From youth football to the NFL, concussions are prevalent at every age group and skill level. The NFL has helped to look into youth football in a variety of ways including heads up tackle which is a program that teaching athletes to use proper technique when tackling a player as well as fitting these athletes for equipment. By doing this, youth football players learn how to properly tackle someone to absorb a hit as well as give these athletes the least likely chance of having a major traumatic brain injury (Goldberg). Goldberg’s Hypothesis was that if you teach youth players in the sport of football the proper technique of tackling, concussions would not be an issue. Although the NFL has helped make dramatic impacts on the youth games including leagues such as pop warner which roughly over 40% of NFL athletes played in as a child, there are over 650,000 youth players in the United States and because of this large number, they do not track …show more content…
She makes very valid point in discussing how the brain functions and if injured at such a young age, can result into greater problems later in life. The NFL has reviewed articles such as Cottlers’ and one’s similar to it, however they believe that it prepares these young men for their futures in the sport of football and it should be up to both the parents of the children along with their primary doctor if they decided to take on these risks and play the sport. In today’s society, this is a big issue with children being the future of the world we live in and some deaths have occurred from concussions in youth sports over the past 25 years. The NFL released a statement saying that “Proper padding and technique should be more than enough to ensure the player’s safety and because of this, contact will remain in youth
In hopes of diminishing the concern of concussions, the NFL implemented “Moms Football Safety Clinics.” These clinics were used to brownnose moms into believing their children would be safe because “Heads Up Football” was being encouraged across the country. Some clinics even went as far as saying that “kids were more likely to get a concussion riding a bike than playing football,” which Dohrmann states is only true if you limit the age to 10. This technique left parents feeling reassured when deciding to let their child play at a young age. CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Chris Nowinski stated “The NFL focuses on concussions because that seems like a problem that can be solved through initiatives like Heads Up Football.”
To decrease the number of concussions a year the National Football League must issue more rules and better quality equipment. Despite the tackling and wanting to " knock out " an opponent of the other team, football players need to transition their mindsets to a different objective. Instead of wanting to hurt the opponent or lay them out, just focus on getting them down. Football players must have the mindset to keep their healthy bodies and prevent injuries so that they can continue to entertain, perform, but to mostly importantly win. Football without concussions and even injuries can make the sport more enjoyable for the parent, wives, and children of the players.
In “The NFL Dodges on Brain Injuries” Hruby talks about how truly a big deal these brain injuries are becoming and that “ninety-six-perfect of former NFL players show some type of brain damage most often linked with concussions” (Hruby, 2014). Although these players receiving hit after hit, whether the player is blocking an opposing player or the defensive player coming in for the big hit, players are inflicting high amounts of contact on one another, which is resulting in each and every play. In an interview conducted by ESPN with Wesley Woodyard a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, he talked about the extreme amount of contact in the sport. He was quoted saying "Definitely with all the new information coming out about CTE it 's cause for concern for parents. We 're taking the right strides as far as keeping the game safe -- safety is definitely going to always be No. 1.
Concussions themselves are a controversial topic simply because of their destructive forces on the lives of everyone, ranging from people who tripped and fell a little too hard, to people who make a career of hitting other people as hard as they possibly can. There are many people opposed to the idea of football’s inherent violence, yet advocates of the sport claim that removing the factor of colliding would make a completely different sport that cannot even be called football, which itself has become so ingrained in American society that it practically owns a day of the week from Week One of preseason to the closing seconds of the Superbowl. The fact remains though that if football were to suddenly cease existing, many people would be jobless,
The National Football League (NFL) is one of Americas greatest past time, and although this sport has brought many people closer together, there are devastating events starting to surface about this breathtaking sport, and the athletes that play it. Concussions are becoming a problem in the NFL and also at football at every level. Many people are starting to see the effects of it, which is a concerning for the NFL. The NFL has done a lot to change the outcome of concussions, and they have also come up with numerous rules and techniques for players to use to protect themselves and others, and to put a stop to traumatic injuries these athletes are facing.
