Persuasive Essay On Concussions

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.

Concussions are the most common head injury that can occur while participating in sports. “A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury. When athletes sustain concussions, their brains stop functioning properly as a result of trauma. Perhaps the simplest way to think of a sport-related concussion is as a temporary dysfunction of the brain caused by trauma Even though there are some people who symptoms of having a concussion will seem obvious”(Meehan). There are over 250,000 concussion injuries reported each year with football players alone. High school football players experience at least one concussion during their season each year. Sport related concussions are most likely to witness by someone, they are usually mild, sometimes to never

Studies like the study at Virginia Tech can be used to identify the root cause of consussions and may in result, lead to a solution to the mass head trauma experienced by youth and even professional players. Because concussions occur so often in football, it is a suitable ground sero for the research on consussions in sports. It can lead to better medical diagnosis on the field where spli-second decisions are made and even in domestic cases. I addition, because concussions are a very misunderstood injury, this research is needed. The study wishes to develop a better helmet for football specifically but sports like hoccer could be benefitted too. The general knowledge of concussions would expand if more advanced and specific studies like these

Have you ever had a dream that you wanted so bad and you would do anything to obtain that dream to make it a reality? Most kids if you asked them what they wanted to be when they grow up they would probably say something along the lines of an astronaut, firefighter, or maybe even a doctor, but what I have found to be the most common answer to this question is to be in some sort of major league sport such as baseball, basketball, or football. Most kids can’t really perceive the sacrifice and consequences that come with having this dream. The ones that have realized what it takes to make it in professional sports won’t let people or the hard work set them back they will keep moving forward and keep their eye on their goal so their dream isn’t a dream, it’s a reality.

Football is one of the most popular sports that exist in America. Which involves a lot of physical contact. However, it is still questioned whether the equipment provides enough safety for the participants. Though there is no guarantee on safety while participating in this extra-curricular activity, many individuals still partake in American football. Ever since the birth of American football, rules and equipment have been reorganized overtime. Despite the equipment and rule progressions; injuries are still occurring very frequently throughout the game of football. The most dangerous and recurrent injuries tend to be head injuries, which comes to question whether or not football equipment provide enough protection.

Hall of fame coach John Madden once said: “They’re on the right road, but there’s a long way to go on concussions.” Madden is right. The NFL is doing something about concussions, but they are clearly not doing enough. In the National Football League, there needs to be more player safety because of the immediate dangers of concussions and the increased chance of CTE and other mental diseases arising later in a player’s life.

The number of sports-related concussions throughout the United States have increased dramatically in the past 10 years, which could lead to permanent brain damage or death for the athletes that suffer these concussions. Which is why football has not been sissified in America, the new precautions only make the game safer for those who play it. Football is an ever changing sport in which 300 pound athletes can now run the 40-yard dash in under 4.5 seconds, which would have been nearly impossible for any athlete to run when the sport was just created (Schottey). The NFL has set up safety precautions to help preserve the lives of its’ players, including new penalties added to the game, the teaching of brain trauma to young adults in high

In the beginning, God created man, woman, and football. Well, that may not be quite how it goes, but being from the south, one may tend to think so. Football is one of America 's favorite pastimes and has been for quite a while now. It usually consumes the weekends with high school football on Friday nights, college football on Saturdays, and finishing the weekend with the NFL on Sundays. Football may seem to be all fun and games but there have been some recent arguments on the safety of the players. Researchers are digging into what may lead to the biggest controversy of the century. Are the helmets that the players use sufficient enough to protect from brain damage or should further testing be done to provide the maximum amount of protection possible? In my opinion, there should be a constant study on ways to improve protection gear especially for a sport that revolves around frequent contact. Scientists could decrease the amount of long-term brain damage, short term head trauma, and overall, make football a much safer and more enjoyable (for parents) sport by executing tests to increase the safety of football helmets.

Most people do not realize how concussions can change lives in only just a couple of seconds. A concussion can occur when someone no matter what the age the person is can get a hard hit to the head, or hit to the Reticular Activating System part of the brain and that causes it to be moved out of it’s regular position ("Concussion - Causes Share”). Concussions can also happen anytime but for the most of the time they happen in sports due to all of the impact. Take football for example, football is one of the most biggest sport that contains concussions because of the collison from tackling each other on the field. Most concussions happen from some type of collision small or big, Kyle Turley said, “ you start on your own five-yard line, eighteen plays in a row sometimes. Every play: collision, collision, collision” (Gladwell). There will be reasons why concussions need to be reduced by changing little league football, and why concussions are dangerous for everyone. The programs for younger football leagues should be changed to reduce concussions in athletes because it is a risk to their life and can cause extreme damage physically and mentally later on.

The NFL has invested in innovative helmet technology, which they claim reduces the likelihood of concussions after head-to-head contact. However, this investment in research and development is misdirected, as distinguished researchers have argued that head injuries cannot be prevented by equipment. Forensic Pathologist Dr. Omalu claims: “There is no equipment that can prevent this kind of injury” (Lartey, 2015). This can further be supported by a case study on Mike Webster, a former NFL player who suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to concussions. In addition to the CTE discovered in Webster’s brain, he had hardened calluses and shelves of scar tissue on his forehead as a result of repeated contact between his helmet and his head (Lartey, 2015). There is also a logic-based argument that safer helmets are counter-productive, as an increased perception of safety leads to an increased threshold to take on risk, resulting in even harder collisions (Haislop, 2015). This creates a culture of over-reliance on the protective properties of equipment within the

Injuries in football are quickly becoming more and more dangerous. The ever-growing sport is getting even more physical and competitive. People now hit and tackle harder than ever before. This is believed to be the effect of wearing helmets and pads as protection. New York Times Magazine says “(t)he feeling of safety, it seems to induce us to be less careful.” This plays a big role in football related injuries, because if a person feels protected they tend to hit harder and be more careless causing more injuries.

Concussions are a known fact in the football industry. In addition, it is hard to discover the injuries and the effect upon the player. Battle Sports Science, LLC is trying to promote the niche that

The football is in the air and the receiver is running a crisp post route towards the free safety just along the hash marks and the goal line when suddenly he receives a helmet-to-helmet hit that leaves him unconscious. This is something that occurs far too often in the sport of football. Football has been around since 1869 and the National Football League (NFL) was established in 1920. Over the last few decades the NFL has grown to become a multi-billion dollar organization whose annual championship game is America’s most watched event each year. With each year the NFL grows, so does the concern for each player’s safety. The most common concern is the traumatic injury in football known as a concussion. A concussion is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “a stunning, damaging, or shattering effect from a hard blow; especially :  a jarring injury of the brain resulting in disturbance of cerebral function.” (Webster) Even though the NFL has denied the link between serious head trauma and football for many years, the NFL should do more to protect their players from future head trauma because new research shows the long term effects of concussions in football players and many former NFL players have been diagnosed with serious brain diseases.

There are lots of athletes not only in the US, but around the world who experience serious injuries. Among that list of injuries are concussions. If we seem to notice that they are happening, wouldn’t you think that the issue would be dealt with by now? Well that’s not the case, even though there are more technological advancements in this world today than there ever have been, doctors still seem to struggle with handling this problem. Does it take more concussions to be diagnosed before people actually try to understand why they are happening now more than ever? Do more athletes have to suffer before something is done?