Concussions in the National Football League
Football is America’s favorite pastime. From mid-august to the beginning of February, the National Football League is very popular amongst our society. As much as civilians love football, their passion for the game is nothing compared to the players in the league. All of the players put in immense time, work, and wear and tear on their bodies. One of the biggest issues with players in the NFL is injuries. The worst injury a player can get on the field is a concussion. Even though they were protective helmets, many players still get concussions because of the hard hits to the head. Getting a concussion can cause brain damage, and if a player has more than one concussion, the damage could be worse. As years progress, the severity of the concussions increased. In the National Football League, concussions are a major problem among a players’ health, and there needs to be more precautions taken to prevent severe brain damage to the players.
Concussions are a type of brain injury caused by a hit or blow to the head. When a player takes a big hit, the brain immediately bumps against the inside of the skull, along with the opposite side. The shifting of the brain causes bruising on both ends of the brain, causing the concussion. Concussions are very common in the National Football League among players. Regardless of strong helmets protection their head from big hits, concussions are still a growing issue. From 2012-2015, there has been 967 diagnosed concussions throughout the season (CNN, 1). Compared to all other professional sports, football has the highest percentage of players who get concussions. When a player is initially diagnosed with a concussion, they aren’t allowed to play for 1-3 weeks, depending on the severity of the concussion. However, if a player has multiple concussions, the time they spend recovering could be longer. For the safety of the players, there should be stricter rules regarding helmet to helmet hitting, or vicious hits around the head, neck, and shoulder areas. Not only does it affect players at the time of the hit, but it affects the long term health of the player.
Many NFL players suffer from various illness and diseases from getting concussions. The most common symptoms found in concussions immediately following the hit are headache, loss of consciousness, confusion, fatigue, mood change, and memory loss. However, the long term effects on a concussion are worse than just a headache. Many players have developed cognitive and memory issues in the brain. For many players, the short-term effects bring on effects that not only can end your career, but causes larger, long term effects on the brain. Players have developed diseases like Alzheimer's, depression, chronic trauma encephalopathy. Chronic Trauma Encephalopathy is a degenerative disease, and is found solely in concussions. This disease is most common in players compared to other diseases. Almost all of these players are retired now, however, with the large amount of concussions each year in the league, the risk for these types of diseases are going to become more common amongst players. These diseases can be avoided simply by creating rules regarding head to head hitting in the NFL.
Players who suffer from significant diseases took matters into their old hands when it comes to changing concussion protocols, and preventing them from potentially happening. Many players felt that the players’ association of the NFL didn’t take the proper steps to protect the health of every player. On May 28, 2014,