The popularity of pro football has jumped in recent years compared to other sports in the States, such as pro basketball and major league baseball. During my time as a kid I always thought that being in the NFL was the most amazing thing. But as time has caught up with me certain things have made me wonder if it’s worth it. Athletes in the NFL make millions, but they also endure certain life problems, which we, as fans, don’t see, to include injuries such as concussions, ACL tears, financial problems, and quality of life issues after football. In this essay I will give examples of why being a football player is a harder life than what the casual fan may think. A professional football player has some of the greatest perks you can have as an adult. However, living the life of a National Football League Player has lots of downsides which can consist of injuries, which are inherent in the NFL. Players are hit with the force of small car accidents on almost every play. During these violent collisions players can suffer concussions, knee injuries, and/or broken bones. Concussions are some of the scariest things that can transpire for a human being. "One in 3 NFL players will suffer a concussion during a regular season game" per a New York Times report written by Ken Belson. During a player’s career a concussion may not seem serious, but it plays on a person’s cognitive skills. That can play an important role in everyday life functions, such as remembering a daughter’s name
Concussions in the NFL have been a big topic over the years and will continue to plague the League and the Players. In fact in 2015 alone 271 players suffered a concussion over the whole season (CNN). However People don’t realize what happens to the player after they get a concussion in the NFL. Concussions change players lives after playing the NFL. As a result of concussion sustained in the NFL, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and dementia occur.
Concussions can be very dangerous to a person’s health especially if a person receives multiple of them in their life. “A study of American high school and college football players demonstrated 94 catastrophic head injuries (significant intracranial bleeding or edema) over a 13 year period,” (repetitive head injury syndrome.) deceased NFL players who have been identified with CTE are almost always players who received multiple concussions during their lives. “Symptoms of the disease include increased irritability and impulsivity early on and dementia in the later stages,” (Hard Knocks: the Science of Concussions.) Also many retired NFL players report having increased memory loss and depression. Many of these players have died much younger than the average person because of concussions, that are dangerous enough to kill over a long period of time.
In any sport there will be injuries, however with the NFL the risk of getting injured is higher than any other sport. Players in the NFL are likely to get a concussion. It could be the physicality of the sport. Football has a
A concussion is, “a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth” (“What is a Concussion?”). Concussions can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and sleepiness. Although these symptoms seem terrible, these are only short term symptoms of a mild concussion. More severe concussions can cause life-long problems with memory, learning, coordination, emotion, and even sight (“What is a Concussion?”). One poor play can cause a severe concussion and, furthermore, a permanent end to the life the player knew before the incident. While not all concussions are that critical, every concussion has consequences. Unfortunately, thousands of high school players face these consequences annually. Studies show that, “Some 67,000 high school football players suffer concussions every year, according to official tallies, and many more concussions go unreported” (“Farewell to Football”). Even if an exceptional football player beats those odds, one in every twenty NFL players suffers from at least one concussion in his career (“Farewell to Football”). Players under the age of eighteen are even more likely to experience severe brain damage from the game. According to ESPN, getting hit hard on the field can be the equivalent to being hit over the head
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.
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
The NFL is watched all over the United States. There are many injuries during this game such as breaking a leg and arm. They can get their lungs collapsed if someone was to step on them with all force. Concussions though are the most dangerous you can get a concussion and not even know.”The Patriots tight end suffered a helmet-to-helmet blow from Jaguars safety Barry Church in the final minutes of the first half and was immediately taken to the locker room for medical evaluation.’’ Any of these injuries can happen to anyone so we gonna talk about how to try to avoid them and to treat the if they happen to you. So tune in and join us in reading this so you don't end up on the sidelines and are always playing the game that many people love,
Do you keep yourself up to date with the news, ESPN, or the National Football League? If so, then you have probably heard of the many problems of the long-term effects of football-related concussions. Even kids in high school who have suffered multiple concussions are immediately put at risk for death related cause of such a severe head injury. As committees create and change the rules to protect players from such a traumatic brain injury, it is up to coaches and officials to enforce these rules to protect players. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff, a concussion is defined as a traumatic brain injury that alters the way your brain functions. There are many different ways to receive a concussion, but
Concussions in football have always been a problem. Recently the NFL is doing more to protect players from this serious head injury. a couple of moves made by the NFL to prevent concussions is that they moved the kickoff line up 5 yards resulting in a higher chance of a touchback. Another move to prevent concussions is that players are getting fined for illegal tackles that occur. The NFL is doing more to protect players because they realize concussions can have serious effects later in life like losing the ability to remember things. According to Nadia Kounang “NFL football players are 3 times more likely to have a neurodegenerative disease compared to the average population”. Examples of these diseases are Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The target population is football players who have received concussions in their playing days. Many of these head injuries were caused by players who wanted to excite the crowd with a big hit knowing a lot of the fans were just there to see violence and that the player would become more popular to those
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.
