The Effects Of Painkiller Abuse On Athletes

Often, players will resort to things such as narcotics, getting shot up at halftime with painkillers, or stay in pain the rest of the season. These attitudes are what Culverhouse explores in her novel with the use of ethos provoking stories and statistics that have you questioning if the sport should be

Drugs in sports is becoming a problem everywhere. “Another 26-year old athlete died of liver cancer after taking a number of different types of steroids over a four year period ” (Drugs and…). This is significant because this shows how dangerous drugs can be. If we have drug testing in schools this student could still be alive and would have stopped drugs before it got bad. The evidence points to the fact that drugs are a major health risk that is very concerning. In some cases taking drugs can even lead to death. In addition, another situation took place that affected a college student named Bob. Bob tried everything to gain weight so he could play football, so he chose to try steroids like everyone else. Steroids got him to play professional football, but horrible things were happening to him. He was having serious health problems. Bob quit drugs and is lucky to be alive (Drugs and…). This connects to the fact that doing drugs is a major

Just imagine being 21-year-old making millions of dollars, many athletes can not handle the amount of money that comes their way. These young athletes spend their money on drugs and alcohol. Look at Johnny Manziel a 23-year-old football player. When the money came his way, he became a notorious partier, drugs, alcohol and parties took over his life. His lifestyle caused the Cleveland Browns to release him. Many athletes’ careers are ruined because of their lifestyle; Drugs, alcohol and parties take over their lives. This bad lifestyle all starts off in college where binge drinking, drug use are the norms for an athlete. Many college sports teams and many fraternities and sororities team up and throw wild parties every weekend. “It is reported that up to 70% of college athletes take part in binge drinking and 47% smoke cannabis.” (Verger,2003). Last season the NFL suspended 26 players for abusing the substance abuse policy, of the twenty-six twenty-five were suspended for smoking marijuana. The average age of the players was 24.6 years old. Most players leave college to play in the NFL when they're 20-22 years old. This means that bad lifestyle habits are in fact carrying over into the NFL from college, It is not only from college I would have to worry about the lifestyle, many ex-NFL players are addicted to painkillers and other drugs to cope with the pain from playing. “Up to 70% of players have taken opium or another pain killer without a prescription to deal with the physical pain from playing.” (Strain, 2011) Many players develop a dependence on opioid once their careers are over to cope with the pain. The combination of numerous hits to the body and post career drug use means that the average lifespan of an NFL player is “55 years,”(Maki, 2012) while the average life expectancy in Canada is 81 years. Every hit adds up. To have a long

The competitive drive to win at all cost is fierce among athletes. Winning at all cost often includes using one of many performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids. Many athletes use performance enhancing drugs, like steroids, to achieve higher goals and set higher records than other drug-free successful athletes. Although athletes are performing at higher levels when using such drugs, what is the cost? Finally anabolic steroids should remain banned from sports because their use results in many harmful side effects; because their use violates sports regulations, and because their use can cause death.

American football is very popular in American culture today. Professional football games bring a lot of people together and are something little kids dream to play when they are older. When it comes to the topic of Professional football, most will agree that it is a violent sport. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is it worth playing or not. Some are convinced that it is and others feel that the sport is too dangerous. However people feel they usually still watch NFL football in person or on television. Even though the NFL is exciting to watch and America’s favorite past time, it comes with a physical cost to the players.

Since 1970, the football game has become an entertainment show for the audience. These aficionados have expectations from their teams. If the game shows hard-hitting, punishing, and violence defense, the game intoxicates the audience. However, the current way these players play is not normal, they are in danger of sacrificing their bodies. Harry Carson, an American football player and an author of Captain for Life, emphasizes, “the human body was not created or build to play football” (League Denial). The essence of Carson’s argument is that the body is not made of iron to resist such a violent and brutal beating. Unfortunately, most NFL players have preferred to quietly deal with their painful headaches that often time resulted from strong blows to the head during the game. To sooth their pains, they have the determination of controlling the situation by taking painkillers. Although these relievers minimize the pain, they fail to reduce the long-term damage

In the previous years the National Football League has been under intense fire from many doctors, news outlets and even players. Not for concussions, but for the over use of prescription medication pain killers. Future Hall of Famer and ex NFL receiver Calvin Johnson was quoted as saying, “Powerful and addictive opioids were handed out like candy.” That’s pretty powerful statement against the NFL by one of its best recievers ever!

