Argumentative Essay On Concussions

Many studies have indicated that the NFL is a common place for concussions. The logic behind this argument is that football is a contact sport which means that heads are always smashed every game, every week. In this case, every game players experience kicks and blows on their heads. The prevalence of concussions in the league has continued to rise despite various efforts to rule by the NFL to prevent concussions (Teramoto et al. 6). Many concussions are continuing to be reported despite the introduction of helmets and fines against teams that bend the protocols of concussions.
The latest NFL release in 2017 revealed that between 2016 and 2017 there was a 13.5% increase of concussion in the league (Teramoto et al. 7). The report from the NFL indicated
that the concussions occurred during other the regular season and the pre-season. According to the injury report, there were more than 281 concussions in the NFL in 2017 (Teramoto et al. 8). Neurological experts have stated that the numbers released by the NFL could be higher since the NFL did not take into account blows and kicks in the head that might cause mental problems among the players. These experts have stated that the level of contact in the sport is very high and it makes people question the future of the sport.
In addition to that, reports that have been released by other interested parties have indicated that the prevalence of concussions in the sport is frightening.
For instance, a report by Dr. Bennet Omalu has released frightening statistics about the prevalence of concussion in football. Dr. Bennet Omalu indicated that there more than 0.41 concussions per game in the National Football League. According to Dr. Omalu, 68% of the concussions in the NFL are caused by collisions with helmets of other players (Casson et al. 473). 21% of the concussions are caused by contact with other parts of the body such as the knee. The remaining 11% is a result of contact with the ground. Dr. Omalu stated that 9.3 concussions resulted in the loss of consciousness while 2.4 of the concussion case resulted in hospitalization (Casson et al. 474-475). Furthermore, Dr. Omalu stated that the worrying pattern is that 92 players who suffer from concussion return to training in less than seven days. Also, 69% of players who lose consciousness return to training in less than seven days. The report by Dr. Omalu outlines worrying trends about concussions in the NFL. Dr. Omalu has raised substantial evidence to show that NFL has a worrying
future.
Additionally, many studies have indicated that concussions in football are threatening the future of the sports because it is unclear how many players are suffering from CTE. These studies have indicated that CTE can only be diagnosed through autopsy which means that it is difficult to know the exact players who are suffering from CTE. For instance, Nathanson et al. indicated that currently there are dozens of players who are feared to have a CTE (41). Nathanson et al. continued to say that lack of a clear method raises fears that the numbers of current and former players suffering from CTE could be higher (42). Empirical surveys on brains of former players have also raised worrying trends about the sport. Nathanson et al. collected brains of former players who had donated them for medical research and evaluated them to check the presence of CTE (44).
A study that involved 202 brains of former players found that there was a huge correlation between football and CTE(Teramoto et al. 9). The experimenters of the study also checked brains of volunteers who had participated in football while they were in high school. The analysis of the study revealed that out of the 202 brains 177 brains were suffering from CTE (Teramoto et al. 10). The survey also found that players who played for longer periods suffered severe brain damage. 99% of brains in the sample of former NFL players were suffering from CTE. These results of the study show that majority of NFL player are likely to suffer from CT (Teramoto et al. 11-12). The results also show that plating in the NFL puts one at the risk of suffering from cognitive related conditions. Ideally, the results of the study validate the fact that concussions are threatening the future of the game considering that it affects people who engaged in the sport at high school level.
Moreover, a study conducted in 2015 found that NFL players who began playing at the age of 12 had lower cognitive abilities compared to those who began in their teenage years. The study concluded that the longer the exposure to the game the more the damage to cognitive abilities (Didehbani et al. 35). The link between CTE, lower cognitive abilities football has raised concerns about the future of the game. In this case, one can argue that if participating in the game means that the players cannot enjoy their latter life then the validity of football must be questioned.
Furthermore, the rate of former NFL committing suicide has been in the rise of in the last few years. Autopsy reports of former football players who committed suicide have shown that concussions are the primary reason for their actions. Further, doctors have stated that the number of former NFL players committing suicide because of cognitive dysfunction as a result of concussion has been on the rise (Didehbani et al. 29). Doctors have stated that there a significant correlation between CTE and suicide. For instance, Autopsy report of Adrian Robinson who is the latest former NFL to commit suicide found that he was suffering from CTE. Robinson committed suicide by hanging and he is the latest victim to succumb to effects of CTE (Didehbani et al. 31). Given the nature of the highly publicized deaths of former NFL players as a result of suicide many people have questioned the future of the game.
There are players who have engaged in criminal activities as a result of cognitive problems caused by concussions. For example, Jovan Belcher a former NFL player shot his girlfriend and then killed himself (Didehbani et al. 33). Belcher’s body was exhumed and the autopsy found that he was suffering from CTE. Dave Duerson committed suicide by shooting himself on the chest rather the brain so that his brain can be researched for CTE. Duerson’s autopsy report found that like many other players who had committed suicide Duerson was suffering from CTE. The brain of Aaron Hernandez who had been accused of murder in 2015 was found to be a severe case of CTE. Hernandez death was vacated after he died in 2017 . The above accounts show worrying trends of participating in the NFL. The trends have there is a huge correlation between football and concussion. The effects of concussions in football have been detrimental to the point that they have made people question the validity of the sport.