...from a concussion (“13 Things You”). But, almost half of these concussions are not reported and therefore not treated (“13 Things You”). Of all sports contributing to the concussion total, football is by far the main contributor. “High school football accounts for 47% of all reported sports concussions, while 33% of these concussions occur during practice,” (“Head Case - Complete”). The main reason for this could be improper technique and teaching, neglect, and other factors. But for these players, high school is followed by college and possibly the National Football League (NFL), where concussions get much more attention and criticism. Concussions in the NFL...
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...not designed to handle the frequent hard hits to the body and head as a result of playing the sport. Unfortunately these professional athletes end up suffering from brain damage as a result of our thirst and fascination for hard hits and violence. I would explain that while football helmets seem safe, they truly only provide very minimal protection against concussions that cause the brain to bounce, shake and rotate back and forth hitting against the wall of the human skull as a result of frequent football tackles that appear harmless to those watching the sport. To ensure the message hits home, I would bring up examples of their favourite former NFL players such as Hall of Famer Mike Webster who actually suffered neurological effects of playing the sport. It is important to highlight the most severe consequences first, which is that playing football can cause severe trauma to the brain as a result of multiple concussions that these athletes regularly experience. This trauma starts to destroy the integrity of the brain cells, causing a degenerative brain disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). High levels of CTE in a football player’s brain can result in memory loss, agitation and even increased anger management issues. It can also cause death, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). This neurological trauma affects your ability to regulate your own emotions. You would likely feel more depressed and experience loss of short term memory and increased...
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...national celebration of football, a game Dr. Bennet Omalu, the doctor who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), calls our "collective societal intoxication and addiction." From an entertainment perspective, football is more popular than ever. Attendance figures, television ratings and the growth of fantasy football tell us that. However, while the game's popularity might be on the upswing, so is the scientific evidence that football is hazardous to the human brain. And it's not just concussions. "In terms of the truth, it is not about concussions," said Omalu in a recent interview with sport and culture writer Patrick Hruby. "It is about blows to the head." Long term, repetitive sub-concussive...
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..."A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells" ("Concussion"). Concussions can and have torn apart people’s lives. Concussions can be very serious. They cause death and horror. Concussions can have lasting effects. These effects can come in the form of brain diseases and other problems. A professor studied people with no history of a concussion and people who had suffered concussions over 30 years ago. She found out that these concussions...
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...people all over the country. Although football was mainly invented for fun, it can be very dangerous. Many men have had concussions, torn ligaments, and even death just from playing football. The biggest and most common of these injuries are concussions. Back in the 1900's, concussions were not considered as serious as they are today because there was uncertainty about them. Unfortunately, we still deal with concussions today. Medical experts are now positive that concussions are severe and the most dangerous aspect of any sport - especially football. A concussion is a TBI (traumatic brain injury) caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Chronic...
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...Concussions in NFL athletes Daniel Cetnarowski DeVry University Concussions in NFL athletes. Football, a sport of hard hits and exciting plays. Every year you see something in football which is amazing. A player breaks a record or catches a ridiculous pass for a touchdown. Your favorite team goes to the super bowl and wins. Your favorite player has a career season and breaks NFL records. These are the reasons why I love the game of football. But with the good, must come the bad. Players receiving injuries while playing. Minor injuries to major injuries, sooner or later every player in the NFL will experience an injury. The sad thing is, there is one injury that has an everlasting effect. Concussions. Once thought to be no big deal, concussions are now at the center of a huge lawsuit against the NFL and forcing retired players to change how they live. So, are concussions changing the lives of NFL players or is there something else happening to the players that are causing these brain disorders? My vote is the concussions are causing these players lives to change forever. The purpose of this proposal is to show that if something is not done to limit concussions the sport may change the way we know it and love it. I would not want to watch football if the NFL went to flag football and not full tackle. The players would not want that either. If that happens the players’ salaries will get decreased. It will be a trickle down affect. The NFL will lose...
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...Years ago, coaches referred to concussions as “having your bell rung” and were never considered as a serious injury. Athletes would simply skip a play and would be given smelling salts. After that, they would be back in the game in no time. Concussions now have been linked to life-threatening injuries in many athletes. Today, concussions are the most common football injury by young athletes and are becoming more frequent each year. Coaches, players, trainers, physicians and parents need to take better precautions when dealing with concussions and with their help concussions will not be as life threatening as they are today. Multiple concussions suffered by athletes can lead to psychological problems long-term. A scholarly person once said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Even though the person was actually referring to people taking advantage of school, it now can be applied to football. A concussion is an injury caused to the brain which can cause loss of consciousness, confusion, blurred vision and ringing in the ears. Multiple concussions can be life-threatening, career-ending and serious. Concussions used to go unnoticed by players and coaches and they referred to them as “having your bell rung”. Players would return to the field after a short rest. Today, the NFL and sports teams across the United States are sitting up and paying more attention to the medical profession when it comes to concussions. Concussions are dangerous, cause permanent damage to...
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...players to the ground. Football is a full contact sport, players wear armor from their heads to their knees in order to protect themselves. Players are coached to attack and hit the ball carrier as hard as possible. Head on head collisions are a natural aspect of this exciting sport, however concussions are the probable result of constant blows to the head....
