Even though football players are aware of the dangers the game can bring upon them, they take part despite it. The passion, the joy it creates; for professionals it’s also the devoted fans and compensation they receive is what keeps the players motivated. Today players are much bigger, faster, smarter, bigger, better. The game is more physical. The sport has never been so competitive. The popularity has reached new peaks, as much that the NFL has thoughts of moving a team to London, England. Additionally, Super Bowl XLVII (47) was one of the most watched television events of all time; an astonishing 108.4 million viewers (The Associated Press). Fans worship their teams and love to see big hits. Football is a contact sport; injuries are no doubtingly part of it. Concussions are one of the many detriments caused by the ruthlessness, but one of the few with perpetual effects: consequence of the brutality. What is a concussion? A concussion is a hard blow or collision; bodily injury (as to the brain) resulting from a sudden jar (Webster pg. 103). This is an injury that mot only occurs in football, but in other sports as well. The only difference is that in football players are constantly hitting, blocking, and tackling one another with enormous amounts of force. Therefore it is more likely to occur than in other sports like golf, tennis, or soccer to name a few. Right after the collision that caused the concussion players reminisce coming out feeling either dizzy, having fuzzy vision, balance problems, having painful headaches, not having the ability to concentrate nor remember new information. Pittsburg Penguin Sidney Crosby came back to playing hockey eleven months after from suffering his concussion. Denver Bronco, Wes Welker cam... ... middle of paper ... ...layoffs/2012/story/_/id/8913211/ - More Living Football Players Show Signs Of CTE By Travis Waldron http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2013/11/07/2906241/living-football-players-signs-cte/ - Timeline: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis By Lauren Ezell http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/league-of-denial/timeline-the-nfls-concussion-crisis/ - Mike Webster autopsy 'one of the most significant moments in the history of sports' By Tyler Drenon http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2013/10/8/4814434/concussion-suit-mike-webster-thing - Concussion Watch/Frontline http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/concussion-watch/ - Dorsett, others shows signs of CTE/Outside the Lines By William Weinbaum and Steve Delsohn http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9931754/former-nfl-stars-tony-dorsett-leonard-marshall-joe-delameilleure-show-indicators-cte-resulting-football-concussions
29 Oct 2013. League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis? Dir. Michael Kirk. Prod.
Thiel, Art. “NFL’s Plight on Brain Injuries Not Over.” Al Jazeera America. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
A concussion is defined as temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head or a violent shock from a heavy blow. The force transmitted to the head causes the brain to hit the skull, which causes the brain to swell. The symptoms of a concussion can appear immediately after contact or they may subtle and may not appear right away. The symptoms of a concussion can vary in length. There are many different symptoms to a concussion: "Common symptoms after a concussive traumatic brain injury are headache, loss of memory (amnesia) and confusion" (Mayo). Other symptoms that may be involved with a concussion include loss of consciousness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, and fatigue. There are also symptoms that may not occur immediately, but may be delayed hours or days after. These symptoms include difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to light, and sleep disturbances. An athlete should ...
Kremer, Andrea. "Health of the Game: Brain Injuries beyond Concussions 0." NFL.com. N.p., 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. (Online Video)
To understand the issue of concussions in the NFL we must first understand exactly what a concussion is. A concussion is a minor traumatic brain injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. Severe concussions can cause loss of consciousness and/or forgetfulness. However, you do not need to lose consciousness to have a concussion. Minor concussions usually cause headache, nausea, dizziness, and tiredness. An NFL study showed that most concussions occur when one player delivered a hit to the side of the head of another, and when the player was either standing still or moving slowly. These hits that cause concussions pack an average force of 980-pounds. Concussions affect professional athletes as well as amateur or youth football players. Studies have shown that high school football players are nearly twice as likely to get concussions as college football players and high school athletes in other sports. Also, they show that 47% of high school football players say they suffer a concussion each season. As a result about 250,000 people under the age of 19 went to the emergency room with concussions in 2009, compared with 150,000 in 2001.
