Concussions In Sports

The National Football League, since establishing it’s name in 1920, has become known for much more than just the sport. In more recent years, the news has reported on scandals involving the NFL and it’s players concerning domestic abuse, cheating scandals and most vividly the issue of concussion related deaths. From the beginning of its time, it has been no secret that football is considered a high-impact sport that comes with cause for injury, such as concussions. What was a secret was the link between concussions and brain disease. Drysdale (2013) noted a concussion occurs when “When the head is in motion and is stopped suddenly, “the skull stops, but the brain, swimming in spinal fluid, continues forward, sometimes striking the rough inner

Not to mention that earlier in 2007, the “88 Plan” was proposed to provide financial support to retired players who developed early on-set dementia, offering them up to $88,000 a year in medical care (Schwarz 2010). The NFL rejected this proposal, making it even more mandatory for crisis management, as the league is already seen as a huge money well and not offering to lend support to fallen players was not seen well in the public nor media’s eyes. For the time being, it appeared the concussion crisis had settled and been adverted. Little did the NFL know, the battle may have been won, but the war was not nearly over, especially for

Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia stated, “Walking off the pain in an NFL game turns into walking it off in a Little League game - the trickle-down effects on high school and college players are very real and can be fatal.” In September 2009, with the focus being on youth, the NFL was finally prompted to release the so-called “research” they claimed to be more valid than Dr. Omalu’s. Schwarz (2010) reported that it the NFL discovered that “retired NFL players suffered from dementia at higher rates that the general population. For younger retirees, ages 30–49, the rate was 19 times that of the general population.” A chair of the NFL’s MTBI further implemented crisis management and attempted to make the findings appear as further evidence proving that longer termed research needed to be conducted to see whether or not this “theory” would play out. At the beginning of the 2009 football season, media attention of this pressing issue was at an all time high. Schwarz had published 18 articles on the subject, just during the month of October alone! The New Yorker, GQ and 60 Minutes, also all ran stores concerning the matter. Even the United States Congress House Judiciary committee took interest and threatened to evoke the NFL’s antitrust