Concussions And Concussions In Football

One hit. One elbow. One brain. A part of me died on the field that day. September 6th, 2014 the dream I had since I was four years old was over. One elbow to my face changed my life forever in the matter of one second. Being diagnosed with my fourth concussion was a death sentence for my college soccer career. Today, in the United States alone, almost three hundred thousand athletes and over one million people suffer from concussions each year (CDC). This injury is extremely serious and can permanently end a player’s career. Concussions can result in long-term brain damage and may even prove fatal. 
 In recent years, concussions have taken over the spotlight for sport injuries. It wasn’t long ago that doctors ignored these head injuries and let the players go right back onto the field. Joe DeLamielleure an offensive lineman for the Buffalo bill and Cleveland Browns explained when he played football in the 1970’s he received thousands of blows to the head and believes he has had at least 100 concussions (ESPN). Because the brain is very complex every brain injury is different. Some concussions cause people to lose conciseness while …show more content…

Doctors in the 1980s-1990s didn’t have the research to determine the lifelong effects after suffering from concussions. As recently as 1994 the NFL was telling their players that there was no proof that concussions caused long-term damage to the brain. Sadly, for these studies to be observed former players had to pay the price. Junior Seau, a 12-time NFL Pro-Bowl linebacker for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease when we committed suicide. CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is found in individuals with a history of concussions that cause memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression. A study done by PBS reported that 96.2 of retired football players had this condition before dying