Persuasive Essay: Concussions In Football

Another way is changing the culture of football by training coaches to educate players about the safety and dangers of head concussions. From a three-point stance to a two-point stance, this can benefit players to reduce the head concussions, since the majority are position upright. Bringing independent doctors on the sideline prevents players from continuing to play with an injury, lowering the risk of further damage. Letting players lose weight helps reduce the impact while maintaining their strength conditionally. Last, is to bring football into the 21st century by providing referees with sensors to monitor every player for potential head-on collision.

Redesigning the Football Helmet Head to head contact is a very serious matter. Kids, adults, and everyone in between are getting hurt in football due to the hard hits they take either in practice or games. The goal is to make football safer but people are still getting hurt and even killed. There are new helmets coming out every year but still not eliminating the problem.

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

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.

Since concussions still happen, physical therapists and athletic trainers still must find a way to help athletes deal with the injury. A plan must be developed to cope and manage a head injury. Concussions have had a tendency to cause lasting effects and this led the NFL to change the rules of the game as well as helped to develop plans to help manage the injury. The effects of a concussion when it happens are bad enough right? Well in this case, even players that have already retired are still having problems from their head injury.

I. Introduction A. Attention Graber: For many people there is nothing better on a crisp cool Sunday afternoon, than sitting down and enjoying a good football game. The NFL, hosts usually the football games people watch. Recently, however the NFL has had a huge conflict on its hands regarding player health and safety, specifically regarding repeated head injury and concussions. Research indicates, the NFL has not done enough to protect its players from the damage of repeated head injury B. Ethos Statement:

Concussions have always been a problem in contact sports. Unfortunately, high school football is no exception. In fact, high school football is the worst of all contact sports when dealing with concussions. According to “Sports Concussion Statistics,” 47% of all reported sports concussions occur during high school football. This is an alarming statistic that has caused companies like Riddell to search for a solution.

The NFL has seen an increase in concussions over the years due to the style of play, and the speed of the game is much faster paced. In the past five years, the NFL has taken steps to try to limit concussions. The reason why it has taken so long to make changes was because in the past no one really knew the dangers of concussions. Some precautions that have been put in place are fines when hits to the head occur to restrain player from violent head to head collisions. The NFL has restricted teams to only allowing 14 full-contact practices during its 18-week season.

Many of the famous sports today are played with great enjoyment, however, contact injuries can always occur at any time. Many of these injuries are concussions. Couple of years back studies showed concussions were not a major subject to be dealt with, but until later this idea was proven wrong. A simple Concussion can change many things in your life even the way you act. Many have died due to multiple major concussions even famous athletes.

Concussions are becoming a very common injury in sports. 244 People got a concussion in the NFL in the 2016 season. That number is down compared to 275 in 2015 but up from 206 in 2014 and 229 in 2013. I still believe we could get those numbers down even more. If we have the best helmets possible and teach everybody how to tackle right from the beginning we will have very few concussions.

Coaches number one thing they should do to protect their players is practicing “heads up” football. Heads up football is a practice of not lowering a player's head before they make impact. Players should never lower their head before a hit because if two players are going full speed at each other and they collide hitting heads they will most likely get a concussion from the impact. Another way players can be protected from getting concussions and head injuries is to have a good fitting helmet, good fitting pads, and a mouth guard formed to fit their mouths. Players equipment is the most important thing to keep them from getting injured.

After researching this topic extensively as well as talking to Dr. Peter Deluca who now acts as the head team physician for the Philadelphia Eagles I have come to the conclusion that concussions are a problem that are not controllable by the NFL. Dr. Deluca explained that these athletes are using the most up to date technology in the world as far as their padding and helmets go and unless hitting is completely eliminated from the NFL concussions is a problem that you will see not only within the NFL but also with every contact sport. Major traumatic brain injuries are something that needs to be taken more seriously especially in youth sports as well as in highs school. I strongly believe that there is more that the NFL can do to help protect these athletes and these athletes should be compensated for the injures that they sustain over the course of a given career. Some other things that I believe that NFL should consider to make the game safer include, Eliminating kickoffs, having a mandatory sit out period after sustaining a major traumatic brain injury, having more support programs for athletes who suffer from concussion issues such as short and long term memory loss and PTSD and lastly, Larger fines for helmet to helmet hits.

THE INCREASING NUMBER OF CONCUSSION IN ATHLETES ARE DETRIMENTAL TO THE FUTURE OF SPORTS In the recent years, concussions have become a common accident related to various types of sports around the globe. A concussion is a traumatic injury of the brain, they can also be as a result of a sudden blow on the body. Such a blow may cause the head to jerk back and forth in a rapid motion. This may cause a bounce or twist within the skull, which may over stretch the brain, cause cell damage and alter chemical functioning within the brain.

Concussions in Sports In sports, concussions occur frequently across all age groups. From little leagues to high school sports to the professional leagues, concussions pose a high risk of long term Traumatic brain injuries. Because of the high rate of concussions in sports more attention should be paid to protocols and treatment to prevent traumatic brain injuries. High school athletes that partake in a sport that requires intense physical activity are the most vulnerable to concussion and need more time to recover. According to the Head Case “High school football accounts for 47 percent of all reported sports concussions, with 33 percent of concussions occurring during practice.”

"By the time they get to high school, kids have a 5% chance of sustaining a concussion for each season they play" (Zimmerman). If they choose to keep playing football then they will eventually end up with a brain concussion or brain damage. Over the years 65-80% of head injuries go unnoticed ("Stopping the..."58).   Football player ignore the fact that it is just a headache. Hospitals took 150,000 in 2001 to 250,000 in 2009 dramatically increased because of concussions ("Injuries in...").