In the true story based movie and the documentary, the dangers of head injuries in football are laid out for the viewer. Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered the brain injury chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE; however, the NFL was in denial about the effects football had on the brain and had on causing CTE. I believe that the NFL’s denial to the accusations were detrimental to many football players and that serious consideration should be taken into the way football is played overall. When Dr. Omalu originally diagnosed CTE on Mike Webster and the NFL denied that football was the cause for his death and disease. The NFL’s reaction was absurd and all they did was place many people in danger. Their decision to withhold the truth led to parents …show more content…
For example, better protective head gear and rules against head butting would allow less permanent damage and head-on-head contact. These changes could make the sport much safer for players, including young children that are being put in danger by playing football. The dangers of football concealed by the NFL were detrimental to the lives of many players, young and old, and their loved ones. An NFL football player will endure somewhere between 900 to 1500 blows to their head over the course of a single season. With an immense amount of blows like this comes an immense amount of damage to a player’s brain. This extensive amount of brain damage has been decided, by Dr. Bennet Omalu, to result in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Over the course of these discoveries and much controversy, the NFL has been targeted, denied all accusations, done very few things to lessen the risk of concussions in football, and the risks and number of concussions have steadily increased throughout the league’s …show more content…
One huge example of this neglect to watch out for their players is displayed through the New York Jets’ wide receiver Wayne Chrebet. Chrebet was knocked out cold, yet the Jets’ team doctor still sent him back into the game to play. In the first 10 day prior to a concussion, athletes are at a much higher risk of developing another concussion; however, instead of allowing players to recover, the NFL send players directly into the line of fire after they have already been shot down. This failure to help provide more adequate preventive measures has caused an increase of the number of concussions per year and continues to wreak havoc on players lives prior to their time playing in the NFL. In the past few years, the number of concussions per year has only spiked. The NFL calls it a “cultural change” in that the staff are more willing to report head injuries instead of neglecting them. However, to many like Christopher Nowinski- one of the founders of the Concussion Legacy foundation- this increase just shows that the NFL does not care to prevent head injuries, only treat them when they are developed. The number of concussions between the 2013 and 2014 season actually increased by 58
According CNN’s article “NFL Concussion Fun Facts,” there have been 692 combined concussions diagnosed throughout the preseason and regular season in the NFL over the past 3 years. It may be evident by these numbers that the NFL has a major problem with players getting concussions, and over the years their concussion protocol has been questioned by former players and other people around the football community. Ken Belson stated in his article “Brain Trauma to Affect One in Three Players, N.F.L. Agrees,“ that a third of retired football players are subject to long term brain issues, these issues may include the disease known as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which has been brought to light in a more recent time. CTE has effected a good
“Do you like to watch Football? Then Watch what really happens” is written by Markus Koch. Who is a Holistic Health Practitioner and also former football player for the Red Skins and played in the super bowl in “1988”. Koch wrote this article to inform others of CTE, which stands for Chronic encephalopathy and is a brain injury that can only be detected after death of a player. Within in the article he continuously talks about how players suffer and that the NFL turns it cheek the other way, ignoring the side effects it causes for players.
The NFL should research more on CTE and discover ways to prevent it. One way could be providing safety gear that could protect the players from concussions, which is a major cause of CTE. The NFL should also accept that there is a connection between playing football and getting CTE. Our brains are not genetically engineered to sustain an impact on our cranium, so players who suffer a concussion in a game should not be let back into the game until proper treatment is provided. Until this happens we cannot trust the NFL on anything
With the recent advances in technology the head injuries experienced by National Football League players has been made more noticeable to the public. So the public has raised an eyebrow, questioning who will take responsibility to battle the issue of brain injuries in the National Football League. This subject involving player safety isn’t anything new, “In fact, a quick search of historical press reports shows that football related concussions have been associated with deaths and debilitating injuries since the late 1800s”(Lange 178). In football one of the most important parts are player safety. In fact, players wear equipment such as helmets, to help prevent head injuries.
