Marc Martinez
Concussions in Football
The rise of concussions is a very significant issue in today’s sports. Football is the main sport that has put many people in an uncomfortable feeling when looking into the effects of concussions.CDC reports show that the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported that emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade.1 Throughout the history of football, technology of the equipment has come a long ways. However the new development of the equipment has not completely erased the amount of concussions received. Impact speed of a football player tackling a stationary player: 25mph.2 Concussions cause players to be unconscious or dazed when hit during a game. These can lead to traumatic brain injuries in which some cases have lead athletes to commit suicide.
Concussions are never going to be completely gone in our society, but there are a few easy steps we can do to ensure the decline of concussions.
● Pre health examinations
● Innovation of better helmets
● Construct new rules, which will reduce the amount of concussions.
Accomplishing these steps will aid in the safety of our future football players on the field. This may prevent the concussion rate and keep our All-American game a safer sport for parents to allow their kids to play.
Recently, with these rules established there has been very beneficial results to the amount of concussions suffered. If we can keep establishing new rules and regulations, the concerned discussion of concussions in football may eventually settle down and people can see that football can be a much safer game.
References:
- Head Case - Complete Concussion Managements. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2016, from http://www.headcasecompany.com/concussion_info/stats_on_concussions_sports Head Health Management Systems
- Concussion Facts | Sports Concussion Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2016, from http://www.concussiontreatment.com/concussionfacts.html#sfaq9
I like your outlook on the new system of rule changes that are being made too Football to make it Safer. I wonder what your position is on how to make the game safer? Would you like to keep the rules such as Targeting a defenseless player? Overall your article was a good article.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about the possibility of contact football going away in the future for kids of younger ages? there are talks of making contact football a certain age requirement reduce the amount of head injuries.
ReplyDeleteAs the game of football has evolved it is evident that the physical capabilities of athletes are greatly enhanced: size, strength, speed, etc. All of these characteristics, which are desired in athletes, can lead to a more physical game play. Helmets have evolved, technology is changing, athletes lift more, as a strength coach however I ultimately have one question: how many teams devote time to strengthening the neck itself, and muscles that aid in neck movement. Granted there is no way to tell unless you do a massive scale survey asking coaches, yet it would be interesting statistic, as I know many coaches that do no neck work with their athletes whatsoever. This would only add to the unraveling of the dilemma that is concussions in modern day sports.
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