preview

What Are Concussions In Football Players

Good Essays

Obviously, football is a very physical sport with tackling, blocking and hitting, with that comes many types of injuries. Torn ligaments, broken bones, concussions and even death are all a possibility. The biggest fear I have though are concussions. Concussions are a brain injury when the brain gets bruised from a hit to the head. As a defensive tackle, I hit and get hit every play in the game that adds up after awhile I have had two concussions in my life, both from football. According to Kelly G. Kilcoyne, MD, “concussion rates in college and junior football programs have doubled in recent years.” This comes as no surprise to me because today's football players in college and junior programs are bigger, stronger and faster. With the increase …show more content…

Just imagine being 21-year-old making millions of dollars, many athletes can not handle the amount of money that comes their way. These young athletes spend their money on drugs and alcohol. Look at Johnny Manziel a 23-year-old football player. When the money came his way, he became a notorious partier, drugs, alcohol and parties took over his life. His lifestyle caused the Cleveland Browns to release him. Many athletes’ careers are ruined because of their lifestyle; Drugs, alcohol and parties take over their lives. This bad lifestyle all starts off in college where binge drinking, drug use are the norms for an athlete. Many college sports teams and many fraternities and sororities team up and throw wild parties every weekend. “It is reported that up to 70% of college athletes take part in binge drinking and 47% smoke cannabis.” (Verger,2003). Last season the NFL suspended 26 players for abusing the substance abuse policy, of the twenty-six twenty-five were suspended for smoking marijuana. The average age of the players was 24.6 years old. Most players leave college to play in the NFL when they're 20-22 years old. This means that bad lifestyle habits are in fact carrying over into the NFL from college, It is not only from college I would have to worry about the lifestyle, many ex-NFL players are addicted to painkillers and other drugs to cope with the pain from playing. “Up to 70% of players have taken opium or another pain killer without a prescription to deal with the physical pain from playing.” (Strain, 2011) Many players develop a dependence on opioid once their careers are over to cope with the pain. The combination of numerous hits to the body and post career drug use means that the average lifespan of an NFL player is “55 years,”(Maki, 2012) while the average life expectancy in Canada is 81 years. Every hit adds up. To have a long

Get Access