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...Concussions in Football Paul Kowalczyk Lakeside High School 5th Period In this paper I am going to be talking about concussions in Football. I wanted to research this topic because I did not know how easy it is to get a concussion in sports. I also chose this topic because it can relate to the news today. The National Football League has just recently passed a rule that fines any player that tackles another player and creates head-to-head contact. I really wanted to know more about this new rule, and how this is going to affect the game. A concussion is a mild brain injury that happens when the brain quickly moves back and forth in the skull. Concussions are a short loss of normal brain function that is usually caused by sports injuries or by a blow to the head. American Football is one of the easiest ways to receive a concussion. Even though the players wear helmets they can still get a concussion. Researchers have found that out of 17,549 college football players, 888 players have received concussions and out of those 888 players 131 received another concussion that same season. Researchers at Virginia Tech, using sensors attached to the helmet of a college player, recorded more than 3,300 hits to the head during 10 games and 35 practice sessions in 2003 (Kuwana, 2004). They found that players receive an average of 50 hits to the head every game, and with an average force of 40 times...
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...INJURIES IN THE NFL KENNETH BASSETT ENG 122 PROFESSOR WELLS 5/19/14 Playing football as a kid was always every little boys dream of one day becoming a professional player in the NFL. Suiting up in cleats, shoulder pads, and helmets was always a fun time. Back in high school when the coaches would make you have two a day practices to get ready for the fall. In the back of the players minds, and even their parents is the idea of a very bad injury or even a concussion. What is a concussion you might ask? Concussion is a temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head. The term is also used loosely of the after effects such as confusion or temporary incapacity. Concussions can be very difficult to spot especially since plays don’t necessarily have to be knocked out in order to receive a concussion. This is why players who suffer from head injuries are often told to shake it off and get back in the game. Many concussions in high school go undiagnosed due to lack of staff, player, and family knowledge about concussions. Being able to recognize a concussion is the first step in protecting athletes. Ways to recognize a concussion that has either been knocked out or still conscious would be if a player feels dizzy, confused and forgetful, complains about headaches, and/or vomit or feels nauseous. Concussion symptoms can either occur right away or in some cases they can begin weeks later after receiving the hit that caused the concussion. Concussions have been...
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...Today, concussions are a serious factor in most sports and have moved to the center of attention in public awareness. According to the Sports Concussion Institute, a concussion is “a complex pathophysiological process that affects the brain, typically induced by trauma to the brain” (2016). Most concussions occur without the individual losing consciousness yet these impairments can lead to dementia, aggression, confusion, impaired judgment, and depression and may not be treatable. In fact, per Marcos Abreu, “the American Academy of Neurology discovered that athletes are at greatest risk of repeat injury in the first 10 days’ post-concussion and suggested that the more head injuries a person suffers; the more likely they are to face complications...
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...Head Injuries in the Game of Football Head Injuries in the Game of Football 250,000 people age 19 and younger were treated in emergency rooms for concussions and other sports- or recreation-related brain injuries in the country in 2009. That was an increase from 150,000 in 2001 (Cleared to Play). Did you know that high school athletes sustain an estimated 136,000 to 300,000 concussions per year (Moms Team)? How about that 24.7 percent, out of all the patients who were admitted into an emergency department with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), obtained their head injury while playing football (Swarm Interactive)? That is higher than any other sport or activity associated with TBIs. Brain injuries contribute one third of all injury-related deaths in the United States and 75 percent of those injuries are concussions (CDC). It is easy to conclude that head injuries are extremely dangerous and can be easily obtained. For these reasons, people should be informed of how football can be immensely risky to play and how the sport is associated with brain injuries. Numerous retired professional football players now suffer from a degenerative disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This disease is caused by countless hits to the head or body, causing small concussions (ESPN). CTE is a build up of a protein that garrotes brain cells that control one’s emotions, memory, perceptions, and more. As far as we have seen, the disease also causes serious depression, dementia, and...
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...cry. We are taught that early on in the game as kids. Tough sport. Brutal sport. It’s like the gladiator. People want to see the big hits. They wind up on Sports Center. And as a player, you don’t want to admit you are injured,” commented Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson (Cite). The toughness and strength that football players endure is extremely admirable however, these “big hits”, also known as repetitive trauma to the brain, are causing erratic, irregular behavior, suicidal thoughts and can cause a number of life changing effects towards people and families. The more aware and knowledgeable the world is to brain trauma, the more studies can...
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...Concussions: Don’t Shake it Off A football player takes a hard blow to the head during a game. Feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous, he continues playing; not aware that he’s feeling the classic symptoms of a concussion. This is a common scenario physicians have worked to change over the last 10 to 15 years, according to Medical Group of the Carolinas Sports Medicine Institute physician, John Lucas, MD. “Ten years ago, if you took a hit to the head and you were a little bit dazed a few seconds, you may have been told to get up and shake it off,” Lucas said. “Now, we are a lot more serious of how we define and treat concussion. The medical community has really pushed to get people to understand both the immediate and potential long-term implications of head injuries.” A concussion is a type of head injury that affects the way your brain functions. Symptoms of a concussion vary but may include a headache or pressure in the head, temporary loss of consciousness, confusion, dizziness, ringing in the ears or nausea. You do not have to lose consciousness to have a concussion, which is a common misconception. “For the most part, the treatment of concussion is and has always been rest,” Lucas said. “Approximately 80 percent of concussions resolve within 7 to 10 days without any intervention. What used to be called ‘getting your bell rung’ is now defined as concussion. There are no "dings" anymore. I definitely think we have broadened what we define as concussion.” What...
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...Football has become very dangerous in this day in age. There are hundred cases of football players dying or getting head trauma from many blows to the head. But I have to come from both sides of this situation. Let’s face it yeah they have changed some rules and made it safer but everyone knows what they signed up for. You have to realize that you are constantly getting blows to the head no matter how safe they try to make it. You can’t just act like you didn’t know you were going to have blows to your head. I would still make up some new rules to make it safer, but honestly football is still a dangerous game. But there are a few ways that we can make football safer but still thrilling. To begin with, the first thing I would do to make football...
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