...The NFL’s Head Case The NFL and its teams have a professional medical staff that is assigned to each team. Their responsibility is to treat and evaluate players after an injury. While they claim that they only release players if they are completely free of symptoms and that also the players consent to feeling normal, the NFL should take on more responsibility with current and former players and acknowledge fact that they have knowingly allowed players to compete in games when they should have been kept on the sideline. There have been over 4100 former players who have been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which also includes illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. There have been several suicide related deaths that have left many unanswered questions. Some have even left suicide notes that requested that their brain to be researched. Additionally, medical research has been able to show connection through several studies that head injuries, especially repeated, can cause traumatic brain damage. The main point of this research paper is to argue that repeated head injuries suffered by current and former NFL players are directly related to the neurological problems and the deaths of Junior Seau, Jovan Belcher and others, while also presenting the reactive measures that are taking place to prevent future occurrences in regards to rules and equipment. Every NFL football team is assigned a medical staff that is a paid member(s) of the organization. Their...
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...issued an order consolidating several lawsuits against the National Football League into one large case of Multidistrict Litigation. All of the lawsuits that have been filed claim “tortious conduct” on the part of the NFL, resulting in neuro-degenerative disease and injury to professional football players. As of January 24, 2013, over 4,500 retired NFL players, more than one-third of players to ever sign an NFL contract, had brought a suit against the NFL concerning the head injuries that they sustained on the field during their playing careers. (Anderson, 1). Given the outstanding popularity of football in the United States, these lawsuits have garnered the attention of national media, prompting debate, discussion, and research about the dangers of football-related head injuries and the future of the NFL. (Fenno, 1). The litigation has the potential to reach the scale of the Big Tobacco litigation of the 1990’s, but the NFL has thrown a substantial roadblock in the players’ suit with a federal employment law preemption defense. (Fisher, 1). The consolidation of all the lawsuits into the Multidistrict Litigation has created the ability for both parties to decide the legal issues presented by the players’ claims and the NFL’s defenses. This paper will examine the merits of those claims and defenses, offer insight into how the players applied rhetorical devices to further their case, address the link established between the NFL and Big Tobacco, and how the court could likely rule...
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...all walks of life together to celebrate a game that is constantly evolving, balancing the authenticity of tradition with the power of innovation. (NFL – Careers) 2. Explain in detail the facts of the event that generated the negative publicity and why this situation would create negative publicity. Adrian Peterson was supposed to play at Lambeau Field on Oct. 2. Instead, the running back is on the excused list following an indictment by a grand jury on a charge of negligent injury to a child. This case generated negative publicity because, in Texas, parents are entitled to discipline their children as they see fit, except when that discipline exceeds what the community would say is reasonable. The team disbands him the following weekend till further investigation. They will review the case under the NFL's personal conduct policy. The league found that Peterson did violate their code of conduct and shut him down for the entire 2014 season. In Peterson's case, the grand jury found his discipline exceeded a reasonable standard. (Bad publicity) The same goes for former Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was indicted by a grand jury on a third-degree aggravated...
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...Essay – League of Denial 1) Assume you have a friend who is an 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...
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...Risk of getting a concussion or severe head injury by helmet to helmet hit in the NFL Football is known to be a hard hitting sport and its spectators claim that those who play it already know the risks. One of the major injuries in football is a concussion or severe head injury which can lead to paralysis or fatality hence ending their career. This has been a big issue in the past years the National Football League and many solutions have been brought up to avoid these injuries. Every season the NFL introduces new rules outlining proper ways to hit in order to avoid certain injuries. Although these rules are introduced, concussions and other head injuries are still increasing by each football season. It is therefore important to understand the basis of this risk by performing an analysis and understanding its probabilities and consequences. The purpose of this project is performing a risk analysis of the underlying issue and come up with mitigation action. First the decision is identified, in this case, helmet to helmet hit or an illegal hit as defined by the NFL. The undesired outcome of this decision is players having concussions or severe head injuries while others even end up getting paralyzed. A risk avoidance or mitigation action will then be taken. The project will include statistical data available from numerous sources provided by the NFL and other independent studies. These data sets will be used in analysis from a set number of seasons. Methods of analysis such...
