Essay On Concussions In Sports

Concussions and Their Impact on Sports Concussions occur in every sport and lately have become a controversial topic within the field of sports. Concussion symptoms are usually noticeable but some symptoms are more subtle. If a player decides to continue playing with a concussion or has a concussion history the consequences can be detrimental to their health and overall well-being for the rest of their lives. Because of the increase of concussions due to sport activity many states including New York have passed laws containing the following three aspects. Athletes must be removed from play if they are suspected of having suffered a concussion; athletes are required to obtain written medical authorization before returning to physical activity; and some form of concussion education is required, typically for coaches, parents and athletes.
In the first article Sports-Related Concussions on the Rise in Kids the
symptoms of concussions are shown and risk of multiple concussions. The symptoms of a concussion are dizziness, confusion, slurred speech, fatigue and nausea. Unfortunately some symptoms aren’t noticed until days after the injury these include memory or concentration problems, light and noise sensitivity, sleep disturbances, irritability, and depression. The one problem is if a kid suffers a concussion even a mild one he or she isn’t even aware of and then suffers another there’s a chance of a brain damage. “The AAP recommends that kids who have multiple concussions consider giving up contact sports for good.” Problem with that recommendation is what number is the correct number where that should be enforced is it two, four or seven. Parents have to make the decision though ultimately even though their child may love the game they play. For 10-year-old Mick Jones of Nashville, Tenn., the number was three. His doctor told me he would not give him a recommendation," Jones says. "He said the risk for long-term injury was just too great and I agreed. Kids have a long life to lead and it doesn't make sense to risk brain damage or worse just so they can play little league football." While it sucks for a child so young to give up contact sports all together at least he will have his health and not suffer brain damage.
In the second article “College Athletes Move Concussions Into the Courtroom” is about Derek Owens a twenty two year old who used to play football for Central Arkansas.
Owens is only 22 and is under medical care about to resume his education at the University of Central Arkansas. However he can never play a contact sport again. Before the concussions he was an A student and a three-sport star and the lead trumpeter in his high school band, who could do mathematics in his head without a calculator or writing down the intermediate steps. After the concussions his grades fell drastically. He dropped out for this semester because he could not memorize material for tests. He is also one of four plaintiffs in a class-action suit that claims the NCAA has been negligent regarding awareness and treatment of brain injuries to athletes. The legal action comes after a five-year flurry of awareness of brain injuries in contact sports and follows lawsuits filed this year by dozens of former NFL players who claim the league was negligent in its handling of brain
trauma.
“I hear from former players who were taught spearing,” said Representative Linda T. Sánchez, Democrat of California, who has been an active participant in Congressional hearings into brain damage among NFL players. Her constituents tell her how they learned to use modern helmets as weapons to injure their opponents in youth leagues or high school.” That little paragraph in this article represents several problems with how the game is played today. While I’m all for trying one hundred percent and all for going for a big hit, trying to spear someone with your helmet is dangerous to the other player and the person who is spearing. The other problem is within ethics and sportsmanship with whoever taught these players to play like that. What coach goes out and teaches a young athlete to play like that? It ruins the game when players get hurt like that on all levels. When NFL players and NCAA players are doing it though those are grown men going full speed at each other the risk of injury is very high and makes the sport very dangerous.
The third article is “Ex-Cowboys greats sue NFL over concussions” which is about several notable former Cowboys players including Hall of Famers Randy White, Bob Lilly and Rayfield Wright joined with other retired NFL players to file the latest concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL. The main argument in this case as mentioned in the article is "The bottom line is that the NFL has put its profits ahead of the health and well-being of its players," the complaint states." ... the NFL has purposefully sidestepped and obfuscated the concussion problem. As such, the NFL has consistently disputed the very real connection between concussions and brain injury." I agree one hundred percent with what was said in those comments. Even though the NFL makes millions upon millions of dollars they haven’t done nearly enough to help former players who have had concussions or reduce the concussion problem currently in the NFL. As mentioned in earlier article it’s evident that some high school and college coaches teach their players to spear other players. So maybe if the NFL does something there will be a trickledown effect of some sort and may potentially reduce the number of concussions in such a physical and aggressive sport.
Of course also in the article the NFL denies the allegations, spokesman Greg Aiello said. "The NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so," "Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit. It stands in contrast to the league's actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions." While they may be trying to protect players it’s clear their not doing enough. Even with new rules in place like last year’s rule to change the kickoff starting place to have more touchbacks reducing injury on kickoff returns. They have to do more for former players who now suffer and current players who may suffer brain damage in the future because after all these players are the reason millions of dollars are being made.
Concussions while dangerous and if not taken care of properly could be devastating for an athlete. But as shown in the articles if the athletes himself is responsible when they know they have one future brain damage could be prevented. If players don’t spear other players in football and play the game with class and sportsmanship concussions will occur less often and players will be safer. If some coaches wouldn’t teach the athletes to play like that and had an ounce of ethical reasoning then that’s one step closer to fixing this concussion problem we face in sports.

http://www.webm d.com/parenting/news/20100830/sports-related-concussions-on-the-rise-in-kids?page=2 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/sports/ncaafootball/college-players-move-concussions-issue-into-the-courtroom.html?pagewanted=all http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-04-24/ex-cowboys-greats-sue-nfl-over-concussions
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/27/4448477/concussion-consortium-meets-to.html