The Nfl Is Considered A Regulator For Professional Football

In the Documentary League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis is about an investigation regarding the serious legal hidden information that the National Football League was keeping from its playing. Thousands of former Football players have claimed that league tried to cover up how football inflicted long-term brain injuries on so many people. This video breaks down and researching the truth on the NFL’s football players concussion crisis.

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.

A concussion is an injury suffered in the brain of an individual that can affect and alter a person’s ability to perform not only mentally, but physically as well. The New York Daily News reported on one of the finest cases of how serious the NFL is taking the issue on concussions, the current lawsuit that reached a “$765 million settlement reached between the two sides, 18,000 concussion suffer and the NFL” which states causes for important untold information the NFL refused to report to players about the prospective dangers concussions had for their long-term health, though this was later shot down by a federal judge claiming that it was insufficient sum. An NFL player may succumb from thousands of hits to the head playing football all

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.

Facts from the article “CITE” examines how the NFL dealt with the issues of concussions over the years. Beginning with Omalu’s discovery of CTE, the NFL strongly resisted to admitting that multiple head injuries leads to impair cognitive functions. The NFL committee was composed of internal NFL doctors who denied scientific studies claiming of the lack of scientific evidence and causation between repeated head injuries and brain damage. The Congressional Hearing in 2009 criticized NFL’s concussion policy and demanded the committee to take

In 1952, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study stating that a player should not continue playing professional football after suffering three concussions. But the NFL’s Public Relations (PR) department took this information for granted and swept it under the rug. As the players continued to become bigger, faster, and stronger, the number of concussions began to increase over time. In 1994, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue concluded there were unanswered questions about concussions in football and organized a commission on mild traumatic brain injury to address those questions. “The panel consisted of NFL team medical personnel as well as outside professionals including a biomedical engineer, and doctors with specialties in neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology, and epidemiology” (Fainaru-Wada & Fainaru, 2013, p. 101). The committee recommended independent scientific research rather than having NFL team medical practitioners involved, to foster better understanding of the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of concussions. “The NFL Public Relations department ignored the recommendation for independent research and instead used the existing commission as the starting point of its committee dedicated to studying concussions” (Oates & Furness, 2014,

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

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

Background Information: Over the years, there has been a lot of controversy in the sport of football, about whether the league truly cares about concussions players are suffering. Research over the past decade, has shown that many former football players have suffered from extensive CTE, due to brain injuries not being properly treated. Since this has become such a fear for athletes and fans playing the sport, the league has made small rule changes to help prevent less helmet-to-helmet contact. On top of that, athletes who violate the rules will be fined and possibly suspended depending on the severity of the incident. As of late though, many athletes and fans have begun to think that the league doesn’t truly care about concussions. This is due to how the schedule has changed to make football players prepare to play a game on a short week, multiple times throughout a season. Also, as athletes continue to beg for there to be a shorter preseason to lessen the amount of hits taken, the league

Concussions are positively correlated with direct contact and head on collisions within contact sports. Throughout the years, this issue has been addressed more frequently, especially in football. In fact, “... the National Football League came under fire last year for the harrowing long-term effects of head injuries among many of its former players…” (Sanders) In response, the National Football League’s commissioner “ordered every NFL team to adhere to new policies involving concussion management and said that players cannot return to play until a physician clears them.” (Sanders) This was a controversial move because this means that key players may not be able to return if under the effects of a head injury; however, Sanders goes onto explain how brain injuries can not only

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?”

Science says concussions are inevitable; 96 percent of all NFL players and 79 percent of all football players test positive for brain disease (Source: Frontline League of Denial 9/18/15 Concussion Watch Article). Prior to 2002, the NFL’s approach to preventing, treating, and managing concussions and CTE was very different than it is today. My essay will explore what some of those differences were and whether or not changes in the NFL are improving the outcomes and quality of life for current and former NFL players.

Organized sports have been a quintessential part of American society for generations. Many young boys and girls grow up watching and rooting for their family’s favorite sports team, which typically turns into their favorite. These professional sports players become role-models for these young girls and boys, guiding them into asking their parents if they can join a sports team. Football, for instance, has numerous young athletes playing the often aggressive, sport. Through this influence these children strive to become like the athletes they see on television. The big trending topic that is surrounding football today is concussions and other head injuries. Retired professional National Football League (NFL) players are currently suing the

The overarching question in this study was answered because in the results there was a decisive conclusion that the NFL doesn’t not in fact consider player health as they should. All five participants in the study believed this to be true. Ava Norman is one of the participants who felt the NFL should take more initiative to look into the safety of its players. In her interview she felt strongly about the issue by saying, “the NFL is put on a pedestal and gets away with too much, the league needs to look more into the issue now before it’s too late because you cannot undo a concussion” (Norman). Moreover, I believe this research symbolizes that fans are even worried about player’s health. While they love the game of football, they understand that at the end of the day it is just a game. Don Thomas felt strongly about this particular issue by saying, “I love the game of football and football is a major part of my life but after the game is over everyone should be able to return to their families safely” (Thomas). On another

A recent study of college football players has shown that those who participate in high contact sports and have had a concussion before have a 300% higher chance of having another one in comparison to athletes that have never had a concussion before (Jolicoeur et al, 2007). The NFL and NCAA have enacted several rule changes in order to minimize the occurrence of concussions. These new rules, like many before them, have come under the scrutiny of the very athletes that they were meant to protect. The NHL and NHL Players Association in 1997 together created a program in order to get a better understanding of concussions and how to prevent them (Burke et al, 2011). According to Covassin (2008), athletes who have had more than one concussion take a longer time to recover with each concussion that they suffer from.