Nfl Reflection

Football has always been a huge part of my life. I fell in love with the sport in 2002 as a 9-year-old, and played on every team I could from Pop Warner to high school. Staying after school every day for practice has taught me discipline and how to be a good teammate, and I think it played a big part in who I am today. Some of my fondest memories are of my dad and me spending every Sunday watching NFL football. It ensured that he and I always had something to talk about together and we grew closer because of it. Over the past few years, I’ve been hearing more and more of concerned parents who won’t let their children play football because they’re concerned of their safety. This concerns me because the sport I love could be dying right before my eyes.

I wanted to see why there was such a sudden public interest in how concussions are dealt with, so I went onto ProQuest and did a few searches with variations of the search terms “NFL,” “concussion,”

I knew that the league implemented a revamped protocol on how to deal with concussed players for the 2013 season (most likely in response to that massive settlement), but I didn’t know any specifics. I discovered a PDF published by the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee which outlined the protocol that teams should follow. Two medical staffers were added to each game, and their jobs are to survey the field and look for players who may be suffering from a concussion. If one is suspected to be concussed, he is immediately sidelined and subjected to a 10-minute series of tests by a member of the team’s medical staff. These tests include checking for neck pain, disorientation, confusion, dizziness, blurred vision, sensitivity to sound/light, and, among other things, the player is also tested on his memory and ability to balance. If a concussion has been sustained, he is removed from the game and must be evaluated on a day-to-day basis by the team until he is deemed fit to