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...Have you ever seen a brutal or bloody head-to-head collision that has taken place on the football field? This is an occurring issue that we see happen in our daily lives. Every now and then, you hear in the news about an athlete coming down with a concussion. Concussions arise when an athlete experiences a vicious blow to the brain. Over the years, the National Football League has made efforts to make the game safer by implementing helmets and protective gear. But the use of safety equipment in the NFL has still not solved the problem of a degenerative brain disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). “In CTE, a protein called Tau forms clumps that slowly spread throughout the brain, killing brain cells” (Concussion para. 1). CTE...
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...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. Extended periods of head trauma have been shown to lead to many dangerous and tragic health problems later in athlete’s lives. As more and more recently retired athletes surface through media outlets with the different health problems they are faced with, the NFL is working hard in hopes to change the quickly degrading reputation that the sport is evolving into. This plan to help current...
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...American Football has become the cornerstone of Sports in the United States, with The National Football League at the fore-front. However, the NFL was not always the Juggernaut we know it as today. The NFL has been opposed by many other leagues over the years. The XFL or Extreme Football league sought to put an original spin on football. The UFL or United Football league is the NFL’s most recent competitor. The USFL or United States Football league sought to take the National Football League down legally and almost did so in the late 80’s. Arena Football aimed to bring football to an indoor enviorment with extensive offense with the AFL. And Originally the American Football League gave it’s run at rivaling the “big brother of football in the 60’s.However before we understand how the NFL is so dominant we have to understand how it came to be. The history of the National Football League has roots spanning as far back as 1892 when former Yale All-American guard William Heffelfinger was paid $500 by the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, making him the first ever professional football player, according to the book Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. However it wasn't until 1920 that American football achieved a league of any true organization. Roussel, 2 The American Professional Football Association was formed on September 17, 1920 and included ten teams from four different states. However the APFA lasted only two seasons...
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...make them suffer for the rest of their lives. “I’m 40 years old going on 65,” says Roman Oben, an ex-lineman. “God knows what I’ll feel like when I’m actually 65” (Jenkins). . Playing the sport doesn’t physically age you however it can cause years of stress on your body and make you feel like you’ve been aging much faster than everyone around you. A survey at University of Michigan showed that out of one thousand sixty three people eight in ten suffer from daily pain (Jenkins). Most retired NFL players describe getting out of bed in the morning as a very difficult task, because of the aches that overcome their body. (Jenkins)A combination of pain and that most retired pro athlete eventually have trouble with money leads to depression; some cases are more severe than others (Reinberg). The depression leads to a large percentage of players to suffer from insomnia only deepening their mental despair (Reinberg). There is only so much that the NFL medics can do to prevent lifelong pain however they are trying to create ways to prevent the more major injuries. Scientists spend a lot of time creating new rules and new equipment, but nothing compares to the extensive research of the football helmet, because a new development could end up saving a life and not just prevent painful injury (Lench). The helmet can save you from one of the most potentially dangerous injuries, the concussion (Lench). The concussion has influenced the game of football more than any player or coach ever could....
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...day in age. There are hundred cases of football players dying or getting head trauma from many blows to the head. But I have to come from both sides of this situation. Let’s face it yeah they have changed some rules and made it safer but everyone knows what they signed up for. You have to realize that you are constantly getting blows to the head no matter how safe they try to make it. You can’t just act like you didn’t know you were going to have blows to your head. I would still make up some new rules to make it safer, but honestly football is still a dangerous game. But there are a few ways that we can make football safer but still thrilling. To begin with, the first thing I would do to make football...
