The Sport Of Football

Statistics have shown that over 300,000, student athletes have sustained concussions per year. Concussions are the leading factor to student athletes getting CTE. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that involves a buildup of the abdominal protein (Tao). Studies have shown that 21% of high school players will contain CTE in their life (Haelle). Not only are concussions tackling athletes, but football is also causing serious bone injuries. Student athletes suffer an estimated 2 million injuries every year, which results in 500,000, doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations. Injuries go from broken figures all the way up to a broken neck or back. Studies have shown and will continue to show that football puts the greatest risk of injury on student athletes.

CTE is a brain disease found in individuals with annals of head trauma. It has specifically been found in athletes with numerous concussions. So far it can only be diagnosed in the deceased, but Dr. Julian Bales and his staff in UCLA have discovered symptoms in living players such as Hall of Famer Anthony “Tony” Dorsett, Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, and NFL All-Pro Leonard Marshall. CTE can cause memory loss, dementia, depression, suicidal thoughts, cognitive and emotional difficulties (Waldron par 1, 2, 3). Is it a compelling issue? A total of 171 concussions were reported in the NFL in the 2012-2013 season; 88 thus far in the 2013-2014 season (Frontline pt). Those are just numbers in the professional level. There are thousands of kids playing football either in youth, middle school, high school, or college level. The diagnosis is currently in progress, researchers are optimistic this could lead to a legitimate treatment, how to manage, and hopefully a cure. Furthermore, this can also possibly lead to an answer to a connection between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Terry Long, and Justin Strzelczyk (all of whom are dead now) are all men who played in the NFL for an extent period of time. This is not the only thing they have in common. These former players had an uncustomary

CTE affects many different athletes all over the world. Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy or normally referred to as CTE is a brain disease that affects people who have had multiple head injuries. It is found in many cases of ex NFL players who took many hits to the head when playing over their careers. There are many documented cases of it across other sports and some military veterans as well. We have made large strides in learning more and more about the terrible disease. The game of football has changed since we have learned so much more about the terrible disease in recent years. We could prevent concussions by changing the way players practice.

Football remains the most popular sport in America and the ninth most popular sport in the world for a reason. Since its creation in 1869, football has played a fundamental part of American society. Every Sunday, my family along with millions of other Americans turn the television to CBS, NBC or FOX to watch their favorite football team go to battle. My family and I bleed burgundy and gold and root for the home team the Washington Redskins. Americans including myself display great intensity and passion for the game of football and the result of the game often changes my attitude for the better or worse. Watching the game on television may come as exhilarating and entertaining, but playing the game creates the best times. Overall football has made a severe impact on many people’s lives. Football teaches unique lessons in a hands on manner which helps athletes like myself sustain a much more adventurous life. Football has made an immeasurably positive influence upon my life, but the sport has its dangers. Football changes lives.

While the NFL is putting new rules and regulations on equipment and which type of tackles are allowed, living retired NFL players are found to already have symptoms of CTE (Fainaru, 2013). Through brain scans and research done by UCLA, they have identified proteins in player’s brains that cause CTE, which as Dr. Julian Bailes, co-director or North Shore Neurological Institute said, is the “holy grail” to studying CTE and finding ways to cure and prevent it (Fainaru, 2013). While this is a break through, there is still no cure or way to treat CTE (Fainaru, 2013). But this research also raises questions about CTE and the NFL. Will players be required to be tested for CTE? Can players be denied playing anymore if CTE is found? Will this greatly affect the way that football is currently played? As the research is still being collected, there is still no definite answer to any of those questions, but the NFL has acknowledged the correlations of CTE and concussions caused by playing in the NFL and assures that they will do all they can to help prevent severe brain trauma to their players, including donating $30 million to the National Institutes of Health to conduct further research on CTE (Kroll, 2013).

