“Dying to play”

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

The life of an NFL player 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.

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 hit's 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 discussions about and to make it more safe is very difficult. Helmets are of the highest quality and almost every precaution is taken to ensure their safety but there are still countless injuries every game. Football is just trouble. Simply because it is impossible to make the game safe from head injuries without making drastic changes. The way the game is played makes it almost impossible to make the game safe. In order for the game to be completely safe the hits would have to be extremely slow and that would make it boring and football would not be interesting anymore.

Concussion test are now a very popular thing for sports today. Every player takes a test and in this test they learn about the signs of a concussion and how to treat a concussion. They might feel more tired and more dizzy and they know that the need to stop playing. This can be a safety precaution but not everyone knows they have a concussion so they do not visit their trainer. If they were to continue playing there risk for a more serious injury is greatly increased. This is why it is so important to be safe when playing sports.