit it to address concussion is a very challenging task’” (Tracy). This new helmet would have columns on the inside that would bend and absorb the force in order to protect the head, but this helmet will not completely take away the risks of concussions. Another way to change how football is played is to put rules into effect that will discourage head to head contact between players, which the NFL is already beginning to organize. “The reworded rules prohibit a player from launching himself off the ground and using his helmet to strike a player in a defenseless posture in the head or neck. The old rule only applied to receivers getting hit, but now it will apply to everyone” (NFL). The new rules talk about protecting defenseless players, but non-defenseless players, like a running back charging upfield, can be struck in the head. The rules have been improved, but there can be more beneficial adjustments. The breaks given to players should be longer as well. John Urschel explained his thoughts about this on the ESPN talk show “Mike & Mike” "‘I think (my concussion) hurt my ability to

Many things should be done in relation to the prevention of collisions potentially leading to different brain diseases, disorders, or syndromes. The football helmets should be reevaluated,reassessed, and redesigned to prevent mTBI, mild traumatic brain injuries, such as subconcussive injuries that play a huge deal in what causes CTE. In agreement with Dr. Andrew McIntosh, helmets can prevent skull fractures and intracranial hemorrhage, but they are not designed to prevent mTBI. Also, have youth leagues implement stricter rules, apply the same rules in the NFL in league games or even practices. For example, spearing, when a player uses the helmet/head as the first point of contact with another player, was banned in American

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

Another thing that would protect the football players from having so many concussion issue is fixing the layout on how a helmet is made or either improve the type of materials are made with to lessen the amount of pressure the brain receives after a hit. Researchers are in shock because they are not receiving enough accreditation about how they makes helmets they believe that football would be even worser if they didn't have the improved way of technology has improved the current equipment. Even though concussions and helmets don't seem to protect the players at all its improvements has to come as the years grow older. “Swartz, a former rugby player, is a kinesiology professor at the University of New Hampshire. It's there he implemented a two-year study to test the effectiveness of what he calls the Helmetless Tackling Training Technique.” stated by Tadd Haislop this quote means maybe if players are taught to tackle without their helmets. It would transfer over into the games and tacklers won't lead on with there head into a ball carrier or other players on the field.

American Football is a huge spectator sport where offensive and defensive players will use teamwork and perseverance to try and score more points than their opponent. Football is highly respected in America, where boys will try and pursue the dream of playing in the NFL (National Football Association) someday; but if you look at an average neighborhood, you will find that kids and adults of all ages love to go out and throw around the pigskin. (Lerner and Lerner 275). One thing Americans will take pride in is the college and NFL football teams they root for. People sit down with a beer and talk hours upon hours of football and two individuals can get in a heated discussion in the local sports store of whose sports team is better.

There are multiple solutions to ending concussions through contact sports. Hypothetically thinking, the United States could ban all forms of contact sports where concussions and mild brain injuries are high. This will not work because football is a multi-billion dollar industry, in 2013 the NFL made more than 9 billion dollars in revenue making it the most respected sports league in the world . The television contracts with NBC, CBS, and Fox for games through the year 2022 are combined at an estimated $3 billion a year . College football isn’t far behind the NFL in making extreme amounts of money off of the sport. ESPN pays a ridiculous $470 million dollars for the media rights to

What is killing thousands of athletes? For decades, head injuries have been leading to the demise of athletes. A plethora of athletes such as Steve Gleason, Sugar Ray Johnson, and Lou Gehrig, have suffered from injuries pertaining to traumatic situations caused on the brain. Many athletes who participate in contact sports such as football, soccer, and boxing suffer from concussions, ALS and CTEs. However, these athletes are not informed of these risks, prior to playing. To protect athletes from head trauma, safety regulations regarding the head must be implemented, in order to reduce the number of these death sentences that are found in athletes.

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

Professional Athletes are our present day gladiators. They play for themselves or for a team and thrill us with their superb skills, stamina, and agility. They can become heroes to countless of impressionable minds, role models to those who aspire to be like them. At times they play despite pain and injury and seem to overcome insurmountable odds. It is no wonder that they are paid sums of money for their work is impressive, but also fleeting. They have to play within an age range, within their prime, at their peak. And as they age, we see them struggling in their respective games and as much as we would like to cheer them on to win, we also know that the end game is near. It is not surprise that at times they want to extend their respective careers through enhancements, some of which have been banned and when they get caught, they are chastised and sanctioned for it, sometimes even banned for life.