...Reflections of Concussions Doctor Omalu studied the lethal form of illness in the brains of former football players, and how they have already turned into a long and painful fight. Omalu was a black man and also an immigrant. NFL coaches were so in denial of the situations that were being discussed. This is a terrifying implication on concussions. Omalu work on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy also known as CTE. This movie “ concussion” is spiritually and emotionally accurate all the way through. This is the best study that we have on NFL players and mortality, yet its findings never seem to enter public consciousness. The simple truth, that former players aren’t dying, that in lots of ways they’re much healthier than you or me , smacks against...
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...Just like every sport football can be dangerous in some ways and can cause a great amount of harm to people when playing the sport. It can be fun and some people are still going to play no matter what the harms are. Some may think that it is worth playing and some don't have the same opinion about it. Most of the injuries that occur in football are really dangerous this has been proven by a study that found that most of the kids who played football ended up with serious injuries and were not just your everyday injury.This proves the fact that most of the injures are bad and have to be looked at by doctors and then that is when they determine if the injury is really bad. In most cases unfortunately are. The threat of a concussion has raised...
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...Football is the epitome of strategic warfare, encapsulating violence, might, strength and valor into a colossally barbaric sporting event. Hall of Fame legend, and former wide-receiver of the New York Giants, Frank Gifford once said, “Football is like nuclear warfare. There are no winners, only survivors." Over the last fifty years, football has grown to become America’s most popular game, however, this fame and glory is accompanied by an alarming rise in tragic accidents on the field of competition. Even with rules and regulations meant for the protection of both the players and the integrity of game, traumatic injuries are escalating at an alarming rate. In all leagues ranging from pee-wee to the National Football League (NFL), the athleticism and size of the players are at an all-time high and continues to increase each season. However, such increases in athleticism have highlighted the greatest flaw in modern football: the iconic football helmet has become the single most destructive weapon in sports. Helmets have become the heads of missiles that launch through the air and crush into opponents’ skulls, leaving players with closed head injuries as a result of multiple concussions. The football helmet found its roots with the leatherheads; however the false sense of security and protection the helmet provides has led to the worst injuries the sports industry has ever seen. The multiple hits to the head can and will eventually lead a player to the emergency room with a concussion...
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...NFL Player Safety and the Effects of Concussions An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these changes of rules in the NFL come from various points of emphasis. Legal actions taken by former NFL athletes have plagued the league and its reputation as of late, prompting this proactive approach to reduce the risk of long term effects on players. With all of the legal actions being performed on the NFL some felt that these changes that needed to happen would solely be kick started because of the legal aspect of it as represented by this quote, “"I don't think it'll be driven by public opinion, but by lawyers and insurance companies," David Meggyesy, who played linebacker for the St. Louis Cardinals in the nineteen-sixties.” (McGrath, 2011). One of the main concerns by the NFL is the long term affects that concussions have been shown to have...
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...Introduction The National Football league is America’s most popular sporting league, drawling millions of fans each year. Fans wear jerseys, hats, and other merchandise to represent their favorite player(s). However, over 70% of National Football League fans, don’t realize the battle players (and retired players) have been facing for the past 20 years. For the two last decades, players have been facing life-threating health challenges that have resulted in mental illness and even death. The National Football league failed to acknowledge these medical conditions until 2010. The argument faced is whether or not players should be allowed to file a lawsuit against the National Football League, even though players sign contracts which has a acknowledgement of the possibility of injury during gameplay and practice. In 2013, the National Football League had revenue of $9.5 billion, not including the amounts that the teams earned throughout the season. A total of 1,696 players played for 32 teams in 2014. Football is the most physical athletic sport played, in the Untied states of America. Injuries are often expected to occur to players each year. However, most players only expect to miss a few games before they return from an injury, not realizing the potential risk of long term injury. Every play on a National Football League field consists of head to head contact between some player, or with the ground. Retired National Football League players have proceeded to file a civil...
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...filed lawsuits due to emotional and cognitive injury they believe arouse from playing football. In the “League of Denial” Mike Webster filed a claim against the NFL and was able to win. Webster claimed football was the cause of his early onset dementia and confusion. Although the NFL knew brain injuries were caused by football years in advance, they were negligent in taking action to prevent players from being seriously hurt. The NFL master complaint also states negligent misrepresentation in which the NFL was also the defendant in the case. The NFL withheld information from players, although they were aware of the consequences players could face from the repetitive impacts to the head. The NFL ignored scientific studies and concealed true information instead of passing it onto the players. As a result the plaintiffs in the case were successfully able to seek the full measures of damages allowed under law....
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...The minimum income for a rookie NFL player is four hundred five thousand dollars but does it compare to the toll the game takes out on their body” (Jenkins)? There is a growing list of ex-NFL players who have developed physical and mental issues, and there have been many successful studies proving that there is a correlation to their time in the National Football League. One of the more disastrous injuries caused by the physically draining sport is CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Injuries like these bring up the question of whether the NFL is safe for players. Football can be a dangerous sport and there is already efforts to make it safer however there is very little effort to help the people who are still suffering from their career as a...
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...brain injury by medical professionals. The study of Gerberich published in 1983 was one of the first widely cited articles to deal with concussions in high school football and spanned the years 1978–1982. Emily A. Harrison, a doctoral candidate in the History of Science Department at Harvard University researched, sports concussion has become a prominent public health problem in the early 21st century, also referred to as “The Concussion Crisis.” Harrison found that Football-related concussion contributed to much of the epidemic burden and inspired a lot of public awareness. The crisis has been around for more than a century. In the first decades of the sport of football, concussions...
