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
A concussion is, “a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth” (“What is a Concussion?”). Concussions can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and sleepiness. Although these symptoms seem terrible, these are only short term symptoms of a mild concussion. More severe concussions can cause life-long problems with memory, learning, coordination, emotion, and even sight (“What is a Concussion?”). One poor play can cause a severe concussion and, furthermore, a permanent end to the life the player knew before the incident. While not all concussions are that critical, every concussion has consequences. Unfortunately, thousands of high school players face these consequences annually. Studies show that, “Some 67,000 high school football players suffer concussions every year, according to official tallies, and many more concussions go unreported” (“Farewell to Football”). Even if an exceptional football player beats those odds, one in every twenty NFL players suffers from at least one concussion in his career (“Farewell to Football”). Players under the age of eighteen are even more likely to experience severe brain damage from the game. According to ESPN, getting hit hard on the field can be the equivalent to being hit over the head
Concussions, a minor traumatic brain injury that may occur when the head hits an object, are a huge problem in football in high schools and lower levels today. Concussions are very common in football, concussions have a huge negative effect on the brain, and parents and schools are worried about their kids safety. Concussion, in football, are a rising problem especially since the NFL is being sued for hundreds of millions because of concussions. High School football is very violent on children and thats why it is losing some participants.
The acronym CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy which is a continuous disease that inflicts the brain of athletes who suffered ongoing concussions and traumatic brain injuries. This disease was known to affect boxers, however, recent reports published that CTE exists in retired football players and other athletes who have a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE triggers degeneration of brain tissue and can begin in months, years, or even decades. The symptoms of this disease is usually memory loss, impaired judgement, depression, confusion and impulse control problems.
Football, one of the most viewed sports in the U.S., but there is one serious thing that is making football players not play. What are the effect on this thing. Football is one of the most sports that has concussions, CTE is one of the effets on it but there is way one that just CTE like research about concussions and a person named Jim hushen that had CTE and how it affect his live.
Concussions are brain injuries that can be caused by either a blow to the head or the head and body shaking. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention had a significant amount of research on how to prevent concussions. They disclose that tackling is responsible for nearly two-thirds of concussions in High School football whereas teaching better tackling techniques to avoid head hits would be one way to reduce the number of concussions (Bain Injury Safety Tips and Prevention). It also states that about half of the plays that an individual receives a concussion is due to a running play which generates the importance on keeping close attention to the running plays (Bain Injury Safety Tips and Prevention). Plays in the middle where a linebacker and a running back meet at full speed can prove to be very dangerous. Cheap hits can also be a reason why some players receive concussions, which is why adding new rules those cheap blows to he head, or blindsides can be called a personal foul to discourage players from them (Bain Injury Safety Tips and Prevention). Obviously not every concussion occurs during games, they can also occur during football practices. Cutting down on full contact practices and also tackling drills can put players at less risk of concussions. Eliminating dangerous drills would eliminate the number of concussions during practice.
The dependent variable I will be looking at is the number of reported concussions each in the 6 year time periods and comparing them to each other. By doing so, I will be able to see if concussions increased or decreased, if the players were out of games and practices for longer periods of time due to precautionary reasons and if the rule changes of the NFL such as moving the kickoffs forward 5 yards to reduce the number of returns, a play where the majority of concussions occurred has made a positive or negative impact on the game. The last thing I will be looking at is to see how these concussions affect the players and whether or not it would be smarter to make the NFL non contact to not only help keep these athletes safe during there playing
The reason why the author wrote this documentary is that he wanted to reveal the truth about football players concussions. The scientist was figuring out why player life spans were not very long. They bought it to the league which they was denying it. Its basically over the league denying the subject and trying to cover up possible ties with the players concussions and their suffering on the football field and all the brain injuries. The league cover up things and are still running over the businesses. It is very important that somebody look into the concussions and the players health. It is important that the players get all the medical attention they need so they can have a long career. It will prevent most of the players concussions and
Sports is a major part of mostly everyone’s life either you watch it or just participate in it. Though it has it benefits, everyone has the reason why they participate or enjoy watching sports. With the benefits comes with some consequence. When a football player puts on a helmet, he knows what he gets himself into. Although they have a helmet on, they are not guarantee not to get a concussion, according to Press Release “there was a new study that found out that football helmets currently used on the field does little to no protection against hits to side if the head” (AAN).
