Omalu: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

“This sport will never die, but it will never again be, as it was until recently, the subject of uncomplicated national enthusiasm.” This thesis statement introduces us to the basis of what this article sets out to convey. Football is a tradition that is loved by America, but previously lacked the issue of concern that it does now. The most concerning issue that the author is talking about is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Caused by multiple head injuries, over a span of time, this disease results in atrophy of the brain, mood disorders, and dementia. The hidden damage caused by these injuries is taken into consideration when deciding to play football, however it is believed that this risk will deter players from joining in

CTE is a brain disease found in individuals with annals of head trauma. It has specifically been found in athletes with numerous concussions. So far it can only be diagnosed in the deceased, but Dr. Julian Bales and his staff in UCLA have discovered symptoms in living players such as Hall of Famer Anthony “Tony” Dorsett, Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, and NFL All-Pro Leonard Marshall. CTE can cause memory loss, dementia, depression, suicidal thoughts, cognitive and emotional difficulties (Waldron par 1, 2, 3). Is it a compelling issue? A total of 171 concussions were reported in the NFL in the 2012-2013 season; 88 thus far in the 2013-2014 season (Frontline pt). Those are just numbers in the professional level. There are thousands of kids playing football either in youth, middle school, high school, or college level. The diagnosis is currently in progress, researchers are optimistic this could lead to a legitimate treatment, how to manage, and hopefully a cure. Furthermore, this can also possibly lead to an answer to a connection between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Terry Long, and Justin Strzelczyk (all of whom are dead now) are all men who played in the NFL for an extent period of time. This is not the only thing they have in common. These former players had an uncustomary

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.

In the movie, Concussion, Dr. Bennett Omalu persevered through both professional and personal challenges and was ultimately vindicated. A lot of former NFL players went insane when something bothered inside their heads and they died so Dr. Omalu found neurological deterioration when he observed the dead players’ brains for an autopsy. Dr. Omalu worked as a forensic pathologist and he cut the bodies to take the things out of it. During the investigation, Dr. Omalu researched about neurological deterioration and he met the medical colleagues about the situations from the dead NFL players. Dr. Omalu was very religious and he used his faith for professional work. Also he received the critics from NFL because the committee didn’t support Dr. Omalu’s

The book Concussion is written by Jeanne Marie Laska in 2015. This story is in the midst of being a dramatic and a sports genre book. The author introduces the story with a descripted scene of the main character, Bennet Omalu, being in a courtroom testifying. Further into the book is when the backstory begins. The story is about an impactful cause of death that Bennet Omalu discovers while doing an autopsy on one of the most important football players in history. Doctor Omalu is then stuck in between telling the world his discoveries or letting athletes continue dying due to the trauma.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay: Gay Culverhouse Concussions have become a high priority head injury at all levels of football, but is being spotlighted on the National Football League (NFL) and a well-known issue among retired players who are now suffering the long-term effects of their years as football players. Today when we see a famous football player our attention is on the six figure contracts, million dollar houses, and fast cars. We don’t see the enormous pressure these players are put under and the hardships they put their bodies through every day so their families are taken care of for the rest of their lives. Gay Culverhouse, the former owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has become an activist for former players through her book, Throwaway Players: The Concussion Crisis: From Pee Wee Football to the NFL. The book is filled with emotionally pulling stories and tons of statistics.

The movie Concussion stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu who performs autopsies and looks into why people died. He works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has to look into what caused fifty-year-old former NFL quarterback Mike Webster to die. Dr. Omalu finds that Webster had been pulling his teeth out and super gluing them back in. Dr. Omalu who does not watch football catches a glimpse of it one day and begins to study it. He realizes how hard these players are getting hit when contact is initiated and tackles are made. He begins to do more research and finds that animals like woodpeckers and rams have built in shock absorption that protects their craniums from hitting their skulls, but humans do not have this feature. Human brains sit in a fluid disconnected from the skull so every time a football player gets hit the brain slams into the skull. Dr. Omalu finds that humans will obtain a concussion at a force of 60g and NFL players receive blows at 100g. Players were committing suicide by many different was such as shooting themselves, crashing their cars, or drinking antifreeze. Dr. Omalu found out they were all suffering from CTE, which stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain

In this article, the writer gives examples of situations where concussions have occurred and ended sports careers. It also gives an overview of what a concussion is and how it happens. It mentions that concussions need to be given adequate time to heal to avoid long term problems. There is information about NFL players and other athletes going before congress asking for legislation to help prevent and treat concussions. This article uses pathos in an attempt to reach the reader’s emotions by telling stories about athletes who have had repeated concussions that have ended their sports careers and left them disabled.

