Ageing Athletes

"The student athletes will endure life long effects of playing physically demanding sports. “Injuries can saddle them with years of medical bills.” (Majerol). Athletes are there to make the college sports better, schools see them as only someone to help make them profit by making the sports program better. As soon as they leave the sports program they no longer care about the physical trauma, and mental trauma the athlete has to deal with the rest of their life. “less than 2 percent of college athletes ever compete professionally.” (Zissou). This mean 2 percent of the athletes will proffesional medical care, while the other 98 percent have to pay out of pocket for the rest of their lives on their used up knees and backs relying on medication to help numb some of the pain so they can get by. Football is one of the most taxing on the body, a study released July of 2017 says “A Journal of the American Medical Association report says

My first point is the injuries sustained while playing the sports. Football, unlike basketball, is known for notorious tackles against other players. The game is designed to hurt the

The NFL has hidden the risks associated with playing the sport for years. One event that helped spark awareness was with Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist, who was the doctor that discovered the condition football players expose themselves to through repetitive jolts to the brain. It is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE. He discovered it while performing an autopsy on an ex-NFL player who was fairly young, much too young to be in as bad of shape as he was. The NFL did what they could to deny the true dangers of playing football and since this finding emerged, a lot more truths have been rearing its ugly head.

Some might argue that sports puts students under stress. Different types of stress such as time management, getting homework done, pleasing parents, etc is what some students unfortunately go through. Although things such as time management is a struggle, students eventually learn how to handle these situations. They adapt certain skill that will also be beneficial later in their lives. If some students still struggle that can be excused from a few practices or games to catch up with school work. Stress can be avoided, but some still worry that injuries can’t.

Based on my research, there are considerable lifelong health related consequences associated with participating in grueling sport activities such as professional football. What responsibilities should the National Football League (NFL) have in regards to providing an adequate support system to players suffering from a concussion during a practice or regular season game and from lifelong challenges as a result of traumatic head injuries sustained during the regular season or practices? The resources I have referenced in this proposal essay, provide evidence to answer this question and lends support to my position that considering the violent nature of professional football, the NFL needs to take more efforts to protect players during the games and afterwards if a serious injury has been sustained that affects their quality of life and future earnings. Current policies are inadequate and continue to contribute to lawsuits and cost lives.

In sports, the best athletes are the individuals that give each team a chance to win every game. The bad news for the best athletes is that sometimes their health gets put second to their abilities. Roughly 1.8 to 3.6 million sports related concussions happen each year (Concussion Statistics). Stronger and faster athletes as well as more impact of the hits or falls have doubled the number of concussions in a decade (Concussion Statistics). Concussions can happen to every athlete, but when it happens to the star athletes, it is different. Schools have to follow direct concussion safety laws, but professional sports have more leniencies (Get). Wins are more important in the professional leagues compared to the high school and amateur levels.

First of all, if athletes don't wear protective head gear they can get all sorts of injuries. In source B it states “While the first hit can prove problematic, the second or third head impact can cause permanent long-term brain damage. Cumulative sports concussions are shown to increase the likelihood of catastrophic head injury leading to permanent neurologic disability by 39 percent.”. Concussions can cause long term brain

The lack of knowledge that the majority of athletes enter the league with causes experts on the NFL’s policies to believe that the front office does not see the injury as a serious problem in the game today. “With the subsequent deaths of several relatively young retired NFL players, the autopsies of their brains, and the newly minted diagnosis chronic traumatic encephalopathy, we know the problem is real” (Carroll). This quotation intensifies the emphasis on the true problem the National Football League seems to be avoiding. Every injury, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant, needs to be addressed. “Even the only game that matters doesn't matter as much as your brain” (Flynn). There is nothing wrong with a person participating in the sport he loves, but when a blow to the head occurs, quick and efficient action must be taken to address the situation at hand. The National Football League and its policies do not suffice in relation to this area of concern. The fact of the matter is that no game, activity, or sport is worth a person’s

A great majority of kids and adults football careers are ending shortly because of brain damage and concussions. To this day scientist and people in sports are trying to find a way to decrease the number of brain damage and concussions. There been so many head injuries in the game of football. It got real serious over the past 20 years. In the NFL and College football league, players and coaches can know if someone have a concussion because of the technology they have at the game. It’s mandatory for every team in college, and in the NFL to have doctors and the technology they have at each game they have.

Many of the former and present NFL players believe that like boxing, the NFL had to be aware of the health risks associated with repetitive blows producing sub concussive and concussive results. The fact that some members of the NFL player population were at significant risk of developing long term brain damage, had to be known by the league. Players say,

Could you image you having a mild concussion? Or even your kid having one? Thinking that it will be gone in a few days, but not knowing that you could have life threatening injury to your brain, just by a blow to the head, by playing a sport. According to Sports Illustrated, in July 2014, a federal judge approved to the NFL, $765 million settlement, after 4,500 former players filled lawsuits against them, but recently, that settlement has been raised to $1 billion, covering more than 20,000 former players for the next 65 years. Professional organizations try there hardest to make the game as safe as possible, but like anything, there's flaws. Organizations like the NFL, NBA, NHL, and even the MLB, are trying to make sports as safe as possible

For decades, American Football has captivated this nation as one of the prime sources of entertainment. With the culmination point, the Super Bowl, attracting more viewership than any other televised event in the country, the sport has seen a tremendous growth since its origination in 1920. In an era of economic struggle, job shortage, and high-cost of living, those with above average physical abilities can find the lure of professional football to be extremely attractive. With the wealth and fame attached to a professional career, many of our youths share the common dream of achieving football star status. In order to attempt this lofty goal, many kids enroll in this contact sport at an early age, often times with the support of their parents.

Players risk their lives every time they step on the football field. There is always a chance of someone getting hurt. Football is a battle. Everyone wants to come out of that battle as a winner so they will do everything in their power to achieve that. Football is the most violent sport. It draws a lot of attention and creates a lot of good memoires. The NFL has cracked down and is still trying to crack down on making the game safe. They have made head to head contact illegal to prevent concussions. There are a lot of post football players who suffer from injures they faced in the NFL every day of their

The overarching question in this study was answered because in the results there was a decisive conclusion that the NFL doesn’t not in fact consider player health as they should. All five participants in the study believed this to be true. Ava Norman is one of the participants who felt the NFL should take more initiative to look into the safety of its players. In her interview she felt strongly about the issue by saying, “the NFL is put on a pedestal and gets away with too much, the league needs to look more into the issue now before it’s too late because you cannot undo a concussion” (Norman). Moreover, I believe this research symbolizes that fans are even worried about player’s health. While they love the game of football, they understand that at the end of the day it is just a game. Don Thomas felt strongly about this particular issue by saying, “I love the game of football and football is a major part of my life but after the game is over everyone should be able to return to their families safely” (Thomas). On another

Everyone who commits to playing for an organized team knows that there is a large risk involved with the time you are stepping onto the field. The most common sport that athletes are being injured is in the sport of football. The reason is because it is so widely played by all ages, from Pop Warner all the way to the NFL. The NFL is doing everything they can to prevent head injuries in the sport of football.