Whatever it is, we 'll cooperate with them the best we can,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Later in another interview, when asked, Tom Brady said that the accusations against him and his team were “ridiculous.” On January 20th, 2015, the Colts chimed in on their thought and accusations against the Patriots. After Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson intercepted one of Brady’s passes in the second quarter and gave the ball a member of the Colts equipment staff, they noticed that the ball was underinflated and they informed the Colts head coach Chuck Pagano. That same day Chris Mortensen, a reporter for ESPN, reported that 11 of the 12 footballs used in the first half of the game were greatly underinflated compared to what they are supposed to be.
Within the article, “Would you let your son play football” on ESPN.com states, “The issue of player safety and concussions would have a very real, very fresh face.” This is significant because once a football player dies they are examined, which the majority of football players have serious injuries in their brains. Although many brain injuries are found due to football, there is not much awareness that is spreaded to warn people about these risks. After the life of playing football, many things become f=difficult as you adjust to the life without football.
The essays The NFL’s Head Cases and Do Sports Helmets help or hurt have different point of views of how helmets in sports help head injuries. In Nate Jackson’s essay he had so many questions about why the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was suspending players for hits with the head. He played in the NFL for six years; and was for reducing
Since scientist have begun studying the effects of concussions on the brain with professional football players it has become apparent that concussions can lead to permanent brain damage and memory loss. Also, studies show that because of the speed and hits they receive every day, retired football players have developed brain diseases and short term memory which has made their lives a blight. Since the link of concussions to brain damage has been made, the NFL has made changes in the league to prevent these traumatic diseases. The league has changed the way they practice on the field and even the equipment they use. Even though there is no definite answer to solving the serious amounts of concussive cases in football, the game of football still goes on and precautions are being taken to prevent dramatic
The NFL has stated that they believe the issues having to do with the knees, drugs, and steroids are greater problems in football, according to the number of incidents, than concussions. In several attempts to talk to the NFL about the effects of CTE found in football players, the discussion has been dismissed. In 2013, the NFL agreed to pay $765 million to settle the lawsuit with retired players. As part of this settlement, the league did not admit any wrongdoing. There was no admission that anything was caused by football.
This paper will go into detail about the mental and physical health effects of CTE and address what the NFL is doing to reduce concussions. CTE affects players not just mentally but also physically. One out of every three NFL players are affected by CTE and it is becoming a bigger issue everyday. CTE used to not be as common in football payers, but more in boxers, it was very common due to various amounts of headshots taken by the
They have high concern for their own identity group but low concern for the opposition (NFL) generally due to their perception of the NFL as a wealthy and powerful organization with the upper hand in legal proceedings. (Pruitt, Kim 2004) The players group is unlikely to engage in yielding techniques due to their perception of the engagement in the conflict as morally right and due to their use of legal representatives as representatives of a group are less likely to yield for fear of disappointing the group they represent. (Pruitt, Kim 2004) It is unclear whether the recent changes to the game (efforts to move kickoff line, penalties for head hits) to increase safety are driven by the NFL’s concern ultimately for player safety or for good public relations.
This idea hit the media like wildfire and quickly became known as “deflategate.” Deflategate opened the eyes to many people watching, showed how the NFL goes through investigation over an issue, and showed that every action will have a consequence. After the night of the big game, the idea of deflategate had many people confused and puzzled.
Concussions are a serious head injury that can lead to long term health effects and are very common in high contact sports such as football. A concussion occurs when the brain hits against the interior of the skull. In high contact sports such as football, head to head hitting occurs frequently, potentially resulting in a concussion. Diagnosing concussions can be difficult, which means players can experience multiple minor concussions in a single game.
However, these brand new policies are now being used to determine punishments for infractions that occurred while the old policies were still in place, which directly affects players such as Greg Hardy of the Dallas Cowboys, who are on trial for cases of domestic violence. Recently, Hardy’s punishment has been reduced from the original ten game suspension to a four game suspension, after the arbitrator, Harold Henderson stated that “ten games was simply too much” (McManus, 2015). This may not satisfy Hardy, however, because under the NFL’s old disciplinary policies, this misdemeanor would have constituted for no more than a two game suspension. This case makes evident just how skewed the NFL’s decision making process is when dealing with disciplinary actions. Fans of the Cowboys are thrilled about the reduction in Hardy’s suspension because Hardy is an invaluable asset to the Cowboys’ defense, so he is desperately needed if the Cowboys are to have a winning season.
Many people tend to overlook the size of players at major universities until they reach the professional level; however former athletes will admit that they have had teammates who used performance enhancing drugs. Kicked off the Ole Miss football team in 2008, Jared Foster believes that the NCAA may have a serious issue to deal with. The former quarterback pleaded guilty to supplying a man with anabolic steroids and was quoted as saying, “Everybody around me was doing it.” Playing in the Southeastern Conference, Ole Miss always finds themselves at or near the top of many college football rankings each season (Apuzzo). Of course, if this former juice junky claims that everyone on his team used anabolic steroids, how many other collegiate teams have multiple drug abusers?
Head injuries have become a prominence in the news because of how the NFL hid facts on injured players. The NCAA and NFL have become pressured to create more restrictions on head contact and helmet regulations. New helmet designs like the Riddell SpeedFlex uses a flex system to decrease impact on the head. This new system has yet to hit the market or even the field yet, but received a five star review from Virginia Tech test. A protective helmet needs to fit the head snug, be strong yet light, and provide extensive padding.
In football they were taught to tackle with the force from their heads which leads to CTE. It’s a degenerative brain injury, called Chronic Traumatic encephanlopathy. One study ofr 35 former professional american football players found that 34 showed signes of brain injuries. In rugby of course everbody thinks the sport is more dangerous just because they don’t have any padding.
When the hit occurred everyone watching the game knew Cam Newton had suffered a concussion. We all watched in awe as he continued to play, wobbly from the dramatic trauma that had occurred from the previous hit to his head. Collisions like these are the reason that many think the National Football League is nearing an end in the immediate future, as people become more aware of the trauma caused by concussions. This is why the National Football League needs to more strictly enforce their concussion protocol to preserve player’s future health. Not until recently has the National Football League really started cracking down on how players and teams should deal with players who are assumed to have suffered a concussion.
In the true story based movie and the documentary, the dangers of head injuries in football are laid out for the viewer. Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered the brain injury chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE; however, the NFL was in denial about the effects football had on the brain and had on causing CTE. I believe that the NFL’s denial to the accusations were detrimental to many football players and that serious consideration should be taken into the way football is played overall. When Dr. Omalu originally diagnosed CTE on Mike Webster and the NFL denied that football was the cause for his death and disease.