Personal Essay: Football Physical Health

Jon Spitznagel

Leech

Hour 6

January 27th, 2023

Football Physical Health While my family members have never been football fans, growing up in the St Louis area, I have always been surrounded by football. That being said, football was not always as important to me as it is at this point in my life. Football first became a significant part of my life when I first watched the 2020 divisional round between the Ravens and Titans. While the Ravens had gotten brutally beaten by the Titans 28-12, I decided at that moment, the Ravens were my team. Watching that specific game sparked my interest in football and my love of the game. I have watched football religiously since that game, and I noticed one particular issue that came up every year, the

Football itself involves players trying to tackle and hit the players on the opposing team. The mere basis of football involves players being injury prone. To start understanding the effect the physicality of football has on the players, I began researching common injuries and the effects they have on the players. I found one article in particular that wrote about not only the fact that players are injury prone but the type of injuries that occur. One quote from Daniel Daneshvar, a brain injury physician and assistant professor at Harvard caught my eye. In the article, he states, “When you’re talking about the most dangerous sports, it really comes down to the kind of injury. Most sports have some level of risk, but football,” he says, “is among those with injuries that often cause permanent damage — especially when it comes to the brain.” (Himmelman). He describes football as the most dangerous sport in terms of physical effect, due to the permanent damage the players sustain through head

That is due to the amount of popularity football has and the number of kids involved. While exploring the internet I came across a website ranking the most watched sports in the U.S. based on statistical data collected between July 2021 and June 2022. According to the website, “ According to research recently published by Statista, the most popular sport in the United States is football. Football, according to respondents, is followed by 74.5 percent of Americans. ” (“Most popular sports in the United States -”). The data shows that almost three-quarters of the American population follows football. Basketball is the 2nd most followed sport with just 55.6% of Americans watching it. I was able to conclude that many people play football due to the fact that everyone grows up around the sport. When over three-quarters of an entire country watches one sport, it is going to inspire many young