Football is one of the most popular sports in the United States and has brought the talk of concussions into the spotlight. A movie was recently created called Concussion to raise public awareness and educate its viewers on the seriousness and severity of head trauma that occurs in the NFL. In total, there are 1,696 players in the NFL, which reported 271 concussions in 2015 alone.1 Concussions have become an important issue because it leads to the condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is also known as CTE, and in recent years the National Football League settled a lawsuit that was brought on by 4,500 former players for concussion-related injuries.2 CTE has been diagnosed in

Within the last few years, the BU ADC developed a new branch called the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center (CTE Center), which is devoted specifically to research this disease (Boston University, n.d.). In 2015, a team of scientists from the CTE Center conducted a study analyzing the brain tissue of deceased football players. The researchers separated the participants into two groups: (a) those who played professional football, and (b) those who had played football during some part of their lifetime (high school level, college level, etc.). The results showed that 87 of the 91 NFL players tested positive for CTE. In addition, 131 of the 195 subjects who had played football during some part of their lifetime tested positive for CTE (Breslow, 2015). This study proved that CTE could affect any athlete (including high school level athletes), not just professional

A CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a, “progressive degenerative disease that is believed to plague people who've suffered severe or repeated blows to the head” (Murphy). A player can have a CTE and not even know that they are suffering from it. This is because CTEs can only be discovered after the person dies. Paul Bright, for example, was a football player who played from the time that he was seven until he was a freshman in high school. He had experienced only one concussion, but it changed his entire life. His family and friends described him as hard working and upbeat, but then, something changed. He became reckless and erratic; these traits caused him to die at age twenty-four from a motorcycle wreck. His mother sent his brain off to be tested and discovered that he had been suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. This brain disease had caused him to make the type of impulsive decisions that took his life (Murphy). In addition to the CTEs players may experience, the likelihood of dying from brain and nervous system issues increases significantly for football players. Studies from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health discovered that, “death involving neurodegenerative causes among the retired players was three times higher than in the general U.S. population, and the risk for two major

However, in 2013, the NFL and the NFLPA entered a dispute on how to allocate the $100 million. The NFLPA vetted several research proposals and invited the NFL to participate in the entire process, so they believed the NFL would comply with the research proposal they selected. The NFLPA decided to allocate the funds towards a 10 year Harvard initiative that would examine at least 1,000 retired players to use as long-term subjects on a wide range of health issues. The project aimed to discover approaches to diagnosing, treating and preventing injuries and in both active and retired players. However, the “joint contribution” would not pan out as the NFL refused to sign off on the grant. The two sides would eventually agree to allocate their $50 million funding towards separately selected medical research. The NFL has allocated most of its medical research funds to entities such as the National Institute of Health, the U.S. military and private companies. Examining the allocation of medical research funds from the NFL and examining how the NFL refused to allocate money towards the Harvard initiative, suggests the NFL is steering away from research specifically from the link between football and CTE. Although, the NFL is now addressing brain trauma as a health hazard for players and are trying to diagnose and mitigate the impact of brain injuries, the NFL is also not addressing the link between CTE and playing football, perhaps because the

Since the 1920s, there has been a severe disease linked to athletes. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a disease that effects athletes that have had head trauma. The trauma causes the brain tissue to deteriorate. The changes can become apparent after months, years, or even decades. CTE is linked to memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia. (“What”, 2009). CTE has caused football to change as well as the equipment. CTE is now widely known and is effecting, not only professional athletes, but also high school athletes. Concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy are serious conditions that can affect anyone and have adverse effects.

Did you know that 99% of the dead NFL players had signs of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) when scientist looked through their brain (Ventras)? Most people wouldn’t know this fact, but scientist do and have known this since 2002. Even though they are making improvements, there is still an alarming rate of concussions happening. This report will discuss who is affected, how it can be prevented, how it is affecting sports today.

American football has a long legacy in American History. It can be traced back centuries to

“Studies show that approximately one in five high school football players suffer concussions or more serious brain injury during their brief high school careers. The rate at the collegiate level is one in twenty” (Longe, 965). Even though this study showed twenty present of high school football players recorded concussions, many concussions go unreported or unrecognized. Dr. Wayne Langburt surveyed Pennsylvania High School football players after their season. The survey was anonymous and the term concussion was replaced with a generic definition. “The share of players who claimed to have suffered a concussion the previous season was not four percent or even fourteen percent, but was forty-seven percent! Those who received concussions claimed an average of 3.4 each season” (Nowinski,

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.

Over the past several years, concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) have become hot topics in the world of football. The long lasting effects of concussions and CTE experienced