With the movie "Concussion" appearing in theatre 's last December, I took it upon myself to dive deeper into the subject. This time with the same concept, but with a different group of football players. More specifically, the young football players in which the injuries received, being both minor and major injuries, contributes to the development of their brain structures. Within each hit these young players take, the still growing brain comes to a halt every time the team makes a tackle that damages the brain further than most humans do throughout their lifetime. Many different scientists have been conducting experiments to provide proof of how concussions can cause a decline in lifespan of young football players.
Simple implementations such as better helmets, more trainers, and more physicians could further decrease the concussion rate to make the game even safer. With the joint effort from children’s leagues, the NCAA, and the NFL to make the game more secure, yet simultaneously just as enticing, the entire sport of football would be ameliorated, with very minimal cases of concussions. More parents would be willing to let their children play this new style of football instead of holding them back, as they may have done previously due to the fear of head injury. More research and care for concussions could result in even more technological advancements. All of this could easily become a reality with the unification of all types of football, resulting in a benign, yet highly enjoyable
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.
Following the season league officials and doctors got together to discuss the issue and they wondered if there was simply more concussions or if they just identified them better and more efficiently. “47% of all sports related concussions occur during high school football” (Head Case - Complete Concussion Managements). From 2012-2015 in the NFL there was no huge leap but still growing, in 2012 there were 261 concussions compared to 2015’s total of 271. 3,800,000 reported concussions in 2012, double that from 2002. Annually, 4-5 million concussions happen and the numbers are rising among middle schoolers.
Almost 58,000 concussions were reported from the NCAA, which represents 1,200 colleges/universities, in the 2001-02 season (“Head Injuries”). That is about 48 concussions per school, and 1 in every 23 athletes. Sports and recreational concussions have become a more serious issue over the past decade. Many parents, coaches, and players deem concussions not serious and resume playing in the game. The increase in concussions, mainly in sports, has a long-lasting effect on the human brain and needs to be taken more seriously.
Although some football enthusiasts believe that children under the age of twelve should play tackle football because it promotes friendship and teamwork, the negative impact that the sport has on the brains of adolescent males outweighs the comradery that the sport teaches. Children play the sport without thinking of the effects of the brain injuries. Through interviews with past players as well as scientific studies, researchers have found that the cognitive ability of males (average age of early fifties) is greatly affected by the age in which the young player began playing (Boston University School of Medicine). Boston University’s Dr. Robert Stern said the concern is not from concussions, it is from, “subconcussive hits: these hits that don’t necessarily result in the symptom right then, but people can get hundreds of them a year.”
An online survey of 1,000 people conducted by ESPN in Northern California of early August did find that 57 percent of parents said the concussion problem made them less likely to let their sons play in youth leagues (Emmons, 2012). Over 3,200 retired NFL players have sued the NFL over the long-term effects of their head trauma days. Through suing the NFL they seek compensation for the information that was withheld from them about their protection. Studies show that concussions represent almost 9 percent of injuries in nine major high school sports. Although football is a rather violent sport it can still be while relatively safe when coached and monitored properly.
Concussions in Sports In sports, concussions occur frequently across all age groups. From little leagues to high school sports to the professional leagues, concussions pose a high risk of long term Traumatic brain injuries. Because of the high rate of concussions in sports more attention should be paid to protocols and treatment to prevent traumatic brain injuries. High school athletes that partake in a sport that requires intense physical activity are the most vulnerable to concussion and need more time to recover. According to the Head Case “High school football accounts for 47 percent of all reported sports concussions, with 33 percent of concussions occurring during practice.”
"By the time they get to high school, kids have a 5% chance of sustaining a concussion for each season they play" (Zimmerman). If they choose to keep playing football then they will eventually end up with a brain concussion or brain damage. Over the years 65-80% of head injuries go unnoticed ("Stopping the..."58). Football player ignore the fact that it is just a headache. Hospitals took 150,000 in 2001 to 250,000 in 2009 dramatically increased because of concussions ("Injuries in...").
Dr. Bennet Omalu stated that children's brain do not fully develop until they are about in the 18-25 years old range. This would end up making their brains more likely to be harmed and damaged and if a child receives many repeated blows to the head they can end up with permanent brain damage which can also lead to bad side effects later in life. Concussions and injuries to the head are a big problem in football. So why should we allow the most vulnerable to be put in harm's way and risk their futures? The answer is we should