NFL Held Responsible for Brain Injuries

Science says concussions are inevitable; 96 percent of all NFL players and 79 percent of all football players test positive for brain disease (Source: Frontline League of Denial 9/18/15 Concussion Watch Article). Prior to 2002, the NFL’s approach to preventing, treating, and managing concussions and CTE was very different than it is today. My essay will explore what some of those differences were and whether or not changes in the NFL are improving the outcomes and quality of life for current and former NFL players.

After the NFL commissioner came under scrutiny from Washington lawmakers on whether or not the injuries in his sport were the cause of traumatic brain disease. The commissioner enacted a policy that players had to pass a series of test by a neurologist prior to them being allowed to return to play( Grove, J) This policy change is similar to a normal employee passing a physical from their primary Doctor before they could return to work. The Commissioner enacted this policy to prevent players from returning to the game to soon. The current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wasn’t the first recognize that his sport had a problem taking care of its players. In 1962 the rule of no “Face masking” was enacted. This rule prohibited a player from grabbing another player’s facemask (Grove, J 657). In the late 1970’s an additional rule was enacted. The NFL finally passed a rule prohibiting players from using their helmets to

Multiple deaths from a degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is what the true culprit of the NFL is. This disease is caused from repetitive blunt force trauma to the head, leading those who are effected to struggle later in life and even turn to suicide. People are writing about these safety concerns in football nowadays because of the multitude of deaths related to this disease and the way the NFL choses to deal with it. The NFL disregarding its players is a subject at hand currently because people continue to suffer from CTE without even confirming they have it before they have already deteriorated. “Football Has Become Too Real to Watch” by television writer, Eric Buchman, describes these realities of the NFL and how it went from being a safe haven to a place where the NFL pretends to be oblivious to the realities of the game. Buchman’s argument is that the joy of football is gone due to the reality of current issues within the NFL. The NFL getting away with awful things is what Buchman wants the reader to take away from this article. His contribution to this debate is that he offers a perspective of the fans for why this issue is important without any biases towards the NFL.

The spectator of this sport has an obligation to the players of the sport, to make sure that the organization is protecting and looking out for them. Yet not only should the viewer be held accountable for the lack of communication in consequences between the player and the pro scene, but the organization of the NFL needs to make sure that their players have a full understanding of what is going on and how they need to protect the players. The current situation that is understood, contents contain implied knowledge that all parties of this table are in uniform knowledge and agreement to what comes of playing football. Finally, this should also happen at the youth level when kids are just getting into the sport, as it would better inform the parents and the kid if they understood the full

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

Although there is a growing feud between National Football League (NFL) players, their families, and the league itself concerning claims that management should be held responsible for the physical deterioration of former players, others claim that players knew the risks involved when they decided to play the game, therefore the NFL should not be held accountable for their injuries. Given the fact that there are not many sports as physically demanding on the human body as football, NFL players should be allowed to sue the NFL for concussions sustained while playing football. It would seem that NFL players that are retired should not sue just because they could have been at risk for head injuries. Instead they should have addressed this while

Some fans will assert that it is inevitable that the league will be doomed because the game of football will change if rules change, but that is simply not true. There have been numerous amounts of proposals on how the game can become safer than what it currently is. Robert Lipsyte analyzes the possibilities of rule changes that would decrease the number of concussions sustained in football. One rule change Lipsyte proposed was the elimination of the three-point stance by lineman. He claims that the stance forces linemen to power themselves at each other.

New surveys and data reports showing that repeated trauma to the head can cause CTE which seriously affects the brain and human body overall. Symptoms such as dizziness all the way to the most extreme like loss of motor function, dementia, etc. With all of the recent buzz about this phenomenon, The NFL, NCAA and state sports committees such as the WIAA have been trying to prevent the future generations of athletes and sports players suffer from these diseases. Acts such as reducing practice time allowing full contact and also schools buying the best helmet protection available shows how schools are really working to help kids across America. In addition, the NFL has publicly shown responsibility for head to head injuries and the lack of supervision and serious along with them. The organization is actively pushing technology to protect the brain as best as

Many memories are made in football, but sadly some of the greatest players cannot recall them. The National Football League has been associated with concussions and brain traumas throughout the years, but lately it has been exposed by media and NFL veterans. The league recently “reached a $765 million preliminary settlement with thousands of former players who were suing the league over its treatment of concussions…” (Waldron). Many former players are experiencing the effects of taking hard hits over and over again; they were not properly treated, which makes the injury worse and long term. The concussion issue in the NFL is more prevalent today, because it affects not only the players, but the league as a whole.

