In sports, the best athletes are the individuals that give each team a chance to win every game. The bad news for the best athletes is that sometimes their health gets put second to their abilities. Roughly 1.8 to 3.6 million sports related concussions happen each year (Concussion Statistics). Stronger and faster athletes as well as more impact of the hits or falls have doubled the number of concussions in a decade (Concussion Statistics). Concussions can happen to every athlete, but when it happens to the star athletes, it is different. Schools have to follow direct concussion safety laws, but professional sports have more leniencies (Get). Wins are more important in the professional leagues compared to the high school and amateur levels. Wins lead to the coveted playoffs. The playoffs can lead to an even more coveted championship. During the playoffs, the games are shown on national television, seen by millions of fans. In the games, players can shine in the national spotlight. If an athlete performs well that individual can be paid more money in the future. If the coaches win their respective divisions, conferences, make the playoffs, make the championship game, or win the championship, it all leads to a higher pay for the coach. It also leads to more money for the team and city as well. Winning means so much in the professional leagues. But is it really win at all costs? As much as I personally love sports with a passion, I would prefer each player get fully recovered and then come back, rather than rush back still not at one hundred percent. I want my favorite players to play for a long time not for short stints between each injury. The player’s health is way more important to me then the championship. Rushing players back in... ... middle of paper ... ... Bradley, and Stuart Glassman. “Concussions and Student Athletes: Medical-Legal Issues in Concussions Care & Physician and School System Risks.” New Hampshire Bar Journal. Autumn 2011: 26-35. Web. “Justified or not, Seau's death puts football under question again.” Sports Illustrated. Time Inc., 2013. Web. 16 September 2013. King, Peter. “Concussions.” Sports Illustrated 01 Nov. 2010: n.p. Web. McCloskey, John, and Julian Bailes. When Winning Costs Too Much. New York: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2005. Print “NFL players' medical records about to go online.” USA Today. Gannett, 2013. Web. 16 September 2013. Portis, Clinton. Interview with Chris Cuomo. CNN Live. CNN. Web. 9 September 2013. “Second Impact Syndrome.” sportsmd. SportsMD Media Inc., 2013. Web. 16 September 2013.
Football is a very violent sport. There is a lot of concern over the risks posed by hits that injure the head and potentially the brain. The players say they have suffered one or more brain injuries. They want the NFL and helmet maker, Riddell, to set up and pay for medical monitoring and treatment programs for all former, current and future NFL players. Liberals are big supporters of the respect for human dignity. In that case, the NFL tentatively agreed to pay $765 million to past players with health problems that can be caused by concussions. Although research and progress within the scientific and medical communities is understandably slow, the same could be said about the NFL's response to concussions and the dangers they pose to new research reveals new findings. However, some liberals believe that it has taken to long for the NFL to respond to the perceived crisis and its attempt to regulate the concussion treatments which could eventually lead to players ...
Kohn, Linda. "CONCUSSION IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ." Testimony Before the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. GAO. Capital Building, Washington D.C.. 20 May 2010. Speech.
Kravitz, Bob. "Nothing Wrong with Keeping NFL Players Safe." Indianapolis Star: C.1. Oct 24 2010. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Oct. 2013 .
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.
Through sports or through everyday life, concussions tend to happen. An estimated 300 000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries, predominantly concussions, occur annually in the United States. Sports are second only to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people aged 15 to 24 years. (U.S National Library of Medicine). Coaches and parents often do not go through the right procedures or protocols when dealing with a teenager who has received a blow to the head. The usual questions that are asked when there is a head injury are, “what day is it, what’s the score, and how many fingers am I holding up?” Now these are not poor questions, but these questions alone cannot determine if a person has suffered a concussion. The correct method, which they are now implementing in most professional sports leagues, is for anyone with a head injury to take a legitimate concussion test performed by the team doctor. (WebbMD) At present the symptoms can be hit or miss. After receiving a concussion, research shows that an “estimated 80 to 90% of concussions heal spontaneously in the first 7 to 10 days”. (Barton Straus) But, it is important to remember not to return until all symptoms are
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.