On the morning of December first of two thousand and twelve, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher took a .40 caliber gun and shot his girlfriend 22 times inside his master bedroom. He then drove down to Arrowhead Stadium, the Chief’s home stadium, to express his appreciation to his team’s general manager and coach for everything they had done for him, walked away, and then shot himself in the head. This tragic recollection of the murder-suicide case executed by the 25 year old football player paints him as a monstrous and willfully violent man but what if one was to acclaim all of these fatal incidents to too many bumps in the head? Well it has been. Years after this incident, after medical examiners conducted an autopsy on Belcher and they found that his brain showed signs of CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease caused by repetitive traumatic head injuries, also denoted as concussions. There have been many documented cases where after contact sport athletes experience excessive concussions, they then seem to develop a seemingly new character as they come to be ill fully violent, overtly aggressive, or even deeply depressive. Many times this may lead to the diagnosis of a mental disorder or may end tragically, as in Belchers case, in the death of others and/or the athletes themselves.

The lack of knowledge that the majority of athletes enter the league with causes experts on the NFL’s policies to believe that the front office does not see the injury as a serious problem in the game today. “With the subsequent deaths of several relatively young retired NFL players, the autopsies of their brains, and the newly minted diagnosis chronic traumatic encephalopathy, we know the problem is real” (Carroll). This quotation intensifies the emphasis on the true problem the National Football League seems to be avoiding. Every injury, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant, needs to be addressed. “Even the only game that matters doesn't matter as much as your brain” (Flynn). There is nothing wrong with a person participating in the sport he loves, but when a blow to the head occurs, quick and efficient action must be taken to address the situation at hand. The National Football League and its policies do not suffice in relation to this area of concern. The fact of the matter is that no game, activity, or sport is worth a person’s

Concussions, injuries, and suffering- those are what always happen in football games. Football is the most popular sport in America, people like the sound of “uh....” when football players hit each other. In the documentary “League of Denial: NFL’s Concussion Crisis” by Frontline, the connection between playing football and brain injuries is analyzed. Steve Almond’s, “Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto” shows how football impacts his life and how evil the NFL is. Also other books that say the same things are “Ban College Football” by Intelligence2 Debates. They want to show how much impact human beings can receive when they play football and how football’s safety rules change to protect their players. Most of the time, resources always talk about CTE -Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy- an injury that can result in a memory loss. The illness comes from brain trauma that is caused by violent concussions and makes the tau protein, which actually is not supposed to be in the brain, stay inside the brain and kill all the neurons. The documentary by Frontline focuses on how many people are being affected by this problem and how the NFL reacts to all the allegations

A strong willed linebacker accelerates down the football field. He eyes up his opponent- the running back- both men lower their heads, bracing for impact, while helmets crunch, fans roar. Immediately after connecting, the running back 's head feels undeniably different, but at this point in the game, it would cost the team playoff contention if they lose. This man is young, rich, and famous, but little does he know that each concussion he gets brings him one step closer to his own grave. Multiple concussions relating to sports leads to early onset Dementia and CTE, loss of life, changes in how games are played, lawsuits, and even more unsettling concussion facts and statistics.

a degenerative disease that develops over months, years, or even decades of time after repetitive head blows. “An Attempt for One More Appeal in the NFL Concussion Case” says that lawyers for long time NFL running back, Cookie Gilchrist, compiled evidence to counter the league's claims that his CTE was not sustained from playing football. Despite the claims, experts and lawyers helped prove otherwise by looking at records and data. They concluded that after so many years of playing and getting hit, and so many concussions that were reported not including the ones not reported, that that is why he died of CTE. Former players could agree with the findings of private investigators by sharing stories and experiences. After this football took an even bigger shot to its

Aikman was not alone in his decision to retire early because of concussions, Merrill Hoge and others retired early. Most people know Merrill Hoge as a TV football analyst today. In one very sad case, concussions did lead to the loss of life of one former player. In 2012 Junior Seau took his own life after dealing with severe depression, which is one of the symptoms of CTE. In Seau 's will he donated his brain to research on CTE. Although, the concussion was not the cause of death for Mr. Seau, it did cause the symptoms that led to him taking his own life.

While the NFL is putting new rules and regulations on equipment and which type of tackles are allowed, living retired NFL players are found to already have symptoms of CTE (Fainaru, 2013). Through brain scans and research done by UCLA, they have identified proteins in player’s brains that cause CTE, which as Dr. Julian Bailes, co-director or North Shore Neurological Institute said, is the “holy grail” to studying CTE and finding ways to cure and prevent it (Fainaru, 2013). While this is a break through, there is still no cure or way to treat CTE (Fainaru, 2013). But this research also raises questions about CTE and the NFL. Will players be required to be tested for CTE? Can players be denied playing anymore if CTE is found? Will this greatly affect the way that football is currently played? As the research is still being collected, there is still no definite answer to any of those questions, but the NFL has acknowledged the correlations of CTE and concussions caused by playing in the NFL and assures that they will do all they can to help prevent severe brain trauma to their players, including donating $30 million to the National Institutes of Health to conduct further research on CTE (Kroll, 2013).