Thesis- I want you to better understand concussions, why they’re a problem in the NFL and what measures are being taken to prevent them.

Here is why. In 2015, the NFL diagnosed 271 players that had concussions. There has continued to be an increase in the number of concussed players over the past several years. With the continual increase in concussions over the years,it is a reasonable question to ask whether the NFL is doing enough to protect their players or not. I am going to start this issue by discussing a movie I am sure you have heard of. Concussion. A Forensic pathologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu was the first doctor to discover chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers' center Mike Webster, who was 50, when he committed suicide. Dr. Omalu made the bold statement that football is the reason that Webster had mental issues, and ultimately the reason for his death. There continued to be a trend of NFL players passing at a young age due to mental health issues, and Omalu was certain that all of it was because of football. He examined the brains of these players and found correlations in their brains that suggests that the repeated blows to the head they received during their career caused severe damage. As you can imagine this discovery was a huge threat to the NFL as people and players saw this evidence and couldn't help but be scared about the outcome football has on an individual. The NFL basically just tried to cover up clear facts stated by Omalu, but eventually it became to evident to ignore. This movie made a large issue in the NFL apparent to many people and creating a film to do so was a very effective platform for displaying it. To make a long story short, since this discovery in 2002, there has been a drastic change in player safety rules, concussion protocol and guidelines, and strictness of teams to follow such protocol and guidelines. In

Whether it be baseball, football, soccer, or basketball, sports are appreciated not only in America, but all over the world. One of these sports that is particularly popular in America is Football. The immense crowds of people who sit at a stadium or on the couch to watch a game never fail to recognize every single play on the field; however, many fans pay little to no attention to one of the most important components of the game, the player-association relationship. When signing a contract with an NFL team an NFL player is effectively dedicating his life to his new organization. His duty is to play for his team in order to make the organization money, and money they make. In the NFL last year “each team received $226.4 million” (Brady 1).

Among the terms of the agreement is that the settlement is not to be regarded as an admission of guilt by the league." The NFL knows of the dangers the players are in. The rules change but the equipment increased. Without more or better equipment the players are still in danger. In a PBS Frontline documentary about injuries in football Dr. Robert Stern said," In football, one has to expect that, almost every play of every game and every practice, they're going to be hitting their heads against each other. That's the nature of the game. Those things seem to happen around 1,000 to 1,500 times a year. Each time that happens, it's around 20 g or more. That's the equivalent of driving a car at 35 miles per hour into a brick wall." The players in the NFL know the risk of playing but it is up to the NFL to make the sport safe for the players. Many people may argue that since the players know the risk and they are paid for their athletic performance is ok. However you cannot put a price on a person health. There is no way of rationalizing the behavior of the NFL. Yes, the athletes are paid to perform, but it is up to the NFL to make the sport safer. The NBA has increase rules and is aggressively making the sport less physical. In a Radio interview with XTRA 910 a Phoenix, AZ, Former NBA player, Robert Horry said, "… If you

People love to watch, play, and enjoy sports or cheering for teams. In the majority of sports that are physical and require a lot of contact that could potentially cause injuries. The most physical of sports such as hockey, soccer, football, and boxing can make the people who care about them worried for their health. Some people don’t understand that the helmet the players wear don’t always prevent the athletes from getting concussions or the fracture of your skull. You can get a concussion by having your brain constantly hit your skull. The NFL should take more necessary precautions every time a player suffers from damage. There is are diseases called CTE which means chronic traumatic encephalopathy players get playing that turn into medical bills need to be paid for by the NFL because players often are pressured to ignore the symptoms of a concussion and go back out to play. Players should be aware of the consequences and risk that can occur when they make these decisions. I believe that they should study about what can actually happen to their health so that they can prevent getting concussions and acknowledge the negative effects.

The NFL has games three nights per week, and it’s extremely rare to watch a game that is free from head injuries. Concussions are so prominent during games that the NFL was forced to employ independent neurologists to assess brain injuries on the sidelines. Based on the fact that the NFL is aware of the risks involved, additional rules and equipment should be explored annually. The NFL puts profitability ahead of player safety. The NFL has a total of 32 teams, with a total estimated league value of $74.8 billion dollars (Gaines). Instead of properly evaluating players during and after games for brain injuries, the NFL continues to allow players to participate in activities while injured. The NFL is currently paying out close to $1 billion to former players and wives of deceased former players as part of a lawsuit that charged that the NFL did nothing to protect players from Chronic