Short Summary: Impacted Lives Of The NFL

Impacted Lives of the NFL

The world of sports is filled with injuries many from hard hits to the head causing concussions. The sports world has been very busy lately addressing lawsuits, putting together committees and discussing various rule changes. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says “The NFL and its clubs have long made player safety a priority and continue to do so.”(Morelli pg2) But is this the complete truth.
Concussions are a very serious occurrence in the sports world today. Concussions don’t always involve being hit and then knocked out like most people think. A concussion occurs when a mental status changes as a result of trauma to the head. For most athletes symptoms can disappear after ten days and most often less than a couple
months. Some cases have been worse and players have had to deal with pathological problems for the rest of their lives. There are many athletes who have suffered concussions. Chicago Bears Jimmie Giles tells the Tampa Tribune in 2010 “that he suffered a dozen concussions while playing professional football. At the time, he said he would not have played the game if he had known the physical consequences.” (Morelli)Giles has had numerous body injuries and also neurological injuries such as memory loss. Giles says he had to quit his job as an accountant due to black outs. He said one day at work he couldn’t even understand where he was at. Another player whose life has been changed after injury is Aaron Sears. Sears was a Bucs offensive lineman from 2007 to 2009. Sears got involved with the police and was charged with battery on an officer. After that Sears never showed up to his court dates and had warrants out for his arrest. These actions all led up to Sears being incarcerated. Since being released from jail, Sears was diagnosed with various neurological conditions and numerous symptoms related to head trauma. Sears has almost lost all functioning of his body and needs someone to take care of him all day every day. (Morelli pg3) Since Giles and Sears, there have been many more suffering ex athletes. Giles, Sears and about two thousand former NFL players have filed a lawsuit against the league on January 31st 2012. A multidistrict federal judicial panel approved six cases to be tried together in Philadelphia within a year. (Keating, Head cases pg 2) The lawsuit alleges that the league deliberately and fraudulently concealed the risk of long term brain damages from concussions. The players are seeking financial compensation for fraud and negligence. The lawsuit is still open for other players to join. The lawsuit is also targeting football helmet maker Riddell Inc. and Easton-Bell Sports Inc. “Former players complain precautions against brain injury have only been implemented in recent years and that players from decades past were exposed to long term neurological injuries as a result of repeated impacts, sometimes returning to play in the same game after suffering concussions.” (Fox,News pg 2) “The NFL must open its eyes to the consequences of its actions” said Kevin Turner a former running back battling injury.
“The NFL has the power not only to give former players the care they deserve, but also to ensure that future generations of football players do not suffer the way that many in my generation have.”(Fox,News pg 2). The lawsuit filed accuses the NFL of mythologizing or encouraging the violence of the sport through commercials and even video games. Despite its knowledge and role in player conduct, the NFL turned their backs on the risks, and failed to warn players of the effects or create better safety for players. (News, Fox pg
1)
Since 1994 the NFL has created a committee to protect and support the health and safety of the players due to concussion related injuries and not knowing the true effects associated with them. The committee is made up of independent experts in fields relevant to the injuries. These committees test equipment and also do various studies. Some studies even include doing scans and various tests to the brains of players who have passed away. The creation of the committee shows the NFL wanted to keep their players safe but wasn’t taken as seriously as it should have in the beginning In 2005 Elliot Pellman the chairman of the NFL’s committee on concussion related injuries and his colleagues downplayed the effects of brain trauma. Pullman and his colleagues published papers and articles stating that no worsening injuries, no effects and no permanent damage resulted from concussion related injuries. This hid the true effects and results not only from players, but from the rest of the world. Pellman eventually stepped down as chairman due to an investigation of his studies. (Keating, After the aftermath pg2)
In 2011 a member of the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine committee Mitchel Berger told the New York Times “There was no science” In any of the NFL’s research into long term effects. The league’s first legitimate study is just getting underway. (Keating, After the aftermath pg 2) This shows the committee run by Pellman didn’t take the issue seriously. Pellman dismissed many results on concussion related injuries calling the information gathered from research “speculative and unscientific.”(Pellman) . This committee only recently has gotten serious about the studies on the effects of long term brain damage. (Wilner)

This puts the NFL in a rough spot because their old research is not credible. If the NFL admits the research isn’t correct the lawsuit from the players will impose massive damages to the league. The league won’t have a valid argument due to Pellmans research. Pellman has put the NFL in a very tough situation. Even with the current debacle the NFL is still working hard to improve safety. Now players cannot practice or play a game until being cleared by an independent neurologist.
With late events in response to injuries and lawsuits being filed the NFL has made some changes for retired players. The NFL has started medical health programs for current and retired players. These programs include joint replacement, neurological evaluations and spine treatment programs as well as assisted living, long term care insurance, prescription benefits, life insurance and Medicare supplement programs. “The league added that in partnership with the NFL players association it has spent more than a billion dollars on pensions and medical and disability benefits for retired players. (Wilner pg 2)
With the increasing amounts of lawsuits against the NFL a risk of bankruptcy looks possible. The high risk of injury and permanent damage to player’s lives could be enough to end the sport of football. An analyst Sam Householder predicts “soon high schools decide football isn’t worth it, and then the Ivy League quits football, California shuts down its participation busting up the Pac-12. Then the Big Ten calls it quits. Now it’s mainly a regional sport in the southeast and Texas/Oklahoma” (Householder pg1). With players in high school and college not playing anymore, the NFL would run out of its stock of young players. The chances are not likely, but with the concern and reaction to concussions, worse-case scenario football could meet its demise.
Unfortunately the NFL’s research is happening too late for some former players.
Many players have committed suicide due to problems relating to concussions. Some players have shot themselves in the chest causing the authorities and reporters to believe that the player wanted their brain preserved to be studied. (Keating, After the aftermath pg 4) This shows the impact concussion related injuries have on players not just while they play, but for the rest of their lives.
Since Roger Goodell became the commissioner of the NFL in 2006 he has taken many actions to improve player safety. Goodell introduced sideline video monitors so doctors could view the hit and better medically clear a player to play again. Goodell has tried to get through this dilemma with reforming and initiating guidelines but the commissioner will still be forced to choose between a long term public court battle against former players or a settlement worth hundreds of millions of dollars. (Keating, Head cases pg 3) Although football is a high paying sport where many athletes make it big and live long happy lives after retirement, this in fact isn’t the case for all players. The injuries these players sustain and effects they have to live with for the rest of their lives really deserve respect from the fans of football. Tragic events have happened due to concussion related injuries. From suicides to prison sentences the NFL needs to become accountable for these injuries or pay the
price.

Works Cited
Householder, Sam. Could the concussion crisis lead to the demise of football. 13 February 2012. web. 29 June 2012.
Keating, Peter. After the aftermath. 17 May 2012. web. 29 June 2012.
—. Head cases. 11 February 2012. web. 21 July 2012.
Morelli, Keith. Jimmie Giles files concussion lawsuit vs. Bucs. 27 June 2012. web. 28 June 2012.
News, Fox. Over 2000 Plaintiffs in Concussion Lawsuit VS. NFL. 7 June 2012. web. 28 June 2012.
Wilner, Barry. Huff Post. 7 June 2012. web. 15 July 2012.