Football is all about the fame and money until BOOM, you’re hit and out for the season with a concussion. The cause of a concussion is getting hit in the head too hard with or without a helmet. No matter what sport you are playing, if you get inside the head too hard it could affect your brain bad or sometimes not as bad. Concussions can happen all around the world, a lot of people suffer from them few die from them. The effects include Memory Loss, CTE, and Long-Term Brain Damage.
While concussions are an unpreventable injury with current technology, the media is blowing it out of proportion, saying it causes brain deformities later in life for all players. This “evidence” is anecdotal, because the NFL only tested players who had played professional or college football. High school is a much different game in that it is less violent. The hits are decidedly less powerful, because in a sport where “bigger, stronger, faster” is the goal, high school players are “smaller, weaker and slower” than the pros. When a player has experienced or shown signs of head trauma (e.g., loss of consciousness, visual disturbance, headache, inability to walk correctly, obvious disorientation, memory loss), that player should receive immediate medical attention from an appropriate medical provider and should not be allowed to return to practices or games without
Concussions happen all the time in sports weather it be from kid leagues to major leagues, they are just apart of life and that can't be changed it just happens. Now my claim is that I think that Football helmets are not effective in making sure that you are safe in an injury when it comes to concussions. I know this is a unbalanced subject but I want to state some pointers that will help you understand my point.
Concussions have been a returning threat in football. According to the Center for Disease Control Prevention, “ A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury -- or TBI -- caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move back and forth.” That means that a concussion is caused by a hit to the head and has. As stated in the article, “Should you let your kids play football”, paragraph 3 addresses that between the years of 1997 and 2007, the hospital visits of 8 to 13 year olds, because of concussions, doubled.(Amir Khan, Para 4) Professional football player John Urschel has stated in an interview, “ When I had a concussion, I was knocked unconscious, had severe headaches, and had trouble speaking.”
It is known that football is a dangerous sports, but many athletes do not realize the actual severity of injuries that can occur while they are playing the sport that they love. Although many do not realize the negative effects concussions have on the brain. Athletes invest in sports because of their love of competition and challenge. However, the competitive drive to become bigger, faster, and stronger hase turned sports into a warlike competition. From this perspective, the opposing teams are coming at each other battling to win and giving everything they have to win. Recent discoveries have revealed the severity of concussions and the way they affect the lives of athletes in and after the game. Despite this, players still must play the game. They must try not to permanently impact each other's lives through brain injuries. On another note players have to know the consequences of playing the violent sport of football. Every time a player straps up their helmet and walks on the football field, they are putting their body at risk. Coaches should help players practice safe tackling because it helps reduce the risk of injury such as concussions.
There is increased attention on concussions caused by football and other sports. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports related concussions occurring annually, although that may be an understatement as concussions often go unreported (Dompier 660). Many of these concussions are from football, one of the most popular organized participant sports in the United States, with over three million middle and elementary school-age players, 1.1 million high school players and 100,000 college players playing annually (Dompier 660). For decades, football’s leadership claimed that tackle football was safe, but over the last several years as neurologists have found degenerative brain disease in many football players, even the National Football League has acknowledged the link between football and brain trauma (Belson I). This issue even reached the highest echelon of the American legal system. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a $1 billion settlement arising from retired players’ contention that the NFL hid results of the severity of concussions (McCann). As a result of these findings and increasing public concern about the game’s safety, as more information has become available participation in youth football has gradually declined nationwide. For boys ages 6 to 12 it fell by 20% between 2009 and 2015, although it rose 1.2% in 2015 (Belson I). In Westchester County, New York, where Chappaqua is located, schools are facing
Questions like “What day is it?”, or “What time is it?” can be good indicators, as someone with a concussion will likely lose their short term memory ability temporarily. The best way to deal with someone that has a concussion is to be patient with them because they will have a hard time right after getting a concussion remembering anything. Even after discussing ALS, CTE, and concussions and head trauma, why is it that so far, only the NFL has taken a step in the right direction with new helmets for their players?