In the National Football League, many players have the risk of receiving a concussion. Many players that receive concussions are sidelined for multiply weeks and cannot play in the games they miss. For example Chris Miller had received multiply concussions during his career in the NFL. He was then forced to retire after receiving “5 concussions within 14 months” (Kia Boriboon, 2013). He tried to make a “comeback in 1999 but was sidelined again by another concussion” (Kia Boriboon 2013).
Concussions are rapidly becoming more and more of a concern in sports today. This is especially true in the sport of football, youth, amateur, and professional. What is a concussion? How do they happen? A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that occurs when the head is impacted, hit, struck, or shaken. Inside the skull, this violent movement of the brain is very detrimental to the brain itself. When a concussion occurs the brain literally bounces or twists in the skull causing damage to the brain cells, which in turn cause chemical changes in the brain. These changes make the brain more sensitive to other injuries or stress. All athletes participating in contact sports are at risk
The lack of knowledge that the majority of athletes enter the league with causes experts on the NFL’s policies to believe that the front office does not see the injury as a serious problem in the game today. “With the subsequent deaths of several relatively young retired NFL players, the autopsies of their brains, and the newly minted diagnosis chronic traumatic encephalopathy, we know the problem is real” (Carroll). This quotation intensifies the emphasis on the true problem the National Football League seems to be avoiding. Every injury, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant, needs to be addressed. “Even the only game that matters doesn't matter as much as your brain” (Flynn). There is nothing wrong with a person participating in the sport he loves, but when a blow to the head occurs, quick and efficient action must be taken to address the situation at hand. The National Football League and its policies do not suffice in relation to this area of concern. The fact of the matter is that no game, activity, or sport is worth a person’s
Because athletes do not take the responsibility to manage their injuries it leads to long term health concerns over a period of time. “The NFL must go further and clarify the rules even more, Durando contends, especially when it comes to hits on defenseless players, and they should continue to focus on decreasing the number of concussions to players in order to protect a player's long-term health” (par. 1). Stu Durando, a sportswriter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, acknowledges the fact that the National Football League has more work to do in decreasing concussion injuries. He not only stresses the cases of concussions, but shows a motive to help protect players along with their future mental wellness. Given these points, brain injuries tend to display as athletes age. Post Concussion Syndrome is what typically disarrays a former football player in the long run. Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder in which a variable combination of post-concussion symptoms — such as headaches and dizziness — last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion. Post-concussion syndrome can include psychological, physical and emotional problems including headaches, difficulty focusing on tasks, dizziness, or simply a state of mind that some would describe as “not feeling yourself”. “Sleepless nights were followed by partial amnesia. His grades plummeted. As his memory faltered, he grew embarrassed and anxious. Football had been the center of his life, but now he couldn't even exercise. Finally, he withdrew from college. Most players, like Reed, will recover completely after a period of headaches, sleepiness and difficulty focusing in class. Others--one in 10, some experts say--suffer long-term symptoms. They are more likely to develop post-concussion syndrome, where fogginess, headaches, poor
The post injury life is very hard especially if the NFL isn't doing enough for the players. The players make little money not expecting to get hurt. Not only is it tough for the players but the family. Wives are now expected to take car of the family. The head injuries can be from depression to paralysis, the wives sometimes are afraid to leave there husbands alone because they're afraid that there husband could do something to harm themselves. Sometimes the players don’t even know they sustain a head injuries /because the head injuries could be how it feels to play every game. They may just thought they had a headache and thought it wasn’t anything to worry about.