Sports Research Papers

Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.

In recent years, there has been a backlash from all kinds of doctors throughout the world that believe the National Football League or NFL needs to make adjustments to the way they treat head injuries, specifically concussions. A concussion is a brain injury characterized by an onset of impairment of cognitive and/or physically functioning and is caused by hits around the head and neck area. This NFL is under destress because of numerous studies that show concussions can lead to a large amount brain injuries way after the player has played his last game. However, this isn't just a problem the NFL is facing, the real problem is our youth contact sports and head-related injuries. High school athletes are extremely more exposed to concussions than

Concussions in high school sports doubled from 2005 to 2012. High School’s put in a new rule called “Return to Play” this rule was put into place so players waited the right amount of time to come back after receiving a serious head injury. Coming back to quick with a concussion can get you hurt even more or possibly cause permanent brain damage. Studies show that a concussion from a high school athlete takes longer to recover from than for older athletes. Also, studies show that even teenagers are at risk for head trauma not just adults and older athletes. Between 2005 and 2012, four thousand twenty-four concussions were diagnosed in nine sports. This is a very high number for just high school sports alone. Concussions have went up in 5 sports mainly those sports are football, wrestling, baseball, basketball and softball. Therefore, concussions have not only effected football. Many people fail to realize how many athletes are truly affected by a

With the growth of contact sports, such as football, hockey and wrestling, neurologists have seen a shocking rise in the number of reported concussions. Perhaps the greatest increase of SRCs have been seen in adolescents participating in organized team sports. In a 10-year span, emergency department visits for 8 to 13-year-old children doubled, while 14 to 19-year-olds nearly tripled (McCrea, Nelson and Janecek, 2014). The actual number of these concussions are thought to be higher than reported because the inclination of athletes to not recognize this injury.

The skull of human body holds the most valuable organ, the brain. This is the control center of the body. It is evident that injury to the brain is life threatening in many ways. One specific injury that is becoming more prevalent in the United States is concussions. Particularly concussions are becoming very prevalent in young children, teens, and professional athletes. A study in July of 2016 shared that roughly 1.1 to 1.9 million concussions occur annually in the U.S. to children who are 18 and younger (Bryan, Rowhani-Rahbar, Comstock, & Rivar, 2016, p.1). Concussions can lead to traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which can lead to mortality (HEADS UP, 2016). Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shared that over 138 people die from TBI on a daily basis in the U.S. (HEADS UP, 2016). Public health is bringing awareness all over the U.S. to advocate prevention of concussions and make athletic events safer. Programs are being implemented to educate parents, coaches, and young athletes in hopes of concussion reduction. Concussions affect over 1.1 million American people yearly; this subject should not be taken lightly.

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?”

Current United States statistics indicate approximately 7 million head injuries occur each year. Seven hundred thousand of these relate to sports and recreational activities, and three hundred thousand relate directly to sports. Eight deaths occur each year in professional football due to brain injury (Genuardi & King, 1995). These deaths most commonly result from subdural hematoma, when blood collects within the brain, and the associated brain injury. About 20% of participants in high school football suffer a concussion in a single season. Ongoing studies by the National Athletic Trainers Association showed, “a 17% increase in minor head injuries and an 85% increase in moderate head injuries in high school football comparing the 1980s to the 1990s” (Powell, 1998). A portion of these increases is because of better and more comprehensive reporting systems but the risk of concussion remains. Further, a football player who suffers one mild brain injury (MBI) has four times the risk to sustain a second MBI (Young, Jocobs,Clavette, Mark, & Guse, 1997).

While concussions are an unpreventable injury with current technology, the media is blowing it out of proportion, saying it causes brain deformities later in life for all players. This “evidence” is anecdotal, because the NFL only tested players who had played professional or college football. High school is a much different game in that it is less violent. The hits are decidedly less powerful, because in a sport where “bigger, stronger, faster” is the goal, high school players are “smaller, weaker and slower” than the pros. When a player has experienced or shown signs of head trauma (e.g., loss of consciousness, visual disturbance, headache, inability to walk correctly, obvious disorientation, memory loss), that player should receive immediate medical attention from an appropriate medical provider and should not be allowed to return to practices or games without

In medical terms, concussions are described as "a complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces" (Hunt, Paniccia, Reed, & Keightley, 2016, p. 749). Over the past couple of years, the number of concussions in athletics has increased drastically. According to the data released by the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, in the school year 2005-06 there were 133,000 concussions, which was much less than the recent data of the 2014-15 school year of 292,000 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Not only are concussions becoming more prominent, but they accounted for 24.5% of all the injuries in 2014-15 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Although many advances in concussion protocol have been

During the investigation of the epidemiology of concussions, they compared high school and college athletes. They found approximately 300,000 sports related brain injuries happens yearly in the United States, which is the second leading cause of brain injuries for ages 15 to 24. The sample included 100 high schools and 180 colleges and the data calculated rates, described patterns, and likely risk factors for athletes.

As a nation that loves competition, the United States has become obsessed with sports. This obsession has allowed professional sports leagues to generate billions of dollars of revenue each year. The one sport that stands on top is football generating around 13 billion dollars a year. This even surpasses “America’s Pastime,” baseball. One of the reasons the sport has been able to succeed so much is from the sport’s violent nature, which attracts many fans looking for big hits. But unfortunately with big hits come injuries, one of the most common injuries being a concussion (injury to the brain caused by a hard hit on the head). In the United States alone over 300,000 concussions occur annually. That includes high school and college athletes.

Through the course of history, concussions alone have been a major concern to society. Obtaining a concussion means that one took a blow to the head from a ball, punch, an opponent 's shoulder, etc. They can cause memory loss, permanent brain damage, and even death. The NFL (National Football League) has been suspected to be the cause of majority of the concussions presented to this day. Most people, not just athletes, have connections to concussions. Since the mid-twentieth century, major professional sport leagues have responded in different and evolving ways to the issue of concussions and traumatic brain injuries in athletes (Flynn). Playing more contact sports increases the risk of head injuries, but with updated technology, proper training, and research from prior concussion cases can help reduce the risk and rate of concussions.

The awareness around head collisions and brain injuries within football on every level is very low. It has been reported that on the National and collegiate level the awareness has risen but the awareness on the lower levels of football remain steady (Jordan). Playing the sport can cause many changes to a human being brain (Locker). Even when players do not suffer a concussion or brain injury head collisions in football can cause changes within the brain (Locker). Basically a average tackle can cause changes within a human brain(Locker).Football is a very dangerous sport that contains many untold facts. Great players and icons of football even questioned the game after realizing how dangerous the game was and how it could have affected their

Every year there are nearly 2 million injuries in high school sports accounted for (Sports-Related Injuries). A lot of injuries go unaccounted for too. Injuries in sports can be very dangerous, especially for young kids and teens whose body and brain are still developing (Esch, Mary, and David Klepper). Just one hard tackle can change their life forever, with the long-term effects injuries can lead to. The most concerning injury is a concussion. Not only are there concussions in hard-hitting sports like football and hockey there are also concussions in NASCAR and soccer. In order to protect our youth and pros, players and coaches should take traumatic brain injuries more seriously, players should be more educated on

Football can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”(Science Daily, 2014). The study also found that standard football helmets worn by the majority of players on the field today, only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by 20 percent compared to not wearing a helmet at all (Science Daily, 2014).