Head Trauma In Football

The majority of people I know have gotten concussions from one thing: sports. So many classmates of mine who were atheletes playing contact sports had gotten concussions, or a more minor head trauma. It was common for kids to be absent for a few weeks, or to not take tests or participate in class. Not only is head trauma ordinary in the hormonal aggression of teenage sports, it is extending to the world of professionals. “With football returning, it is a good time to revisit developments in how the NFL is handling its Achilles heel – the matter of concussions and repetitive head trauma … They still balk at the simple and direct message: Football produces brain injuries. Money always comes first with the NFL. Troubling images must be banished.”

The NFL agreed to give relief to some players who had forms of head trauma, which led to things like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia. However, sufferers of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) will receive nothing. “CTE has been described as ‘the industrial disease of football.’ ”, says attourney Paul Anderson. (Baird) CTE destroys brain tissue, which leads to changes in behavior and cognition. “Symptoms of CTE can include irritability, depression, memory loss, mood swings and emotional lability. CTE is also connected to violence, explosivity, social isolation, drug overdoses, suicides and loss of behavioral control.” (Baird) It can only be diasgnosed after death. However, “Only players who have died and were diagnosed with CTE at anytime between Jan. 1, 2006, and the date of final approval of the settlement, April 22, can be compensated. The settlement agreement forecloses any future awards for CTE. So if a retired player dies and is then found to have had CTE, his estate will receive zero compensation unless it can prove he was cognitively impaired. Many classic symptoms of CTE, mood and behavior difficulties, are not compensable under the agreement.”