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The Nfl's Head Case

In: English and Literature

Submitted By uncman24
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The NFL’s Head Case
The NFL and its teams have a professional medical staff that is assigned to each team. Their responsibility is to treat and evaluate players after an injury. While they claim that they only release players if they are completely free of symptoms and that also the players consent to feeling normal, the NFL should take on more responsibility with current and former players and acknowledge fact that they have knowingly allowed players to compete in games when they should have been kept on the sideline. There have been over 4100 former players who have been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which also includes illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. There have been several suicide related deaths that have left many unanswered questions. Some have even left suicide notes that requested that their brain to be researched. Additionally, medical research has been able to show connection through several studies that head injuries, especially repeated, can cause traumatic brain damage. The main point of this research paper is to argue that repeated head injuries suffered by current and former NFL players are directly related to the neurological problems and the deaths of Junior Seau, Jovan Belcher and others, while also presenting the reactive measures that are taking place to prevent future occurrences in regards to rules and equipment. Every NFL football team is assigned a medical staff that is a paid member(s) of the organization. Their sole purpose is to tend to players after they have an on the field injury during a practice or game. The history behind the NFL’s medical staff dates back to 1966. They formed a society called the National Football League Physicians Society (NFLPS) (National Football League Physicians Society, 2012). Their goal was to be able to establish better communication from one team to another, such

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