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...the streets but makes their way to the sports world. Like most institutions in America, white men control US sports and anyone who has not been a white male and has entered this institution faces with inequality. Findings regarding NFL’s racial disparity in leadership by Dr. C. Keith Harrison from the University of Central Florida, support this claim within the NFL. In his research Dr. Harrison reports that, “only 17 African American individuals have been head coaches in the NFL since 19631”. (Harrison & Bukstein 2017, p.2). These numbers are not because African American coaches have not been determined or ready to lead within the NFL. Minority coaches display much of the same qualities as their white peers. “Black coaches consistently moved more slowly up the ranks than their white counterparts, despite the roughly equal performance and skill sets.” (Rider et al. 2016). This shortage of minority coaches within the NFL limits the chances of African American coaches to be considered eligible for the top jobs. With the results of Dr.Harrison at hand, The Huffington Post argues that the Rooney rule, which requires every team to interview a minority candidate for a head coaching vacancy, rather than a sign of success, shortfalls its purpose. The NFL’s said progressive implementations are not creating change, they are only serving as tactics to maintain the status quo. (Goodman 2017) With rules like the Rooney rule, The NFL can pretend it is moving forward and blind the public to the...
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...break these new rules, only earn a fine. It takes multiple offenses for an athlete to to be suspended. As of late, there has been a large amount of outcry for the NFL to worsen these punishments, but they refuse to do so. In the article Concussions: Doing The Right Thing, journalist Kay Daughtry explains that “The only way for the NFL to show players it takes concussions seriously enough that it truly wants it eliminated from the game is to follow the NCAA’s lead and immediately eject players… That is a penalty with teeth, because a player’s carelessness can cost his team a game” (Daugherty). A decade has now passed, and Roger Goodell is still not taking the proper actions to ensure players will stop delivering life threatening hits to the head. By only fining athlete’s small portions of their salary for this wrongful play, Goodell is basically supporting this dangerous playstyle. Due to the way bonuses...
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...Football League (NFL) season, hundreds of concussions are recorded, and potentially a significant amount are not even reported. Increased concussions have short-term and long-term effects on players, and these effects are damaging to their health. Right now, little is being done to solve the problem, and the NFL is trying to pretend that concussions are not a big problem since injuries are common in football. However, the fact is that increased football head injuries over the years have created a big problem that the NFL cannot avoid. They should consider the proposed solution which will help reduce head injuries in the league. The solution will help them save lawsuit money and show the public that the league is dedicated to their players’ well-being. Problem The problem with the NFL is that the league is taking minimal steps in...
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...slam your head against the ground causing your brain to rattle against your skull. You now have a concussion and will watch from the sideline the rest of the game. “No guts, No glory,” is a very popular saying when it comes to football, however is permanent brain damage worth all the glory? III. Preview of Speech: Helmets are very helpful; however they can only do so much to protect you. If a player is constantly taking blows to the head the chances of getting a concussion increase. Players can be affected by these hits even after they have stopped playing the game. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a disease that may occur up to ten years after someone stops playing the sport. Head Injuries in Football Football Related Head Injuries Introduction: I. Attention Getter: Imagine you’re an NFL quarterback taking a three step drop, you have 5 seconds if that to get rid of the ball before a 350 pound defensive lineman comes charging at you and throws you to the ground, as your falling you slam your head against the ground causing your brain to rattle against your skull. You now have a concussion and will watch from the sideline the rest of the game. II. Thesis Statement: “No guts, No glory,” is a very popular saying when it comes to football, however is permanent brain damage worth all the glory? III. Preview of Speech: Helmets are very helpful; however they can only do so much to protect you. If a player is constantly taking blows to the head the chances...
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...through the air and tiltating the fans. Being that concussions are mainly produced during football games, practices, and scrimmages, it’s more likely to get more than 1 concussions during that season which could lead to a big mistake. Some of these are things thats happened over the few years.The NFL's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee finds that returning to play after sustaining a concussion "does not involve significant risk of a second injury either in the same game or during the season (January 2005). Dr. Omalu identifies chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of former Pittsburgh Steelers players Terry Long, 45, and Andre Waters, 44. Both had committed suicide ( 2004-2005 ). Dr. Elliot Pellman steps down as chairman of the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee but remains on the committee ( February, 2007 ). The NFL holds a medical conference on concussions( June 2007 ). The NFL formalizes new concussion guidelines which include a telephone hotline to report when a player is being forced to play contrary to medical advice ( August 14, 2007 ). Sport-related Concussion (SRC) is now recognized as a major public health concern. While the exact number of cases of SRC is unknown, an estimated 300,000 concussions occur annually in the U.S. with 40,000 concussions occurring annually in high school football alone. High school football is popular...
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