The most common way of doing this in modern football is to load up with painkillers. This practices is being employed to such an extent that some players report playing numb. Calvin discussed his personal encounter with painkillers by saying “whether it be Toradol, Tylenol, T3s – you know, gettin’ cortisol shots, things like that. You know, those are the main things that I did, or that I took” (qtd in “Calvin Johnson’s Retirement”). He later went on to admit that the team doctors are “trying to do whatever they can to get you back on the field and make your team look good” (qtd in “Calvin Johnson’s Retirement”). The clear display of apathy from team doctors truly puts on display the extent to which NFL players are mistreated. Not only are player’s health complications disregarded during their careers, there is ever less help after they have

Painkillers can be good for certain things, but can take a turn real quick when not used properly or for appropriate reasons. The rise of prescription drug abuse in the athletic world has significantly gone up throughout the years. The problem starts getting out of control when high school athletes are able to have access to these pills. Athletes are committed to their sports and will do anything to compete and come out on top. Unfortunately, that means they may cut corners to be able to compete. Injuries are a part of all sports and some injuries are very painful and make playing sports almost unbearable. This is where painkillers come into play. For some athletes it starts off as a way to get through a game or as something to get through

Famed writer Grantland Rice once wrote, “When the great scorer comes to mark against your name. He'll mark not won or lost but how you played the game” (World of quotes, 1). That buoyant attitude of selflessness and heart has slowly diminished throughout the course of time. Now, George Allen’s booming voice, former coach of the Washington Redskins, runs throughout head of America, “Only winners are truly alive. Winning is living. Every time you win, you’re reborn. When you lose, you die a little” (Harris, 67). It is with this frame of mind that athletes are pushed beyond the edge of reason. Although peer pressure and pressure from coaches are central reasons why one may use steroids, most users begin using in order to improve their self image or excel in sports. Ethics, integrity, and legality aside, some athletes will stop at nothing to attain “that extra edge”.

There are many dilemmas that plague sports. Some of those can range from bribing, cheating, racism, and sports safety. In the past the NBA had to deal with the betting scandal involving Tim Donaghy and baseball has had to deal with the issue of performance enhancers. The sports industry generates around half a trillion dollars a year and it has to deal with multiple dilemmas at the youth, college, and professional level. A growing issue with sports has been the number of injuries that athletes have had to deal with. Typical sports injuries range from twisting ankles, blowing out knees, and dislocating shoulders. Surgery and rehabilitation have helped athletes to recover and get them back on the playing field faster

Unfortunately, maintaining this "machine" often meant that athletes would use drugs such as amphetamines, barbiturates, steroids, or cortisone injections not for the purpose of treatment and cure, but for the purpose of stimulating the mind and body in order to perform more violently as a professional. (Meggyesy, 1970) The prevalence of these drugs in the NFL could be seen in Meggyesy's words, "Most NFL trainers do more dealing in these drugs than the average junky." (Meggyesy, 1970, p. 83)

This is a material world promoting material values, thus meaning that it should not be surprising to see individuals being willing to do everything in their power in order to make profits. Or should it? The sports community today is troubled by a series of athletes who have yielded to society's pressures and abandoned their principles with the purpose of taking performance enhancing drugs. It is difficult to determine if it would be normal for the masses to judge these individuals, concerning that they are actually one of the reasons for which these people have come to consider taking performance enhancing drugs in the first place. However, the only ones who can judge them are other hard-working sportspersons who have stood by their principles and who respect the idea of sport in general.

More and more, of our society views winning more important than itself. Success in competition brings status, popularity, and fame, not to mention college scholarships. Today’s athletes are looking for an advantage over the competition that will make them winners. Unfortunately, the drugs of today are caught up in the high stakes competition frenzy. Of this reality, teenage use of performance improved drugs is growing ever more popular. In colleges and in the professional league a lot of people are doing drugs and its ruining their health and life. Also, if some teenagers take performance drugs they are making them better than everyone else giving themselves an advantage over everyone else which is cheating, so why should they get money

What is the definition of drugs? Is it the simple explanation of a substance we