Tre Mason is a 24 year old former Los Angeles Rams running back who claims that football alone has ruined his life. Mason was a standout athlete throughout high school and college, so he decided that he was going to forfeit his college eligibility and enter the NFL draft. Mason was the 75th pick in the third round and served as the third pick for the Rams. Although after a very successful first season, Mason quickly vanished from his coaches and teammates. After several attempts to get ahold of Mason, even coach Jeff Fisher became worried about Mason’s wellbeing. Mason closest family made remarks about seeing a change in Mason personality as the season progressed. Later, Mason was caught speeding and was pulled over by police. Mason refused
Earl Lloyd was probably the most courageous player of all time. Some people know him as “The Big Cat” others know him as the first African-American to play in an NBA basketball game with the whites; he changed the way people think and look at basketball and black players and coaches. Earl Lloyd loved basketball from a very young age. Earl had two brothers older than him which was Earnest and Theodore. Earl was very dedicated from a very young age. With his high school team he took them to a state championship and won. After high school Earl went off and took his talents to West Virginia State College. While Earl was there his sophomore year they went 33-0 which is a perfect season. Earl’s team won back to back CIAA conference championships and tournament championships.
A big part of NFL’s hold on players is their contract and money. Thousands of young men aspire to be on a professional team, just for the fame, money and title. They are not made aware of the lasting conditions that come with playing football and their everlasting effects. If anything NFL has gone out of their way to discredit the newer research that links playing football with CTE. CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a disease that has the same effects as dementia and Alzheimer’s, except for CTE leaves tau protein deposition in distinctive areas of the brain, which is what separates C...
The average NFL player takes up to 1,000 blows to the head throughout their football career. Some of those blows can have the force of a sledgehammer (“RealNatural”). Based on a research study by Dr. Jesse David, there were 265 concussions reported in the 2012 season, during the 2011 season there were 266 concussions, and 270 concussions in 2010 season (Kacsmar). It has been known that repeated blows to the head can cause long-term brain damage since at least the 1950’s, long before most of the NFL players had begun their careers (“RealNatural”). Past infractions of the NFL have already resulted in over 4,500 forme...
I very much enjoyed The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller. It captured me right away in the beginning scene of Colton racing away from the Kmart Kids on his bicycle. I loved how Colton could take a sad event and turn it into a lighter topic. For example, in the first chapter, Colton was being bullied and harassed. Even though he was crying, he made it lighter by chanting his mantra “‘Mind over matter. I don’t mind so it don’t matter.’” (Fuller 7) There are other examples of Colton behaving in this matter. This is an aspect that I enjoyed in reading this book. How she developed her characters and so on made me fascinated.
“We are more visible, but not more valuable”. This famous quote was said by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most famous black basketball players, symbolized what many black athletes were pursuing when they first got into sports. In today’s world not only are black athletes a part of our sports venue, they are dominating the landscape of some sports such as the NBA which consists of a whopping 80% black athletes. Black athletes continue to revitalize sports in America as some athletes became the face of their sports such as Muhammad Ali in boxing, Jackie Robinson in baseball and Michael Jordan in basketball. Sports came as a form of entertainment for many Americans, but for black athletes it came as a pathway to express who they were and what they believed in. The more they became involved in sports, the more media they were able to attract which enabled them to talk about topics other than sports such as racism, their religions and equality through the civil rights movement. These views and statements made in their interviews and press conferences were the ones that became publicized and more popular amongst the typical white men in America and it played a huge role in changing the way blacks were viewed in American society.
Al Toon, father of Saints receiver Nick Toon, was forced to leave professional football after sustaining nine concussions in eight years of professional football. Football is one of the most dangerous games. As the years go on, more and more rules are being written to prevent the danger, but danger is the nature of the game. Most of these rules are for the protection of the players, but there are times when injuries can be a good thing. The Philadelphia Eagles were 3-5 to start the year, but Michael Vick was injured and the backup quarterback led the team to be 10-6, win the division, and almost beat the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. "About 1.7 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year, about three-quarters of them mild TBIs, or concussions" (Clemmitt). Traumatic Brain Injuries are used as the main form of evidence in Richard Cohen's claim that the end of the NFL is near, and quite frankly, his argument is pretty solid.
