Concussions Why are there so many concussions in the National Football League (NFL)? Why are they not taking more precautions to prevent them? The NFL has on average 130 concussions each year. This season, 149 different players obtained serious head injuries over the 271 games. This is a 30% increase from the previous three-year average. So why, with our rapidly advancing technology, has the number of these injuries gone up? It could be because of the price of the equipment that would be required to maintain healthy athletes. Or that the league is not taking proper precautions. Regardless of the reasons, there is a clear neglect of the player’s safety. The NFL should be taking many more precautions to prevent concussions, such as putting more …show more content…
Not only is this not very important, as they make almost 20 billion dollars per year, but it would actually benefit them financially, as they would be spending much less on medical expenses for injuries. The technology that would be required for the league to substantially reduce their head injuries, as well as other injuries, has already been publicly available for many years and is easily inexpensive enough for them to afford. This technology is called D3O. It is a non-Newtonian fluid that is easily moldable and flexible but becomes very stiff and energy absorbent when it is struck. The NFL is just starting to experiment with D3O, but they are choosing not to put it into their equipment. They are working on researching how much they need to be as effective as possible, and how to get enough of it while staying within their …show more content…
These things include logos, marketing, stocks, streaming, and political statements. The NFL’s marketing and social media teams generate almost a tenth of the league’s total revenue, and they use most of their personnel to focus on this rather than injuries. If they would simply put more of their staff, money, and time into protecting their players, they could easily reduce the number of concussions. The league has run many tests on new ways to reduce these injuries such as equipment and penalties. All of these tests were successful, but they have never put them into use. The main focus of the league is quickly becoming less about the players, and much more about
The NFL is trying to prevent concussions because multiple concussions can really damage a player’s brain, which in the long run can give players some serious emotional and physical issues. Too many hits to the head can cause brain disease, as we have seen in some former NFL players, like Dave Duerson. I believe that the NFL needs to find better
NFL vs. Players: Analysis and Intervention The National Football League is currently in a long-standing conflict with a group of its players and former players who demand compensation for the brain damage incurred during their professional careers with the NFL as a result of multiple concussions. The players’ group has taken these grievances to court, accusing the NFL of wrongful death and negligence for allegedly concealing the long-term effects of multiple concussions sustained during play, despite voluntarily investigating these possible effects. (Kenney 2012) This player’s group claims that players were not actively warned of the dangers of cumulative mild traumatic brain injury or MTBI until 2010.
Professional and college sports leagues must do more to prevent concussions because new research shows there are long-term complications from having multiple concussions, players
In the past few years, the number of concussions per year has only spiked. The NFL calls it a “cultural change” in that the staff are more willing to report head injuries instead of neglecting them. However, to many like Christopher Nowinski- one of the founders of the Concussion Legacy foundation- this increase just shows that the NFL does not care to prevent head injuries, only treat them when they are developed. The number of concussions between the 2013 and 2014 season actually increased by 58
Do you remember Sean Taylor? If so, you remember him as former Washington Redskins free safety who was famously known for his big hits. He sadly passed away at the age of 24, but what we don’t truly know is that is when the NFL started to change the way the game has been played because NFL players deserve to have a healthy life and be safe. In 2009 the NFL put in place the “NFL Gameday Concussion Protocol” which put in affect “the rules and regulations on players to keep them safe,”(Stites, Adam). This was the biggest change that happened and Roger Goodell stated to ESPN the day that it was first put into place “... too help the players from suffering life threatening injuries, because they as human beings, deserve to have the right to live a healthy life after football,”(Seifert, Kevin)
As an avid NFL fan over the years, and someone who has watched many games, I have noticed the NFL’s shortcomings in protecting the safety of its players C. Thesis: There are many topics of discussion when it comes to the NFL concussion
The players understand how crucial it is to stop these head to head hits, because of the brain trauma that comes about as a result, but the National Football League continues to refute it. The coaches and teams need to realize that even though removing their star player may cause them to lose a game, the player’s life is more important than the game itself. While the new protocol has helped reduce concussions, the only way to improve the situation of concussions in the National Football League is for the officials to more strictly enforce the
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
Throughout the years there has been an increase in the number of players with concussions in professional sports. Safety procedures such as ensuring equipment and head gear fit properly along with whenever a player is injured from head-to-head contact, they are examined by a physician for concussion like symptoms and or a concussion. According to Weill Cornell 's Concussion and Brain injury clinic, concussions may possibly have long lasting effects such as headaches, dizziness, difficulty concentrating or completing tasks, irritability, and the sense that you “just do not feel like yourself”. Overall, additional rules an regulations need to be added to professional sports to prevent the risk of traumatic brain damage also known as concussions.
The era of Football in America is slowly coming to a close. Football has been known as America’s sport next to baseball for many years now. The general physicality of every play isn’t(B3) matched by any other sport on the planet, and that is why football causes more injuries than any other sport on the professional, and youth levels. Parents are pulling their kids from their teams, even in the middle of the season because of the information that has been released over the past decade illuminating a big problem for the game.
It is hard to prevent concussions from happening in the game because the players are not trying to hurt each other usually. The majority of the concussions that take place in football are accidental, but there are a few cases where players are trying to hurt opposing players. The National Football League pays players based on games played in a season, and players
The NFL needs to follow the same concussion protocol as the lower levels of the sport. THe sport could be much safer and it should be much safer. Players deserve more protection and it should be much easier to play the sport without having any
The list goes on forever. There are ways to fix this problem. We can eliminate the amount of concussions that happen during the football season by having stricter penalties, more stringent concussion protocol, and better equipment for the head. Having stricter penalties is a key part in eliminating the amount of concussions that occur during the NFL season. Referees will be particularly alert to fouls in which defenders purposely use the helmet and/or facemask to hit the passer, or use hands, arms, or other parts of the body to hit the passer forcibly in the head or neck area (“Rule 12 Player”).
Head Injuries In American Football Since the beginning of American football, concussions have been a big problem with players in high school, college, and the National Football League. Concussions have led to the end of many players football careers and in some cases, their lives. People that are in college and the NFL continue, playing even though they are risking their lives just for a little fame. Today football players play the game to make money and just because of their love for the sport.
Brain trauma affects one out of three people in the national football league. In 2012 the stats of diagnosed concussions were 261, in 2013 they went down to 229, in 2014 concussions decreased to 206, in 2015 there were 275 diagnosed concussions and 2016 is decreased to 244. More concussions occur later on in the year. Half of the concussions are caused by contact with another helmet. Cornerbacks and receivers suffer more than other players.