“Dying to play”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/opinion/head-injuries-in-football.html?ref=contributors&_r=0

The thesis statement of this article is that NFL players and their career are adherently dangerous because of concussions, which can be life threatening, can cause brain damage, and can also leave life long effect irreparable. The NFL is not always as glamorous as it can seem. Imagine being forced to retire from the life of a professional athlete because of a concussion, which may lead to seizures the rest of your life or even death. The NFL faces an issue concerning its players’ health and safety being in jeopardy due to threatening injuries, which may lead to long term brain disease; however some feel that there is no direct evidence connecting football and brain damage which may lead to change in the way the game is played.

 To some, concussions are not very serious and can simply be healed by rest. This is not the case, concussions are extremely serious and there is endless amount of evidence to prove it. Some of the evidence in this article is as follows.Concussions happen weekly in the NFL to players of all positions due to the tremendous force these players are hit with weekly, over and over.The short and long term effects of multiple concussions can be devastating to the human mind. Not only does the brain suffer long term physical damage, players often suffer from long term mental problems. A concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury. A concussion involves a transient loss of mental function. It can be caused by acceleration or deceleration forces, or by a direct blow to the head. Whether a player is hit with a helmet to helmet type of hit, a face mask, or just hits his head to hard on the turf; they can all cause serious concussions. Concussions weren't taken very seriously until the middle of the 20th century. Often times, if a player said he was ok to go back onto the field after a concussion; the team doctors would let him. Recently, however, the NFL began doing studies on concussions due to the career ending injuries to Troy Aikman and Steve Young. Concussions have become the single biggest threat to the future of football since the turn of the 20th century.

The argument the writer is giving is that the NFL has things it needs to change. The best way to try and address this problem is with discussions and there have been discussions about how to make football more safe is very difficult. The game of football is very traditional and with every change in the game there is uproar with fans and players. The NFL have tried many changes to improve safety. They have tried better gear and more fines on illegal hits.