Football Players Face The Greatest Risk Of Concussions

Statistics have shown that over 300,000, student athletes have sustained concussions per year. Concussions are the leading factor to student athletes getting CTE. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that involves a buildup of the abdominal protein (Tao). Studies have shown that 21% of high school players will contain CTE in their life (Haelle). Not only are concussions tackling athletes, but football is also causing serious bone injuries. Student athletes suffer an estimated 2 million injuries every year, which results in 500,000, doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations. Injuries go from broken figures all the way up to a broken neck or back. Studies have shown and will continue to show that football puts the greatest risk of injury on student athletes.

The National Football League, more commonly known as the NFL, has had growing cases of retired players that suffer from mental trauma or mental diseases from concussions. A concussion is a short loss of brain function following a direct or indirect force to the head. Concussions are extremely difficult to diagnose because the damage is seemingly invisible to the naked eye. Although the damages may not be present, the effects are long lasting. Concussions are plaguing retired NFL players and affecting the former athletes long term mental health.

A concussion is an injury suffered in the brain of an individual that can affect and alter a person’s ability to perform not only mentally, but physically as well. The New York Daily News reported on one of the finest cases of how serious the NFL is taking the issue on concussions, the current lawsuit that reached a “$765 million settlement reached between the two sides, 18,000 concussion suffer and the NFL” which states causes for important untold information the NFL refused to report to players about the prospective dangers concussions had for their long-term health, though this was later shot down by a federal judge claiming that it was insufficient sum. An NFL player may succumb from thousands of hits to the head playing football all

Concussions are and will continue to be an ongoing issue in almost all sports today. This is especially true in the case of football and the NFL. Concussions are considered the most common and least devastating form of traumatic brain injury someone can receive. Although concussions are considered the least serious type of brain injury they can still lead to and cause many irreversible brain diseases and in some cases people have even lost their lives because of concussions. One of these diseases is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or better known as CTE. There have been many recent medical developments that have allowed us to learn more about the brain and things that affect it. This increased knowledge has caused unrest

The NFL as you probably already know, stands for the National Football League. It is the elite league for the best players and best athletes in the world. These players are in tip top shape and are extremely strong. Now the big question is this. What is one of, if not the biggest problem in the NFL? Concussions. Nate Jackson, a former NFL player and writer says this, “Why is it that men who were the strongest and fittest people alive when they were young degenerate so quickly? That’s the million-dollar question.” With all of the protective equipment and top-of-the-line helmets, you would think that the players are safe from these types of injuries. But, there is a remaining problem of concussions that is still very

Have you ever thought about the safety of your friends or family that play such a rough sport such as football, and are scared that they can have an injury that can permanently hurt them forever such as a concussion that can ultimately lead to a brain disease. Well that is the reason why not as many parents aren't letting their kids play football. At little league and such a small age they aren't happening as often but are still an issue but at a bigger stage such as the NFL they are a huge issue and occur more than they should. Ever since the NFL and Riddell have been making stronger and supposedly safer helmets concussions have been happening more than ever. Also researchers from (“Frontline”) say about

An estimated 1.6 - 3.8 million concussions are sustained each year in the United States, due to recreational sports injuries. (What is a Concussion?, 2016) Ten percent of athletes in contact sports sustain a concussion in a year. Brain injuries cause more deaths than any other sports injury. In football, brain injuries account for sixty-five percent to ninety-five percent of all fatalities. Football injuries associated with the brain occur at the rate of one in every five and-a-half games. In any given season, ten percent of all college players and twenty percent of all high school players sustain brain injuries. (What is a Concussion?, 2016) Eighty-seven percent of professional boxers have sustained a brain injury, five percent of soccer

If you have the brains when you start, you are aware that banging your head into people is not the best thing for your body,” stated Chris Cooley, tight end and a 2 time Pro Bowler with the Washington Redskins (Do No Harm, 2). Research over the years has gathered extensive data on the mental and physical illnesses of retired NFL football players. It has proved that players who accumulate numerous concussions are at a higher risk of health problems after their football career than players who’ve sustained fewer. This data is proven by various studies that have caused worry for many retired NFL football families. The examples of deaths resulting from past concussions are astonishing, and the stats that show high risks for the possible

First, I am going to talk about the science behind concussions, CTE, and why it is such an issue for a football player. Concussions are very damaging to the brain and experiencing a lot of them can lead to CTE. I will also discuss people that influenced the understanding of concussions and CTE. In 2002, a neurologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu tried to tell the NFL about the brain damage he found while doing a former NFL player’s autopsy, but the NFL did not really listen. In 2009, another researcher by the name of Dr. Ann Mckee tried to get the NFL’s attention about her concerns about football players and concussions as well. The NFL once again ignored these assumptions. However, the NFL did listen to Dr. Elliot Pellman, who told the league as early as 1994, that concussions were not a big problem and just part of the game. I will discuss how NFL players were treated when they got their “bell rung” during a big game; and what kind of medical treatment they

An athlete who returns to the game, prematurely, after a head injury and sustains a second impact, Second Impact Syndrome (SIS), to the head has a one in two chances of sudden death. There is a 90% chance of a soccer player sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that will have debilitating results. Reportedly there are 1.3 million to 3.6 million concussions a year. A football player in high school will sustain as much as 1,800 impacts each season. (When Is One Hit Too Many?"). However, this is not the hidden epidemic that is going on and affecting millions, in which many of its victims are “suffering in silence and obscurity” (Omalu). Recurrent concussions have been proven to cause a disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

The number of concussions in professional and amateur football has been rising and has sparked much controversy in recent years. These concussions are most likely linked with disease and even the deaths of some pro and semi-pro football players. New research is attempting to solve the problem but the issue is still prevalent in football today.

For decades, football has been one of the most admired sports in America but also considered one of the most harmful. The injuries in football can vary from shin splints, fractured wrists and to torn ACLs but the injury that causes the most damage are concussions. It is not unheard of for football players to have concussions but it is surprising how unaware they are about the long-term effects. The coaches are not any better because they are telling the players to shake off the injury and then encouraging them to get back in the game. For too long football programs have been downplaying concussions, while they have denied it for too long, the new interest and attention in concussions has the potential to improve athletes’ safety.

Concussions have plagued NFL ever since football was invented. There have been 29 concussions in 2015 and the number may continue to grow. Munro Cullum, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and his colleagues reported that having a concussion can have long lasting effects. 28 former football players were studied and 8 of those were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment; they had some deficits in memory. While having the best equipments can increase the amount of damage sustained, there will always be a chance of concussion because brain floats in the cerebrospinal fluid in our skull and when there’s an impact, the brain hits the skull causing cell damage. Best way to tackle this is to

Football can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”(Science Daily, 2014). The study also found that standard football helmets worn by the majority of players on the field today, only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by 20 percent compared to not wearing a helmet at all (Science Daily, 2014).

It is due to the estimated 1.6 and 3.8 million sports-related concussions in the United States every year and also the statement by The Centers for Disease Control to conclude that sports concussions in the United States have reached an epidemic level, that there has been more research regarding the severity of concussions and their aftermath in sports, specifically in football (Vanlandingham, 2017). A concussion is defined as a mild form of a traumatic brain injury that can also include a state of temporary unconsciousness. Common causes of concussions are head to head contact with another player, whiplash, or head contact with another wall of players. In football, the most common cause of a concussion is how the athlete makes contact with another athlete or their contact with the ground. The severity, the effects on the body, and the aftermath of concussions, specifically caused by participating in the sport of football, has been learned and further developed due to the latest research.