How can a concussion be prevented? What is the minimum time an athlete needs to be out of the game after a concussion? What are the chances of an athlete suffering post-traumatic stress disorders after a blow to the head? In all sports athletes are prone to injuries, they can happen at any time and at any given moment. Nevertheless, people that have suffered from a head injury or concussion will also have problems dealing with their learning processes in the long run.
...Down and Inches: Concussions and Footballs Make or Break Moment. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, 2013. Print.
Recreational athletes, competitive athletes, high school athletes, college athletes, and professional athletes all have one thing in common: the risk of a concussion. It's impossible to go a season without one athlete from a team receiving a concussion. The more that these concussions are studied, the more we learn about them, such as their detrimental effects on athletes. Because of the risk of health issues and death that come with concussions, doctors, coaches, athletic trainers, and lawmakers are stepping in to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.
According to the first article, Heads Up: Concussions in High School Sports, "Failure to properly manage concussions may lead to long-term cumulative consequences." Some long lasting effects of a concussion include behavior changes, mood disturbances, and cognitive difficulties. (Concussions: Potential Causes and Long-Term Impacts) New research suggests that people can experience effects for 30 years or longer. Many student athletes are striving to get scholarships for sports, they may want to get back onto the field before it is safe for them to play. They may think that not getting a scholarship to their dream school is disappointing, but for the health and well-being of the student athlete, it is better for them to be cleared by a medical
Concussions, a concern to many athletes in high school, college, and pro sports. By definition a concussion is a severe injury to the brain that alters the way it functions and many people die from having one. In a study a total of 167 high school athletes got a concussion playing football, soccer, lacrosse, or cheerleading. The number of concussions has been reduced over the years, but are still a major issue. In pro football people tend to blame the NFL for the concussions, but the players are the real people to blame for this issue. Sure the NFL has ignored some of the advice giving to them for the concussions, but they have used a lot of cash to find a solution for the concussions. The NFL is innocent for the concussions because players ignore the concussion when they get one, risks have always been in sports, and the NFL is currently trying to reduce concussions.
Smith, Rodney(2013).. Thomas Jefferson Law Review, Vol.35(2), 127-191 Solving the Concussion Problem and Saving Professional Football
Per utilitarian ethics, no matter the link between football and CTE, the research the NFL’s actions would be considered ethical. Lack of certainty in the research makes deontological ethics more difficult to implement. Since the research did not directly related football to the brain injuries, there is not the same obligation to disclose research that is not definite. Parallel to if the information was conclusive the NFL fell into the ethical traps of money and conflict of interest. The NFL still had to wrestle with ethical traps even if the it was considered ethical to not disclose the research. Since the research could not exclusively blame football concussion to permanent brain injuries, the ethical decision was not as black and white as
Millions of young athletes dream of being a star player in the National Football League. Professional football players are seen as freaks on the field, but what people do not understand is that many of them suffer emotionally and mentally just like regular people. We as humans love adrenaline rush and action and sometimes we let that get ahead of ourselves by depending on these players to provide that rush. Fans should stop putting so much pressure on professional football players to reach our unattainable expectations and realize that they too are only humans. NFL players face struggles such as the abuse of drugs and alcohol, the stress of physical expectations, and social media scrutiny.
In modern culture the established altruistic values surrounding sports have contributed to the widely held belief that professional athletes are somehow superhuman, specifically when it comes to dealing with injuries. For instance, by playing hurt for the good of their team, past athletes, like Emmitt Smith, who despite of a separated shoulder continued to play against the New York Giants in 1993, have inadvertently set a precedent condoning the act of risking long term health in order to “live in the moment” (Rhoden 4). Ultimately, this is where the controversy surrounding the handling of athlete injuries arises. Fans, who have witnessed such incredible feats of heroism and toughness, have begun to generalize all athletes as superhuman entities, capable of withstanding unfathomable levels of pain. These values, combined with the fact that fans pay hundreds of millions of dollars each year to see their favorite athletes in action, have created a “code that mandates that athletes play with pain, that they suck it up” (Rhoden 4) Consequently, professional athletes now find themselves having to decide whether they should