At Florida, Aaron slowly began to misbehave, beginning with a bar fight in 2007, his Freshman year at Florida, where he hit a bar manager in the ear because of a dispute over an unpaid bar tab. The manager's eardrum was ruptured due to the hit, but Florida personnel managed to convince the man not to press charges. Then there was Aaron's failed drug test. (Though it is disputed that he failed many more than one.) During the combine, NFL teams were very nervous about Aaron to say the least, and some took him off of their draft boards entirely. But the incident that most scared NFL teams, Gators coaches, and Aaron's friends and family, was his possible involvement in a deadly drive by shooting outside a Florida nightclub during his Freshman year with the Gators in 2007. Aaron, Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, Chris Harris, and Reggie Nelson were all partying at a nightclub called the Venue. The Gators had lost to the Auburn Tigers 20-17 that day, and Aaron had gone there with some friends to unwind. Three other friends were also in the club, unaware of what their night would hold. There names were Corey Smith (Nicknamed Squirt), Randall Cason, and Justin Glass. Squirt had a good job, was raising two kids, and he drove a white Crown Vic. He had actually been trying to keep Glass from being exposed to negative influences in his life, although Cason was a
As explained early on in this article, football can cause several physical and mental injuries either instantly or in the near future. This is due to the constantly tackling, hitting, and screaming from all the players and coaches. Because of these intense actions, football can increase the chance of dementia-like symptoms in players. This was examined by Ann Mckee, a neuropathologist, who ran several tests in the Veterans Hospital
At the snap of the ball a whole players world could come crashing down. The game of football holds a whooping 47% of all concussions reported in the world, while ice hockey and soccer trail behind. Football is America’s sport and its athletes become the world’s pride and joy, but what happens when an athlete is injured and is struggling to mentally get better. This topic hits close to home for me because it was the one sport my family praised and adored. My older brother who is now twenty five, played highschool football for the Laconia Sachems. Just the name Sachems is enough to make me get the chills. In 2007 the Laconia Sachems the only undefeated team to go on to win the New Hampshire state championship saw success, but my brother went
Ever since his debut start as the talented quarterback for the Pittsburg Steelers in 2004, Ben Roethlisberger, known to the terrible towel waving fans as “Big Ben,” has continued to inflict pain on his adversaries on and off the field. Known for his less than gentlemanly behavior, Roethlisberger has consistently maintained an unpolished image, reminiscent of the many players on the Oakland Raiders’ teams throughout the 1980’s, who looked to intimidate and scare individuals through their actions. Throughout his eight year career, Roethlisberger has amassed two Super Bowl titles, but he has also been accused of two incidents of sexual assault as well as many noted allegations of unsavory comments, usually directed towards women in an unflattering manner. As a professional football player, Roethlisberger has sustained a number of blows to the head, but in 2006, he was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing any protective headgear. Due to such head trauma, it has been speculated that his crass, and sometimes violent behavior, could be attributed to the consistent damage to his brain. I believe that doctors and fans are correct in their belief that Roethlisberger has been greatly affected by his consistent head trauma, and I believe that science and observation upholds this belief.
College athletes have a goal that they pursue. The jump to the professional sports leagues is an accomplishment that most college athletes wanted to achieve. But most college athletes go to college and forego completing their senior year and don’t get a degree. In basketball most athletes are one and done. This means they go to college for only one year then enter the NBA draft. For the NFL players have to be out of high school for three years and necessarily don’t have to go to college.
Sanders was a great sports player. In this paper I hope to tell you about Deion Sanders sports
During his time at the University of Florida, Tim Tebow was known as one of the greatest college football players ever. He won two National Championships and a Heisman trophy, which is the award given to the best player in college football. During this time period in college footbal,l players such as Reggie Bush and others were involved with investigations regarding illegal benefits being given to players by agents and boosters. Needless to say, Tim was never associated or involved in these investigations or crimes.
The brute force of the game is what draws millions of people around to the world to come and watch. However, what millions of Americans don't see if the consequences of what makes the game how great it is today, the hits. With players getting bigger faster and stronger it only leaves players in more danger of getting injured. Concussions are one of the most common injuries among NFL players mainly because of the constant contact, and how the design of the helmet is to protect against major head injuries, not concussions. CTE is common in many NFL players, and most former NFL players. A study by the national institute for Occupational safety and health found that, “the brain tissue of 59 of 62 deceased former NFL players tested positive for CTE” also when studying, “the causes of death of 3,439 former NFL players concluded they were three times as likely as the general population to die from degenerative brain diseases,such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's”(Karaim). However there has been remarkable facts on how CTE has been found in NFL players more commonly than any other sport the NFL refuses to acknowledge that there is any correlation between player who played professional football and CTE. Because of this direct correlation of football and CTE many players are unable to work of fully function after their career as a professional
Many memories are made in football, but sadly some of the greatest players cannot recall them. The National Football League has been associated with concussions and brain traumas throughout the years, but lately it has been exposed by media and NFL veterans. The league recently “reached a $765 million preliminary settlement with thousands of former players who were suing the league over its treatment of concussions…” (Waldron). Many former players are experiencing the effects of taking hard hits over and over again; they were not properly treated, which makes the injury worse and long term. The concussion issue in the NFL is more prevalent today, because it affects not only the players, but the league as a whole.