This is true, however the number of incidents is on track this year to be even lower than last years. Concussions cannot be abolished entirely, they are present in every athletic activity, from Hockey to Gymnastics. Because of the effort, and the fact that it is showing results, the NFL should be credited for lowering the amount of concussions, an injury which is basically an occupational hazard of all athletes (excluding perhaps
More Safety Precautions are Needed in Football 34 of 35 former NFL athletes suffer from CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). Brain injuries and other injuries are ruining athletes careers. But some people think that the players gear isn’t safe. Even though the NFL already has safety precautions in place, safety precautions in the NFL should be more strict because concussions are causing a lot of players to get hurt, and injuries are ruining careers in the NFL. Concussions and injuries cost teams and player a lot of money.
Concussions are also not limited to contact sports, they can occur in any sports. The actual injury of a concussion is not the issue of this crisis that is ongoing; the real issue at hand is the failure to manage them correctly. That is something that is very important to note because thousands of concussions go unaddressed every year, which can cause severe brain damage, especially on the professional level. The focus of this issue is in the NFL because of recent studies that have come out about the true dangers of concussions. The NFL is currently on the hot seat dealing with this issue due to the amount of retired players who
Football is the most American of all of the sports we play. We have good memories of playing catch and watching games with our friends, however, there is a darker side to this all-American sport, the damage done to the brains of the players. While the NFL has attempted to make great strides in preventing further damage to players on the field suffering from concussions, the rates of concussions continue to rise. In 2014, 206 concussions were diagnosed, while in 2015, that number rose to 271 concussions. If these new regulations truly had an effect upon the safety of the players, we would instead see little growth, if not a decline, of diagnosed concussions.
From youth football to the NFL, concussions are prevalent at every age group and skill level. The NFL has helped to look into youth football in a variety of ways including heads up tackle which is a program that teaching athletes to use proper technique when tackling a player as well as fitting these athletes for equipment. By doing this, youth football players learn how to properly tackle someone to absorb a hit as well as give these athletes the least likely chance of having a major traumatic brain injury (Goldberg). Goldberg’s Hypothesis was that if you teach youth players in the sport of football the proper technique of tackling, concussions would not be an issue. Although the NFL has helped make dramatic impacts on the youth games including leagues such as pop warner which roughly over 40% of NFL athletes played in as a child, there are over 650,000 youth players in the United States and because of this large number, they do not track
In the United States today there is a big problem with concussions in all levels of football. “An estimated 3.8 million sports concussions occur in the U.S. each year ‘, said by Dr. Stanley Herring of the University of Washington, a concussion expert and team doctor for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners. ”(McCrabb) A concussion is an injury due to a hard hit or fall to the head. It can cause permanent brain damage if not treated correctly.
Playing a physical sport can turn into a traumatic experience if you end up with a concussion in an emergency room. Recent studies by CPSC data, there were an estimated 446,788 sports-related head injuries treated at U.S. hospital emergency rooms in the year of 2009. Sometimes when athletes are focused in their sports, they sometimes forget about the impact they have on another player which causes the other player to be get severely injured. Head injuries are not new to the world of sports – but what is being done to prevent these tragic trauma? The NCAA has implemented a new football helmet with optimism that it will reduce the numbers of concussions and other head injuries throughout the season.
With all the studies performed and medical discovery about this concussions, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and Neurological Brain disease’s proving to cause symptoms of depression, suicide, and cognitive abilities later in life, there needs to be measures taken to help ensure safety of former and current football players. Introduction Over one million people are projected to play football in today’s society. With that being said, football may possibly be the most popular sport in America. The game of football has a violent nature that takes a toll on person’s body, physically and mentally.
Many organizations, such as the NFL, have put millions of dollars into research and trying to make the game safer, but as of now, things have only gotten worse. Some believe the National Football League isn’t doing enough and others believe they’re doing too much. One thing is for sure: concussions are not a light matter and something needs to be done to help prevent medical issues. Many players, both amauetur and, professional are being sidelined by these traumatic head
The NFL needs to follow the same concussion protocol as the lower levels of the sport. THe sport could be much safer and it should be much safer. Players deserve more protection and it should be much easier to play the sport without having any
"Now that I 'm getting older, I start thinking about it more. In 10 years, am I going to be one of those guys that 's suffering?" Denver Broncos defensive end Vonnie Holliday. Concussions, in the NFL, should be taken more seriously. It may cause depression, may lead to serious health issues, and it may cause domestic violence.