When the so-called leaders of the hockey world, and subsequently the rest of hockey culture, fail to understand the simplicity of concussion protocols and healing processes, how do we ever expect this culture to be fixed? Change starts at the top, and we are far from that. To this day, hockey culture still prides themselves on toughing it out, regardless of knowing the long-term effects. Joe Murphy’s story is a powerful reminder of the significance and importance of addressing the risks of concussions and need for a cultural shift in player safety.
Football is the most watched sport in America (Paulsen, 2016). Football is also a very dangerous sport and a large number of injuries occur in the National Football League each year. Will Shields, a former National Football League player once said, “Football is a violent game. We are violent men” (“Will Shields Quotes”, n.d.). More than two hundred concussions alone occurred in the National Football League last year (Mukherjee, 2017).
While doing so, he also provides solutions to limit the number of injuries football players endure. While comparing rugby and football, Munger notices that even though rugby has less safety equipment, larger fields, and longer game time, they have fewer concussions than football. He states, “in professional rugby union, there are far more tackles per game (about 220 versus about 90). Yet it is football that has more concussions — about seven concussions every 10 games this year, while rugby has ‘only’ 2.5” (Munger). This supports Munger’s claim, which is that football tackling is too dangerous and needs to be changed, by displaying evidence that proves, despite the excessive safety equipment, football has a problem with its disproportionate amount of injuries.
Concussions are the number one injury caused when playing football at any level today, but yet people still decide to play the game. Concussions can leave a big impact on your life after football, even if you are a younger player in high school. An article from “Frontline Magazine” states that, “an estimated high school football player suffered 11.2 concussions for every 10,000 games and practices. Among college players, the concussion rate stood at 6.3 out of 10,000 games and practices.” Concussions are a bigger issue than people believe and something needs to be done to help protect the players of the game.
With the recent advances in technology the head injuries experienced by National Football League players has been made more noticeable to the public. So the public has raised an eyebrow, questioning who will take responsibility to battle the issue of brain injuries in the National Football League. This subject involving player safety isn’t anything new, “In fact, a quick search of historical press reports shows that football related concussions have been associated with deaths and debilitating injuries since the late 1800s”(Lange 178). In football one of the most important parts are player safety. In fact, players wear equipment such as helmets, to help prevent head injuries.
Imagine the rules of sports completely changing because of athletes receiving extreme hits to the head. From receiving major hits athletes can receive diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or even Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. These following diseases can affect the way the athlete plays as while their everyday life. Athletes began to face life challenging experiences as time passes by. Throughout time there has been conversations of many compact sports changing their rule to make the sports safer.
As an avid NFL fan over the years, and someone who has watched many games, I have noticed the NFL’s shortcomings in protecting the safety of its players C. Thesis: There are many topics of discussion when it comes to the NFL concussion
Concussions themselves are a controversial topic simply because of their destructive forces on the lives of everyone, ranging from people who tripped and fell a little too hard, to people who make a career of hitting other people as hard as they possibly can. There are many people opposed to the idea of football’s inherent violence, yet advocates of the sport claim that removing the factor of colliding would make a completely different sport that cannot even be called football, which itself has become so ingrained in American society that it practically owns a day of the week from Week One of preseason to the closing seconds of the Superbowl. The fact remains though that if football were to suddenly cease existing, many people would be jobless,
As a result to raise awareness about concussions, the National College Player Association was developed in 2001 as nonprofit organization, to minimize the risks of college athletes receiving brain trauma and keep them in good standing until they are finished playing their respective sports. The program allows for college athletes to voice their concerns and opinions in accordance with NCAA rules. It was launched by a group of UCLA football players to serve as a support system for all college athletes across the nation and is the only organization that serves an independent voice for them. More importantly, the NCPA Players Council developed the Concussion Awareness and Reduction Emergency (CARE) Plan for college athletes. The CARE Plan includes
Simple implementations such as better helmets, more trainers, and more physicians could further decrease the concussion rate to make the game even safer. With the joint effort from children’s leagues, the NCAA, and the NFL to make the game more secure, yet simultaneously just as enticing, the entire sport of football would be ameliorated, with very minimal cases of concussions. More parents would be willing to let their children play this new style of football instead of holding them back, as they may have done previously due to the fear of head injury. More research and care for concussions could result in even more technological advancements. All of this could easily become a reality with the unification of all types of football, resulting in a benign, yet highly enjoyable
There are estimated to be between 1.6 and 3.8 million sports related concussions in the United States every year (prevacious.com). Is there a way to stop this? Team doctors are responsible for the long term effects of concussions in football players. Most of the concussions are coming from football, the concussion rate is 64 to 76.8 and 33 percent of these injuries are happening in practiced and not in games (Headcasecpmpany.com). Most of these concussions are happening because they can 't defend themselves from the hard hits or the balls hitting them or just falling to the ground hard.
In 2015, the NFL reported 271 concussions through practices, games, and workouts in the 2015 season alone (Breslow). The NFL is the most popular sport in the US (McGarry and Schwartz). It’s competitiveness and excitement were all people focused on until players recognized the true effects concussions can have on a player. Today, only a handful of players come out and speak about the problem, addressing their concerns. The cost of speaking out could be that you would lose respect from your teammates and coaches, as they are trying to preserve a game that they love.
Concussions in Sports In sports, concussions occur frequently across all age groups. From little leagues to high school sports to the professional leagues, concussions pose a high risk of long term Traumatic brain injuries. Because of the high rate of concussions in sports more attention should be paid to protocols and treatment to prevent traumatic brain injuries. High school athletes that partake in a sport that requires intense physical activity are the most vulnerable to concussion and need more time to recover. According to the Head Case “High school football accounts for 47 percent of all reported sports concussions, with 33 percent of concussions occurring during practice.”
The concussion crisis exactly began over a century ago. The concussions were identified among football players during the first decades of the game. This crisis subsided and allowed the issue to grow rapidly, because football supporters redesigned the public’s acceptance of the risk. They appealed to the American values that allowed violence, attentions shifted to address more highly visible injuries, which legitimized football within a more ethically dependable institution. In the meantime, changing demands in the medical profession made specialists more reluctant to take a definitive stand.
THE INCREASING NUMBER OF CONCUSSION IN ATHLETES ARE DETRIMENTAL TO THE FUTURE OF SPORTS In the recent years, concussions have become a common accident related to various types of sports around the globe. A concussion is a traumatic injury of the brain, they can also be as a result of a sudden blow on the body. Such a blow may cause the head to jerk back and forth in a rapid motion. This may cause a bounce or twist within the skull, which may over stretch the brain, cause cell damage and alter chemical functioning within the brain.