Concussions In Media

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.

One hard hit to a NFL player’s head can destroy their life. Concussions are a major problem that the NFL has been dealing with for a very long time. As a huge football fan, I have a special interest with this issue. When concussions were first identified as a problem, they were extremely down played. People thought that injuries to knees and backs were much worse than a concussion. What they did not know was that a concussion is lethal and can cause serious consequences. After this was discovered, the NFL started to take steps to improve the safety of players, but for some, it was far too late. Concussions that NFL players receive are negatively impacting their lives after their career, due to Chronic

Throughout the basis of this position paper, I will be debating on the controversy of concussions present in the National Football League (NFL) and the sport of football in general. Currently in the National Football League, concussions are looked at as a dangerous aspect but most definitely a recoverable feature. Concussions are an

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

While the NFL is currently a very entertaining and popular American past time, there is one issue that threatens the future of the game-concussions. Concussions affect 1.6 to 3.8 million athletes and children annually in the United States. Among athletes, football is the most common sport involving risks of concussions for males, and soccer is the most common sports with concussion risks for females. The NFL has admitted that brain trauma effects a third of all NFL players (Knowles.) Concussions have been part of the game since the very beginning, but it 's only in the past 50 years or so that medical science and the public has become aware of the serious long term effects of concussions. The NFL is spending money on researching the problem, because they have been sued from hundreds of players that have suffered long-term damage from concussions. The NFL needs to dedicate more money and research into increasing helmet safety, implementing rules and policies to protect players, and utilizing the best response treatment to prevent and protect players from concussions.

All in all, head injuries have been a major issue. For the past several years, the NFL has lead their sport to long term effects of head injuries because of lack of reinforcement. Due to the rising rates and percentages of the sport, many people are reconsidering if they should play or not. A large quantity of the nation still enjoy the sport. That may change if nothing is done about the high concussion records. It can only be hoped that in the future debates involving head injuries would be put to

way the sport has handled and dealt with concussions. Football hasn't taken the necessary steps to protect the players.

For this research paper I will be exploring concussions in the NFL, and how it represents American ideologies. I am not only going to be analysing the long lasting effects concussions have on players, but also how the NFL was able to to ignore and deny allegations against them proving the fatality of the sport. The National Football League is a multibillion dollar business, and is the most watched sport in the United States, making this a very relevant topic in recent news. All you have to do is watch an afternoon of Sunday football games in order to witness the brutality of the sport, and the tolls players bodies take. My primary source for this topic is a 43 page scholarly article produced by Harvard University explaining the history and evolution of concussions in the NFL. This source goes into depth on nearly every aspect of the topic, which will help me answer my research questions as I go along. Although I will be looking into several different aspects of this topic, my main research questions are what is the truth behind concussions in the NFL, and how does it

In February 2011 an NFL defensive player committed suicide and left a final note requesting his brain be donated to Boston University School of medical research where it was found that all his head injuries had caused long-term brain damage. Another NFL star that committed suicide, Junior Seau, was one of the toughest defenders to ever play the game. While playing Junior Seau was never sidelined for head injuries he sustained. According to his ex-wife Seau had multiple concussions throughout his career. (Velasco 2012) This is an example of the culture in the NFL of being “tough”, and not coming off the field no matter how severe the impact is. Research done at the University of Texas had results that showed individuals who have concussions in early adulthood have a higher chance to develop depression when they get older compared to people that haven’t had concussions. (Stong 2013)

The fact that a use of a more efficient test for diagnoses of the injury has not been implemented into the league’s concussion protocol provides support for this argument. Improper education of the true amount of risk involved that will affect a player in the long-term displays the carelessness of the league’s front office. Almost every athlete that remains connected to the NFL has a family that relies on them for income and support. By discerning the safety of its very own employees, of which the league would cease to exist without, the NFL is putting the lives and welfare of the players and their families at risk. Money must become a secondary concern when one is dealing with a person’s safety on the football field. The league cannot continue to put the lives of its employees at risk in order to avoid money loss. The National Football League is not doing enough to prevent concussions from continually occurring in the league today and a change in policy is mandatory in order to provide a safe environment for its players. Nothing matters more than a person’s

Everybody in the league likes to see big hits, so does the fans. But what the fans don’t like is the best players getting hurt because of a big hit. Concussions are important because if not treated properly the person who has the concussions can be injured even more. Some signs of death of athletes have come from a concussion causing them to hurt themselves.

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

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?”

A major issue that has had a recent rise in concern is that of concussions in the NFL. Branching off of this, the media does not do a good job of giving the audience information on this topic and how it has become a problem. Even though concussions have become a very serious part of football, it hasn’t gotten the attention it should to have.