Impact of concussions on football

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Impact of Concussion in Football
Football is one of the most loved and watched sport in America. Concussions in football occur at every level of the game, starting from youth sport to the professional level. Statistics show that in 2015, the players diagnosed with concussion were 271. Investigations also show that nearly a third of all the retired football players have been diagnosed with different long-term cognitive problems (Cantu and Hyman 51). Also, about 5,000 football players have filed different cases against National Football League. Studies illustrate that a player has nearly seventy-five percent chances of sustaining a concussion in their career (Carroll, and Rosner 70). Football is a high-contact sport and leads other sports games in concussion injuries. Concussion injuries should not be taken lightly because of the various short-term and long-term effects it creates. The primary focus of writing this report is to discuss the several impacts of concussion in football.
A concussion is a brain injury that alters how a person’s brain functions. It occurs after a person has received a traumatic blow to the neck, head, or body that leads to rapid movement of the brain within the skull. Studies show that once a player has sustained a concussion, he is more vulnerable to get other concussions in the future. There are several possible temporary effects of concussion namely headaches, vomiting, nausea, amnesia, balance problems, or dizziness.

Mood changes whereby the injured player gets easily irritated or more anxious. Also, sometimes the athlete cries or laughs without any reason. Irregular sleeping styles such as the person sleeping more than usual, or sleeping less than expected, or has problems falling asleep. The player can become sensitive to noise. The person may experience visual problems such as he may become sensitivity to light, have fuzzy vision, sees stars, or the light seems brighter. He or she may develop concentration complications. The person may speak irrelevant statements or give inappropriate responses. The athlete may lose consciousness. He may feel more numbness or tingling. The person may have memory difficulties such as forgetting something he or she did recently or in the past. For example, the school his or her children attend or what his or her team scored after the game ended. A player may feel tired than usual after being hit on the head (Cantu and Hyman 50).
The athlete may be forced to stop playing the game immediately after he is found to have concussion symptoms until he recovers. It is mandatory that even after the recovery of the player, his return to full activity in the game be gradual. Additionally, a professional athlete may have to retire early, or risk being sacked. For example, Tyler Sash was paid by his former team the New York Giants for him to stop playing for them after he was diagnosed with Concussion. Also, Brett Favre decided to retire at the age of 44 in 2010, after he had started having memory loss and desired to live a healthy and normal life as possible. Research shows that Favre during his 20 years of playing football was sacked 54 times (Carrol and Rosner 90).
Concussions related injuries have led to numerous lawsuits between the players and NFL. For instance, a recently concluded case whereby the athletes’ wanted compensation for the concussion injuries they had sustained while playing. The players realized from different studies that the NFL staff had hidden from them vital information on the effects of concussion injuries on football players. It led to the over 5,000 retired, sacked, or injured athletes, filing different cases against NFL. NFL settled the cases by paying around one billion to the formerly injured players.
Post-concussion syndrome is a condition that is caused by a second or multiple blows to the head while the victim is still suffering from the first hit. Post-concussion syndrome can cause the player to have brainstem herniation and cerebral edema, leading to his collapse or death within a short time (minutes). Also, multiple blows to the head can also cause the player to suffer from CTE or have permanent damage to the brain. CTE is a degenerative illness of the brain, which has similar effects as Alzheimer. CTE can cause the person to have depression, dementia, memory loss, and in severe cases, the victim may decide to commit suicides (Roush 78). After famous players like Dave Duerson and Junior Seau committed suicide, studies, and autopsies performed on their brains found clear CTE signs. To add on players like Leonard Marshall, Tony Dorset, Jim McMahon, and Joe DeLamielleure all claim that they are experiencing signs of dementia and memory loss. Dementia and memory loss are strong pointers of brain injuries the players acquired in games they played earlier (Cantu and Hyman 120).
In 2009, an investigation was carried out on 167 players of NFL. At the end of the survey, 20 percent of the athletes revealed that they had hidden the truth of having concussion symptoms. The reason for concealing their status was for them to continue playing the game throughout the season. Most NFL players play football as a profession. Therefore, rely on the salary they get to meet their daily needs. However, hiding the concussions symptoms may cause an athlete to face serious repercussions in the future. The above studies have led NFL to make significant developments concerning their rules to stop or reduce concussion among the players. For example, some of the rules claim that a player is supposed to leave the field immediately if he becomes unconscious or after the detection of any other concussion symptom. Also, the player should not continue playing for that particular day if he or she is found to have concussion symptoms. However, for the player to return to the game, “he should be completely asymptomatic and have normal neurological test results, including mental status testing at rest and after physical exertion” (“NFL Outlines for Players Steps Taken to Address Concussions, para 8”). Despite the team doctor examining the player, an independent neuropsychologist must also examine him.It would prevent the team doctor rushing the players back to the game before they are total healed. The rules emphasize additional test to done to a player if he was found to have a concussion in the previous season. Also, another rule is that athletes and guardian must sign a head injury and concussion information sheet before the start of each practice season.
Recently another harsh penalty was enacted for helmet-to-helmet illegal hits or when a player hits a defenseless target. Regardless of the player’s intention, if it is proven that the player made an illegal hit, which would cause danger to another player or injury the victim’s head, then the offender would be required to pay a minimum penalty of five figures. Another change is the moving forward of the Kickoff spot by 5 yards to reduce the kick return numbers (Carrol and Rosner 200).
In 2002, the NFL in conjunction with the player’s union formed the USA Football. Afterward, the U.S.A Football in agreement with NFL established the Head Up Football whose aim was to reassure parents and improve the safety of the football game among children. The Head Up Football program offers a course that is very paramount to parents and coaches either online or in person, to enable them to learn fitting tackling drills and improved safety rules, therefore reducing concussion among players. The program teaches the coach and parents different ways they can use to train the players to tackle properly while focusing on minimizing helmet contact. Also, the coach learns the proper way to wear the shoulder pads and helmets to help in reducing the player’s chances of getting an injury. The program also helps the coach to learn ways he can use to train players’ proper ways to engage a defender, use his legs to drive and correctly position their body for a safer and effective play.
Concussion injuries can occur at any level of competitive football. Concussions result in several impacts on the player’s life and career. Some of the impacts can be as small as having headaches, vomiting, or nausea. However, multiple blows to the head can lead to long-term effects whereby a player may lose his memory, have depression, or even commit suicide. Concussions have led to some players being sacked or forced to retire early. Several studies have been conducted on the long effects of concussions on players. The results of the reports have made the NFL to adjust or change some of its rules. The reason for the NFL adjustments is for them to increase the safety of its players and lower the chances of the players getting a concussion.  Additionally, NFL has teamed up with the U.S.A. Football to start the Heap Up Football program to give protection to its young players and reassure the parents about the sport and their children by training their coaches.
Work cited
Carroll, Linda, and David Rosner. The concussion crisis: anatomy of a silent epidemic. Simon and Schuster, 2012. Print.
Cantu, Robert C, and Mark Hyman. Concussions and Our Kids: America’s Leading Expert on How to Protect Young Athletes and Keep Sports Safe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.
“NFL outlines for players steps taken to address concussions.” NFL.com, 2012. www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8017cc67/article/nfl-outlines-for-players-steps-taken-to-address-concussions. Accessed 15 Nov. 2016.