Rewind to the NFL Wild Card Round earlier this year. The date was January 9th; The Pittsburgh Steelers were facing off against the Cincinnati Bengals in an intense conference matchup for the first playoff round. This game was special since both teams are in the AFC North conference, so both teams were playing with a chip on their shoulder. The game was a hard-fought battle that came right down to the end. On the last gasp drive made by the Steelers to try and win the game something extraordinary happened. Big Ben Roethlisberger drops back, throws the ball over the middle to star wide receiver Antonio Brown and goes right through his hands. As Antonio is coming down from his leap in the air Vontaze Burfict comes in late and makes head to head …show more content…
Antonio Brown did not play in the ensuing playoff game due to his concussion and the Steelers went on to lose. Although Antonio Brown may be fine now that it 's the off-season this is something that will be with him his whole life. Concussions are a very serious issue in sports. Concussions can happen at any level of play from professional to grade school sports. Concussions are also not limited to contact sports, they can occur in any sports. The actual injury of a concussion is not the issue of this crisis that is ongoing; the real issue at hand is the failure to manage them correctly. That is something that is very important to note because thousands of concussions go unaddressed every year, which can cause severe brain damage, especially on the professional level. The focus of this issue is in the NFL because of recent studies that have come out about the true dangers of concussions. The NFL is currently on the hot seat dealing with this issue due to the amount of retired players who …show more content…
The NFL has seen an increase in concussions over the years due to the style of play, and the speed of the game is much faster paced. In the past five years, the NFL has taken steps to try to limit concussions. The reason why it has taken so long to make changes was because in the past no one really knew the dangers of concussions. Some precautions that have been put in place are fines when hits to the head occur to restrain player from violent head to head collisions. The NFL has restricted teams to only allowing 14 full-contact practices during its 18-week season. Not only has this happened at the professional level but at the collegiate level as well. Players who make contact with another player by using the crown of their helmet are subject to a penalty as well as ejection upon review of the hit. The Ivy League has even gone as far as to starting in the 2016 season to non-contact practices. These new rules have upset some football fans that say that the game is meant for hard hitting and violent collisions. Fans do need to take the time to look at the reason as to why these new rules have been put into place. The game is being changed because of the research that has been conducted and the shocking results of life after football. The major demographic of the fans who do not appreciate the new rulings are males who are middle aged and played the sport when they
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 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
The seriousness of sports related concussions have been brought to the forefront in recent years. New concussion legislation along with new rules and regulations have been implemented around the country. In effort to reduce the amount of concussions greater awareness, action plans, and policies have been put in place for many sports--especially contact sports such as football. However, despite these actions the amount of sports related concussions have not seen a significant decrease. I propose a detailed analysis of current concussion policies and action plans implemented in recent years with an emphasis on football.
I elected to choose this article on concussions because of my interest in football and more importantly sports. Over the last five years, the sport of football has been tarnished to an extent because of the amount of concussions and the side effects shown in former professional players. I grew up playing football and learned many life lessons from it, and to see the media destroy the reputation of the sport hurts. I personally wanted to see in-depth details on the subject, so this article helps me better understand the topic. I am hoping to one day work in sports, and working in football is my dream.
I. Introduction A. Attention Graber: For many people there is nothing better on a crisp cool Sunday afternoon, than sitting down and enjoying a good football game. The NFL, hosts usually the football games people watch. Recently, however the NFL has had a huge conflict on its hands regarding player health and safety, specifically regarding repeated head injury and concussions. Research indicates, the NFL has not done enough to protect its players from the damage of repeated head injury B. Ethos Statement:
Concussions get a bad wrap. Concussions are becoming a very relivent part of todays sports culture. People are going as far as quitting their sport due to just one concussion. These head injurys have become a very hot topic and are debated heavily when it comes to contact sports. Athletes and parents need to be aware of these injuries, and a tough protocol should be placed on the amount of concussions an athelete can have before they become ineligible to participate in sports.
Most of the concussions are coming from football. Team doctors are responsible for concussion problems because
Many athletes are injured every year. These injuries sometimes are career ending and ruin dreams of great players. In football alone there are nearly 15 concussions a season. This could cause major problems in the future for these athletes. After, the first concussion you could die if you get hit again.
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.
America is obsessed with sports and competition, and one sport that signifies America is football. Today many professional football players across the country suffer from a common injury which is a concussion. This injury can threaten an athletics career and most of all permanently injure the brain. Former retired NFL players now deal with short term memory loss, and depression because of this brain injury. The increased amount of concussions in athletics today calls for more education on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of traumatic brain injury.
If he never played, this would've never happened. This shows how dangerous how youth football is. In the article, kids don't give up in playing football and get concussions. For example, in Pop Warner Suspended Coaches After Concussions, All things considered says, “Every kid who was out there wanted to play and not give up.” This shows how the coaches put the mentality into the minds of kids.
This is incorrect because when concussions are properly managed there are usually no long-term effects and concussion protocol has improved and become much better than in the past. “To families whose anxiety has been stoked by reports of former N.F.L. players with degenerative brain disease, the new facilities are seen as the most expert care available.” (Pennington). The NFL is spending millions of dollars to research concussions and improve the protocol. This proves that NFL is trying to improve the concussion protocol and that the science is more exact and trustworthy than before.
These rules effectively decrease the amount of head injuries because players on either team don’t want to loose a player on the ice while they serve a penalty. If a player’s makes an illegal contact to the head, they know it can hurt the victim, and also the offender’s team while in the “sin bin.” In conclusion the new treatments and precautions being taken by concussion clinics (such as UPMC) for these sports, are in
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.
It seems that every week players are getting injured and carted off the field and statistics show that concussions had risen 32 percent between the 2014-2015 seasons, that is 271 concussions in the 2015 season compared to 206 in 2014. There was also an increase of ACL and MCL injuries between the 2014-2015 seasons, although the change was not as drastic. These statistics from ESPN show that there might be a better way to play the game but the leagues and programs insist that the players know the risks of what they are doing. As hundreds of thousands of sports concussions continue to happen every year, the issue has gathered people who say that the leagues/programs should do more and others who say that concussions and getting injured are just