Football is a sport beloved by Americans. Millions of boys from a young age enjoy playing football from recreational to dreaming of the NFL. Whether these boys end up play for their school team or the NFL, all levels of players experience head collisions. Recently, many people have questioned the severity of these head injuries, or concussions, induced by playing football and their lasting effects.
A team of researchers and engineers at the University of Michigan undertook a four-year challenge sponsored by the NFL to create a helmet with better protection from brain injuries from sports. Current helmets worn by football players, including the pros, reduce the force put on the skull during a collision. However, the current helmets do
Helmet-to-helmet collisions are occurrences in American football when two players' helmets make head-to-head contact with a high degree of force. Despite its long association with the sport, this type of contact is now considered to be dangerous play by league authorities due to the potential of causing serious injury. Major football leagues, such as the NFL and NCAA, have taken a tougher stance on helmet-to-helmet collisions after the US Congress launched an investigation into the effects repeated concussions have on football players.[1] Other possible injuries include head traumas, spinal cord injuries, and even death; nevertheless helmet manufacturers are constantly improving their designs in order to best protect their users against injuries
Football is a game that can cause serious injuries, which can also affect you in the future. According to the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, “More than 500,000 high school football injuries occurred between the 2014 and 2015 school year,” (Pros and Cons of Playing Football). One of the most dangerous injuries players get is a concussion, a brain injury caused by a blow to the head or a violent shaking of the head and body. These concussions are often mistaken for minor injuries, but can sometimes be more
There has been extraordinary improvements of helmets from the old leather to the modernized-plastic football helmets along with the face mask and energy- absorbent padding. In addition, the concern over preventing concussions, have led to helmet changes, impact testing methods and reconstruction of injuries during play helping to provide insight on concussions(4). Helmets have been successful in decreasing the risk of traumatic brain injuries, but there is much concern over concussion; therefore, scholars argue the importance of technology development to address concussion(5). As the author(s), David Viano and David Halstead discusses, there is room needed for understanding the types of collisions associated in youths and the impact condition addressing collisions. There are many variables to consider addressing concussion and where they occur.
To begin, As most people know football is a serious contact sport and with that being concussions are incredibly common in the sport of football. The brain is the most powerful organ in the human body, its a flabby texture and when a person is hit in the head hard the brain moves around and even twist inside the skull.the traumatic brain injury that is known as a concussion is created by this constant movement of the brain inside the skull.. “During impact, individual neurons can be stretched and
Over the past five NFL seasons, 1,215 concussions have been diagnosed. American Football has been around for over a century and is the most watched sport in America. Recently, questions have begun to be asked about football’s safety. I watch football every weekend, and I am very angered whenever one of my favorite players gets a concussion. Even before researching this topic, I knew a lot about concussions in football. Concussions can ruin careers but have recently been affecting the after careers of many former NFL stars. Football can be very dangerous yet but can be improved upon in next couple of years. I will first describe what a concussion is, then examine concussions in football, and finally discuss how it can be solved.
Player safety has always been and will always be one of the most controversial topics in all of sports. In particular, the safety of young football players is an extremely controversial topic. Many different studies have been conducted on concussions specifically. These studies research the different variables and what causes concussions and the most effective ways to prevent them. A recent study was done by the University of Pittsburgh and Cornell University, they tracked 468 participants ages 8-12 from 4 different youth football leagues. The basic information that they found was that nearly every concussion was sustained during a game, only
Football can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”(Science Daily, 2014). The study also found that standard football helmets worn by the majority of players on the field today, only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by 20 percent compared to not wearing a helmet at all (Science Daily, 2014).
Safety and equipment have come a long way in football in order to prevent brain injuries. A very important piece of equipment used to prevent brain trauma is the helmet. The helmet has evolved a lot over the years, even more in the past decade. The Helmets main purpose use to be just to stop skull fractures, then they added the facemask to prevent facial injuries. Concussions are more of a recent concern (Hand 1). Overconfidence in the helmets' protective power prompts many NFL athletes to deliver and accept hits that would have killed players of previous generations. Now the helmet is being revolutionized. Helmets aren't only being created to stop skull and face fractures but they are being created to help prevent brain damage such as concussions now. Helmets have gone through testing to see how to design a better preventative helmet. These newer helmets are being designed to reduce the amount of force that is being applied to the head by a hit that is received (Vandantam 2). Virginia Tech football has been monitoring helmet collisions since 2003, courtesy of Dr. Gunnar Brolinson. Dr. Gunnar Brolinson has outfitted the teams helmets with six sensors and a small antenna that records and transmits data to a computer on the sideline. This information collected is crucial because it will help find better ways to design a helmet that will prevent concussions(Goldman 1). Equipment isn't the only important part of football that can help prevent concussions.
The NFL understands the severity of injuries will continue to increase due to players today becoming bigger, faster, and stronger than they use to be. This is where creating more efficient equipment comes in to effect. With head injuries being the spotlight in the NFL recent years, endless research has been conducted to create helmets that reduce impact for the players. In 2012, manufacturers conducted a test which consisted of 23 different impacts on 17 types of modern football helmets and comparing those results to helmets of the 1990s that are still cleared to be used in the NFL. “The four helmets had significantly improved performance compared to the 1990s baseline helmets. The Schutt DNA PRO (#5) and the Riddell Revolution (#4), IQ (#9), and Revolution Speed (#7) has statistically lower biomechanical responses and better for attenuation than the 1990s baseline helmets” (Viano, 2012). Along with the field tests of these new improved helmets, was research on if on-field performance is different in players who return within seven days after a concussion compared with players who missed at least one game. This was conducted on players who actively played in the NFL from 2008 to 2012 who wore these improved helmets as opposed to the helmets created in the 90s. After these tests were complete, there was no difference in player performance and concussion rates have actually gone down from 1996 to 2012 when this study was conducted. Advancements in helmet technology has become quite successful as players safety, concussions, and the actions the NFL has taken to improve on both, have become a huge spotlight in the sports
The number of concussions in professional and amateur football has been rising and has sparked much controversy in recent years. These concussions are most likely linked with disease and even the deaths of some pro and semi-pro football players. New research is attempting to solve the problem but the issue is still prevalent in football today.
Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.
Head injuries, including concussions, particularly in the game of American football, have become a subject of deep concern, much study and even Congressional hearings in the United States.
On fall Friday nights everywhere, high schools are buzzing for one thing: football. The players have practiced all week and are excited to get on the field. Students, parents, and fans alike are all counting down the minutes until kickoff. However, in one play all that excitement can be taken away. One helmet-to-helmet hit is sometimes all it takes for a player to sustain a concussion. Concussions happen frequently in football. Many people do not realize the risks associated with this type of injury. High school coaches need to be better trained on how to recognize potential concussions, athletes need to be better educated on concussions, and stricter concussion
Bone-crushing hits and flying tackles are all part of what makes football exciting to watch, but they are also part of the reason why the sport is now facing heavy criticism over the serious head injuries that it can bring. In response to concerns from both the public and players about injuries, research into making this head-crushing sport safer has become a leading concern for the NFL and many other sports medicine organizations across the country.
Concussions can occur virtually anywhere, and everyone is at risk of getting a concussion, whether they participate in sports or not. Athletes, who take part in any kind of contact sports, no matter the age level, are all susceptible to suffering from a concussion. Football is one of the sports that expose young athletes to higher risk in getting a concussion. According to Headcase, football is said to have one of the highest concussions rates (64-76.8) when being compared to other sports. According to a study done by Frontline, high school football players are twice as likely of getting concussions compared to college players. In the study conducted, there was a rate of