It’s rare to see the NFL under fire, but when it come to concussions, that’s a different story. The NFL claims progress is being made. On the first day of the start of the NFL season, linebacker Stewart Bradley of the Philadelphia Eagles tackled a player head first; his legs began to buckle and he collapsed. Minutes later, he was subbed back into the game. The NFL calls that progress? Concussions are a serious problem in football, for future athletes, and we need to solve it now.
Problem with Concussions
The dangers of life in the National Football League made headlines in 2009, when a study by the NFL found that retired players were 20 times more likely than other males to get memory problems. The obvious reason for this: concussions. Concussions
Redesigning the Football Helmet Head to head contact is a very serious matter. Kids, adults, and everyone in between are getting hurt in football due to the hard hits they take either in practice or games. The goal is to make football safer but people are still getting hurt and even killed. There are new helmets coming out every year but still not eliminating the problem.
Only 50 of all of these concussions were self-reported be players (Jones). This emphasizes that there are many concussions in the NFL and it doesn’t seem to be decreasing. Also, it points out that only 50 out of the 281 cases were self-reported and implies that most players would play through the concussion or don’t even know they have one. These concussions can accumulate and cause many neurological diseases to form like Chronic Trauma Encephalopathy, more commonly known as CTE. It is even debatable that even one concussion can give you neurological diseases or disabilities.
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
Since concussions still happen, physical therapists and athletic trainers still must find a way to help athletes deal with the injury. A plan must be developed to cope and manage a head injury. Concussions have had a tendency to cause lasting effects and this led the NFL to change the rules of the game as well as helped to develop plans to help manage the injury. The effects of a concussion when it happens are bad enough right? Well in this case, even players that have already retired are still having problems from their head injury.
In football today, concussions are the number one leading injury in the National Football League. In the past 7 years alittle over 10 national football players have died due to concussions. The list of players getting concussions during the past couple of years have just increased more and more as time goes on. A reason why the NFL concussion protocols are so strict is because the NFL does not want to get sued for mistreatment of players and insufficient care. That could possibly cause permanent damage physically and mentally to players.
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 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 Athlete epidemic What does a necklace have to do with stopping the problems of concussions, most people would say nothing and that the only way to stop the problem is with head wear and and teaching kids to protect themselves better so it doesn’t happen to them. But now after years of dealing with this problem could be a solution that could really changes things and help athletes today and in the future. For those that don’t know what a concussion is a head trauma that is caused by getting hit in the head or violently shaking the head or body. You see a lot of this from boxing and soccer but maybe none bigger than football just because of the big hits and how they don’t focus on form tackling which cause the injury.
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.
Concussions which is a blow to the head causing brain trauma that can last several weeks and other injuries that has just as high risks like a concussion. September 26, 1928, a football league was created for professional football players called the NFL. The start of the league has always been at high probability for its injuries. In order to continue to play the game that countless people fell in love with, the NFL has to take serious safety precautions such as helmets and pads. NFL's necessity rules, such as unnecessary kids being penalized, are being utilized to reduce life alternate injuries and provide a better experience for the players and the fans.
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
Each year high school athletes suffer from concussions more frequently. In the article, “After a Concussion it’s Unclear When -or if- High School Athletes Should Return to Action,” by Sam McDowell, this issue is addressed. The problem faced with this issue is many states are forming new laws and regulations on how soon athletes who have suffered concussions can return to the game.
As concussions occur more and more in the NFL and among teens, more research has been conducted. There has been research on teens that concussions had occurred in teen’s brains, to find out what type of hit teens gotten by football may of suffer from it. There are many concussions in the NFL and especially teens who play football that have suffered death and never to play the sport they love. Teens and athletes who love the sport football, have been suffered by concussions that had ruin their playing for the most of this moments but research has been conducted of ways to help out teens and NFL. To prevent concussions, coaches and parents have the right to support their athletes to mental support from doctors.
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.
"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...").