Synthesis Essay On Concussions

Concussions have just recently been identified as a severe injury and the results of untreated, repeated concussions are downright terrifying. For centuries the brain was a mystery to scientists and doctors, and up until the recent century is when breakthroughs pertaining to the brain have occurred. Now concussions are a somewhat well-known injury, but continue to be a severe injury. With all the attention concussions have gotten through the media, in forms of movies and medical campaigns, the major problem of concussions in football still remains. In the article “The Dangers of Safety Equipment” by Michael Munger, he states that if football athletes came to an agreement to keep each other safe while they keep tackling at the same level of

He shows that rugby tackling has proven to prevent as many concussions as possible, and if it was adopted by football it could prevent a majority of concussions. The author adds onto his idea of the change in tackling, by also suggesting helmet sensors to detect when a concussion occurs. Finally, Munger states that if the athletes created a mutual respect for their fellow athletes’ safety then this could cause a decrease in major injuries among athletes in football and rugby. Overall Munger tried to portray an urgency to change the tackling used in football and an increased respect for athletes’ health could cause a significant drop of concussions in football and rugby. Munger succeeds at convincing sports lovers and athletes to believe that the root of the concussion problem is how the athletes view concussions and their overall health because of his use of logic and personal experience in the sport; but he takes away from his overall argument with the choice to not restate his point in the conclusion, choosing to add another idea

Munger cites sportswriter, Ross Bernstein, “Your goal is to dominate that guy … There are right ways and wrong ways of doing that, however, and that is what the code is all about. I never once tried to injure the guy across from me … but wanted to send him to the bench — and there’s a difference”. This establishes that among the athletes there is a code when it comes to how an athlete tackles another athlete. The author proves that athletes attempt to take down their opponents, but never purposely maim or injure. Munger brings up the point that this understanding to not injure other athletes on purpose should be applied to concussions, which at this time is an afterthought to most athletes. If the athletes tackled in a way that wouldn’t cause blunt force trauma to the head then the concussion rate would plummet. Munger also cites basic logic and common sense pertaining to football and rugby. Munger states, “The only solution is a change in the code that making intent to concuss or knock out of the game a violation in the eyes of other players, not just the officials. And even then players will go along only if they also believe there is no loss in their ability to make tackles effectively”. Munger, wisely, makes the point that athletes won’t change their mind set unless the code includes the idea that going for