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...not require surgery and can heal with little intervention. But, ACL tears can also definitely require surgery, which can take up to 9 months to fully recover. This is why almost all football players who suffer ACL tears usually miss the whole season. So, one of the main treatments is surgery, and when the knee does not need surgery, then physical therapy helps in bringing the knee back to the original state. When the knee does need surgery, the way the surgery works is complicated. Basically, the surgeon makes a few incisions placed around the knee and places sterile saline to expand the knee. This makes seeing the knee easier for the surgeon to use. Then, small drills are inserted where the surgeon made other incisions. Small holes are drilled in the lower and upper leg bones where the bones come together at the knee joint. The surgeon then takes the graft and pulls the graft through the tunnels drilled in the upper and lower leg bones. Then, the graft is secured by the surgeon, and the patient is taken to a recovery room for a few hours. When the ACL tear does not require surgery, the most common treatment is physical therapy. Physical therapy will help return the knee to the knees pre-injury state. In...
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...Every year, roughly 1.6 to 3.8 million athletes in the United States alone suffer from a concussion (“13 Things You”). But, almost half of these concussions are not reported and therefore not treated (“13 Things You”). Of all sports contributing to the concussion total, football is by far the main contributor. “High school football accounts for 47% of all reported sports concussions, while 33% of these concussions occur during practice,” (“Head Case - Complete”). The main reason for this could be improper technique and teaching, neglect, and other factors. But for these players, high school is followed by college and possibly the National Football League (NFL), where concussions get much more attention and criticism. Concussions in the NFL...
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...avid fan of North American football. What would tell your friend about the potential neurological consequences of playing football and what is currently being done to prevent neurological injuries? The first thing I would say is that while football is certainly fun and entertaining to watch, the human body was not designed to handle the frequent hard hits to the body and head as a result of playing the sport. Unfortunately these professional athletes end up suffering from brain damage as a result of our thirst and fascination for hard hits and violence. I would explain that while football helmets seem safe, they truly only provide very minimal protection against concussions that cause the brain to bounce, shake and rotate back and forth hitting against the wall of the human skull as a result of frequent football tackles that appear harmless to those watching the sport. To ensure the message hits home, I would bring up examples of their favourite former NFL players such as Hall of Famer Mike Webster who actually suffered neurological effects of playing the sport. It is important to highlight the most severe consequences first, which is that playing football can cause severe trauma to the brain as a result of multiple concussions that these athletes regularly experience. This trauma starts to destroy the integrity of the brain cells, causing a degenerative brain disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). High levels of CTE in a football player’s brain can result...
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...HEAD INJURIES IN THE NFL KENNETH BASSETT ENG 122 PROFESSOR WELLS 5/19/14 Playing football as a kid was always every little boys dream of one day becoming a professional player in the NFL. Suiting up in cleats, shoulder pads, and helmets was always a fun time. Back in high school when the coaches would make you have two a day practices to get ready for the fall. In the back of the players minds, and even their parents is the idea of a very bad injury or even a concussion. What is a concussion you might ask? Concussion is a temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head. The term is also used loosely of the after effects such as confusion or temporary incapacity. Concussions can be very difficult to spot especially since plays don’t necessarily have to be knocked out in order to receive a concussion. This is why players who suffer from head injuries are often told to shake it off and get back in the game. Many concussions in high school go undiagnosed due to lack of staff, player, and family knowledge about concussions. Being able to recognize a concussion is the first step in protecting athletes. Ways to recognize a concussion that has either been knocked out or still conscious would be if a player feels dizzy, confused and forgetful, complains about headaches, and/or vomit or feels nauseous. Concussion symptoms can either occur right away or in some cases they can begin weeks later after receiving the hit that caused the concussion. Concussions...
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...Most of professional football players or children who play football are in the high risk of having concussions. The question is what is a concussion? There are a lot of researches and true stories about football players that are connected to concussion and I am sure that you will be surprised about our popular sport. “A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works” (Hearens 94). The word concussion regularly connected to boxing that the players get many hits on faces and heads. However, the first concussion case in football was found by Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered the truth about Mike Webster’s death. The story that the NFL didn’t want to admit. If you are a...
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...affect the brain severely. Not only have they examined pro sport stars that have died due to concussions but also serial killers who have died or who are still in prison. Many pro football players suffer from concussions the most, since they do play head-on; the ones who have died from other natural deaths were examined. Some serial killers have also agreed to have their brain looked at for irregular brain function, and in both players and killers, there were either undeveloped frontal lobes or damaged frontal lobes. This was the answer they’ve been looking for not only to keep players safe that play pro sports, but to maybe save people from being a victim of homicide. Pro wrestler Chris Benoit suffered brain damage from his years in the ring and getting hit by metal chairs, rails, stairs, and even baseball bats. Maybe that could help explain why he killed his wife, son and also himself. A doctor who studied Benoit’s brain found out that his frontal lobe was damaged. Chris Benoit was a family man and everyone who knew him apart from wrestling, knew that that was most important to him. When he wasn’t wrestling he was with his family. In the ring he wasn’t so nice and his opponents weren’t either so they hit him with any object near the ring. This caused many head injuries and even some concussions. Studies of his brain show that he had a brain of an 85 year old man with Alzheimer’s disease at the time of his death. These brain damages might have been the cause of his abnormal behavior...
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...sports teams from high school to the NFL need to focus more on the dangers of concussion sin football. In sports everyone who commits to playing for an organized team knows that there is a large risk involved by the time you are stepping onto the field, Court or Ice Rink. One of the most common sports that athletes are being injured in is the sport of football. Every one knows the dangers of the the full contact sport because it is so widely commercialized in for all ages. From High School all the way to the NFL football is a big deal but what about the injury's that come along with playing this violent game. Concussions are one of the most common injures that occur out of the football field and it has...
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