The Role Of Obesity In Football

"The student athletes will endure life long effects of playing physically demanding sports. “Injuries can saddle them with years of medical bills.” (Majerol). Athletes are there to make the college sports better, schools see them as only someone to help make them profit by making the sports program better. As soon as they leave the sports program they no longer care about the physical trauma, and mental trauma the athlete has to deal with the rest of their life. “less than 2 percent of college athletes ever compete professionally.” (Zissou). This mean 2 percent of the athletes will proffesional medical care, while the other 98 percent have to pay out of pocket for the rest of their lives on their used up knees and backs relying on medication to help numb some of the pain so they can get by. Football is one of the most taxing on the body, a study released July of 2017 says “A Journal of the American Medical Association report says

Even though football players are aware of the dangers the game can bring upon them, they take part despite it. The passion, the joy it creates; for professionals it’s also the devoted fans and compensation they receive is what keeps the players motivated. Today players are much bigger, faster, smarter, bigger, better. The game is more physical. The sport has never been so competitive. The popularity has reached new peaks, as much that the NFL has thoughts of moving a team to London, England. Additionally, Super Bowl XLVII (47) was one of the most watched television events of all time; an astonishing 108.4 million viewers (The Associated Press). Fans worship their teams and love to see big hits. Football is a contact sport; injuries are no

In order to convince the reader about the dangers of high school football, Billinger shares the stories of former football players and the long range effects of them playing football. The story of former Permian player Joe Bob Bizzell showcases the effects and dangers of playing football in high school and beyond. Bizzell shares the fact that “he felt [the effects of football] in the mornings when he couldn’t bend over to tie his

Suddenly I was in my school’s health center, surrounded by football players, each more muscular and coordinated than I, and each with a much more plausible reason for their injury. The observation left me smiling.

Players in the National Football League (NFL) are currently bigger than ever in NFL history; coming in at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Cam Newton is bigger than most offensive linemen in the 1960s. (Gaines, 2015) Now imagine that hitting you at an average of 4.56 feet-per-second on a 40-yard dash – that’s roughly 1600 pounds of tackling force connecting with player’s bodies and leading to severe concussions. (Higgins, 2009) These concussions lead to blackouts on the field, mental confusion/disorientation, and debilitating long-term effects such as daily migraines, memory loss, and nausea. (Cerebrum Health Centers, 2013)

There’s no doubt that concussions in football has become a major problem, not just for the professional athletes, but for kids of all ages from age 8 to 19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that concussion have doubled in the last decade and The American Academy of Pediatrics says that, “emergency room visits for concussions in children ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Keith Dunlap, The Oakland Press). This shows that the seriousness of concussions is not just an issue at a pro level but an issue throughout all levels of play. The risk is definitely present when you play football but it shouldn’t stop parents from letting their children participate in the sport. Playing organized sports such as football isn’t just a place to get injured, it’s a place where your children can learn the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, toughness, competitiveness, they learn succeed, and also they learn about failure. The parents who don’t allow their children to play sports don’t let their kids learn about these important lessons of organized sports. Football is also a way for kids to take their anger and struggles out in the game and help them express themselves. It can also be a way for kids in bad situations to get a way out, to try and reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

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.

Player safety has been an issue for the National Football League since the start of the league, but has taken on a greater importance in recent years. Now, when a player is injured after a play, he must sit out for at least one play to allow the team’s trainer to assess his injury and make sure he is fit to return to play. Many say the NFL is very invested in player safety, and the protocols recently introduced have drastically changed the way athletes are assessed and eventually released to return to the field. These changes were necessary in order to protect players from serious injury and long-term health issues. There are many possible reasons the NFL has increased its emphasis on player safety, including, many people are disturbed by the violence of the game, fewer kids are playing football at the youth and high school levels, league sponsors are worried about bad publicity, and there are lawsuits against the NFL dealing with the long-term effects of brain damage. These reasons make many ponder, “Does the NFL really care about player safety, or are they just saving themselves from bad public relations, and the detrimental economic effects that may result from them?”

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

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

Bone crushing forces are delivered to football players of all ages and sizes. According to ESPN, the average Pop Warner football player will experience 107 collisions per season in games, with some collisions being upwards of 80 G's, or the same forces that college football players experience. For comparison, NASA astronauts only experience six to eight G’s of force when they leave earth’s atmosphere, yet people still think it’s okay to let kids as young as 8 experience forces up to ten times what astronauts experience. According to Livestrong, which is a foundation that promotes an active and healthy lifestyle, it says that because of the constant forces being applied to players’ joints and ligaments that they are very susceptible to torn ligaments, and pulled muscles. These injuries can develop into severe arthritis and joint pain later in life if the players endure enough trauma. Ricky Watters-a former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers-gave his football testimony recently, he said, “I’ve suffered five concussions, tore two ligaments in my knee, I have five pins in my left foot and a metal envelope encasing my femur, I also suffered a cracked sternum and have failing kidneys at the age of 43. I’ve played when I know I shouldn’t have, but now I suffer pain from head to toe every day of my life.” Now parents, the decision is up to you, do you want your kids suffering the same way as Ricky

Football is a rough sport. Many fans of the game watch it for the hard hits. These hard hits and the potential for injury is part of what makes the game so exciting. Some people say that football is too brutal and should be banned. Parents all over the United States don’t allow their children to play because of the risk of head injuries. Others allow their sons, and every now and then their daughters, to play and risk injury for a chance to earn a college scholarship and for a small percentage of players, the chance to play in the National Football League (NFL).

Would you be willing to play a sport that could potentially end your life at any moment? In any sport, it is noted that you are more prone to injury versus the average person since you are putting your body at risk. It is known that football is one of the most dangerous sports because it has a high-risk for concussions. On an average, about 47 percent of athletes who play high school football receive sports-related concussions. SInce 1997, 50 high school level and younger football players were pronounced dead after complications due to their concussions. Because of these intriguing statistics, the sport of football should be banned. Football should be banned as a whole because of health concerns regarding concussions, long-term effects from concussions, and mental disorders.

Injuries in American football, can some of them be prevented? With the increase in injuries in football coaches are looking for better ways to try and prevent unnecessary injuries. Even though you cannot prevent all the injuries as a coach you want to at least prevent some.

Physical and mental strength plays a major role in a football player’s life. Football is a twelve month process, which consists of off- season (six months), in -season (five months), and the Transition (one month). During off-season the football player’s main goal is gaining strength, size, and much power, in-season they continue to practice and work on maintaining the gains in strength during the off-season, and the transition is when they rest and recuperate their body from the physical exercise. Football players are constantly bumped and knocked down during practices