Not many sports are as physically demanding on the human body as football. The physical toll that football players pay is almost impossible to comprehend unless one has actually played the sport for a significant amount of time. However, until recently any connection between the hits taken by football players and their health down the road was largely ignored. A common, yet difficult injury to detect in football is a concussion, the most common traumatic brain injury (Pearce). A concussion is defined as “a brain injury that is caused by a sudden blow to the head or the body. The blow shakes the brain inside the skull, which temporarily prevents the brain from working normally” (Heiner pa.5). Reports and studies have surfaced shedding light on just how much damage is inflicted upon the brain due to crippling hits. These studies suggest that NFL athletes who received concussions suffered lasting damage to the brain, which opens the gate to a multitude of other health issues such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and clinical depression (Pearce). This is an aspect of the game that not many are aware of and it is a serous issue that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later. There have been too many heartbreaking stories such as that of Justin Strzelcyk who heard voices and died in a crash while fleeing police or that of Andre Waters who shot himself in the head after struggles with depression (Zarda pa.1). Many current and former players are suffering in silence; this shouldn’t be the case. The National Football League needs to extend a hand to former players debilitated by head injuries. The problem of concussions and other head injuries in the NFL is one that needs to be tackled head on.
A concussion is a temporary loss of normal brain function, and can be described in three different ways: mild, moderate, or severe (Schafer). The worse one’s concussion is, the more dangerous the effects of it are. People usually get a concussion when they are playing high intensity sports. There are other things that could cause a concussion. One might have been in a motor vehicle accident, or they could have done something as simple as falling and hitting their head. Every time a person receives a blow to the head they damage their brain. It is hard to tell how much damage one has done to their brain, because doctors cannot see it from the outside of their brain (Haas).
...Down and Inches: Concussions and Footballs Make or Break Moment. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, 2013. Print.
The film “Concussion” directed by Peter Landesman starring Will Smith is based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu’s medical research into concussions, then discovering Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and his struggles with the NFL’s (National Football League) uncooperativeness upon learning of CTE
The Effects of Concussions on the NFL For many years the NFL has been considered one of the most painful and dangerous sport played in the United States. But is it too Dangerous? The uprising number of concussions is shocking. NFL analysts survives suggest a 14 percent increase of concussions for the year 2013. Player safety rules have also been implemented into the official rule book. The three main effects that concussions have on the NFL today are big hits, big plays, and the defensive game played today.
The world of sports is filled with great memories, grand moments and at times complete mayhem. There are moments like hitting a Home Run in game 7 of the World Series or memories of scoring an overtime goal during the Stanley Cup finals. However, there are also incredibly low moments when mayhem occurs such as an action or incident that results in a concussion. An injury such as a concussion can ruin your sports career or potentially your ability to function normally in the future. Concussions are caused by blunt force trauma to the head, a fall or an injury that shakes the brain inside the skull. Recovering from a concussion can take weeks, months or even years to heal. For some, it can impair your mental or mobility functions for life.
Football is one sport that has scientists working around the clock on finding the perfect solution to help decrease concussions. Scientist, Vincent Farrara, created the Xenith X1 Helmet in 2004. Ferrara used to be a quarterback for Harv...
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is an increasing, irreversible deterioration or loss of function in the brain due to concussion or repeated hits to the head. Football, being a high contact sport, is a sport whose players are more prone to acquire CTE. The National Football Association has recently adjusted some factors of the sport that can significantly lower the risk of head injuries. These adjustments include outlawed plays and defense mechanisms, sideline protocols dealing with head related injuries, and investing in high technology helmets. The discovery of this illness has awaken the NFL to take a stand and protect the players in every possible way.
One of the earliest players to bring awareness to brain traumas was Mike Webster, a former Pittsburgh Steeler. In April of 1999, he claimed to be disabled with the NFL Retirement Board. He also had dementia which was a result of the brutal hits he endured during his football career. Webster ran into many problems at the e...
Boom. You feel your ears ringing and your eyes go dark. You have just been concussed, though in a few second you feel you can get right back into it. You stand up and get ready to step back into the belly of the beast. At this point your coach should pull you from playing. What they do when they pull you out is what can make or break a career or life. This is what happened to me last summer during my MMA training. I got caught with a right hook from one of the best in the gym. I went down for a few seconds but stood up and tried to continue the fight. My coach made the best decision that night and made me sit out for the rest of practice and I was lucky he did. By the time I returned home I had the worst head pains I have ever had and I still get weird headaches to this day. Imagine if my coach had put me back in that night, I could have received long term(other than headaches) injuries. Coaches and staff should keep kids out of play even if the injury isn't 'serious' enough. It is not a matter of whether not I can tough it out or get over it, teen athletes need time to heal to fully recover from big hits.