Concussion Issues In Football

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The Problem with Concussions Vince Lombardi, a legendary NFL head coach, once said “football isn’t a contact sport, it’s a collision sport. Football’s violent nature has enticed fans from across the country. The game has been around for almost 150 years. In that time period, the game changed drastically whether it was the rules or style of play. Concussions were considered to be normal injuries that needed little time to brush off. Players often sat out a few minutes to catch their breath and regain their senses after a big hit. Nowadays, concussions have become a serious topic to the point where all levels of football have new rules and regulations to reduce the number of head and neck injuries. “It is estimated that over 1.5 million sports…show more content…
Although this statistic is for sports in general, football accounted for almost 70% of concussions in sports. Within the last two decades, many former football players have stated the problems they have dealt with in their post-football life due to the many concussions they sustained over the course of their careers. Unfortunately, we have seen some players tragically pass away due to problems that stem from CTE. Football is violent in nature and injuries come with the sport naturally. However, the major problem with concussions is the manner in which they are dealt with in game situations. “Intercollegiate football players, especially those with professional aspirations, often will try to persuade medical staff that they feel fine so that they can continue to play because they do not understand the potential negative consequences” (Moser 38). In the NFL, teams have independent doctors and physicians to deal with head injuries. College football teams do not. One of the most important aspects of dealing with head injuries is the immediate response after a head injury. In college football, the immediate response and subsequent treatment has some…show more content…
However, even this policy, which was implemented a few years ago, has some flaws associated with it. This policy does not apply to initial treatment for concussions after they occur on the field. That is when concussions symptoms are not as prevalent. The symptoms of a concussion sometimes do not hit their peak initially and can happen days after the injury. It is vital to a player’s health to get them immediate attention because if they stay on the field for another play and take repeated hits to the head, it can be even more harmful to their brains. At that point, the symptoms that they feel after the game will be even more painful and serious. Some football players have come out and said that over the course of their playing careers, they sustained more than one concussion. Junior Seau was star linebacker that played in the NFL for 20 years. He passed away in 2012 after a self-inflicted gun-shot wound. His brain was donated for research at Boston University. Researchers discovered that Seau had a severe case of CTE. The findings were indeed shocking but some people were not surprised to see such a damaged brain. One of his former teammates said “Junior played for 20 years. That's five concussions a game, easily. How many in his career then? That's over 1,500 concussions. I know that's startling, but I know it's true” (cbssports.com). It may sound inaccurate, but it just shows how many concussions a football player can sustain

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