NFL Concussions and Hard Hitting

The sport has in place rules and guidelines on how the game should be played with the necessary checks and balances that makes a good sports tick. It is for this reason that many young American kids aspire as well as join their school teams to play the sport. Most of the young kids play with the dream of being better and one day being able to play in one of the teams in the national football league (NFL). The American Football sport is one of the high paying sporting endeavors that an athlete would want to be associated with. The sport comes hand in hand with television commercials contracts and other mouthwatering deals for the elite players. About 20. are sustained from tackles from other body parts to the head the third major cause taking about 11.

is the body to ground contact during the game (Stites, 2018). American football players do suffer from other injuries such as torn muscles, broken limbs, and scratches. However, this essay focusses mainly on concussions and hard hitting. These hits are mostly caused by knee contact, elbow hits and in some race cases accidental stepping by foot. Whatever form the hits come in; if severe enough, they are capable of inflicting serious head and brain damage that could easily lead to concussions. Not to forget the least but significant contributor to concussions; the impact to the ground. This form of impact is experienced when a player is dangerously tackled such that the dead suffers a direct hit to the playing ground (Reynolds, 2018). On other instances; the hit can be experienced when a player is destabilized mid-air resulting in the player falling dangerously to the ground.

However serious research is being done so as to include the detection of C. T. E in the MRI. According to CNN health; Study done on heads volunteered by families of NFL players found out that 99% of the players had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (Resnick, 2018). The cure for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is not available however the symptoms leading to C. E manifests after the head receives hits. Factors such as genetics and the age of exposure to the trauma affect the exposure or acquisition of C. T. E. however, about 90% of NFL players develop Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy according to a recent study. This is in a bid to reduce the chances of player’s picking hits and other life-threatening injuries. The move is also aimed at motivating more people to participate in the game.

Despite the fact that American Football is still the most popular port among the American male youth; the uptake of the sport has declined over the years despite increased enrollment into the sport by the young generations. Allocation of spotters for each game is also another positive measure that has been put in place to ensure that player safety is enhanced. With the allowance to interrupt the game; the spotters can be able to save the life of a player who may not realize the situation that he is in due to having had a concussion (Reynolds, 2018). They treated the occurrence of concussions as unfortunate events associated with the American Football game. Since the year 2009, the NFL had a change of heart and actually recognized concussions as a major challenge to the American football game.

Consequently, they started donating millions of dollars towards concussion-related research work. Another major laudable milestone made by the National Football League (NFL) is the introduction of the five-step protocol that a player is supposed to undergo after experiencing a concussion before the player is allowed back to playing competitive matches again (Kosman, 2017). The five-step protocol involves immediate removal of the player from the field upon identification of a concussion. The players and the league administrators together with the owners of the teams are in agreement with the set fines which are sanctions from referee ruled out cases or ones picked up by the officials after the match. The players are at liberty to appeal the fines in which case the fines cases are taken to the leagues two appointed appeal officers for hearing.

If the player wins then they are not fined however in the situation where the player out rightly accepts the fine or the appeal officer upholds the fine, then it is deducted from the player's next pay (“Fines and Appeals. The NFL’s schedule of infractions and fines, and a process for appeal” 2018). The fines collected by the NFL are transferred to the retired players’ welfare programme. cnn. com/2017/07/25/health/cte-NFL-players-brains-study/index. html “Fines and Appeals. The NFL’s schedule of infractions and fines, and a process for appeal. ” NFL OPERATIONS. com/2017/12/11/nfls-concussion-problem-is-hurting-helmet-manufacturers/ Resnick, Brian (2018) “What a lifetime of playing football can do to the human brain. Six things to know about the NFL, concussions, and brain damage. ” Vox. Feb 5 Retrieved From: https://www. vox. com/nfl/2016/9/18/12940926/nfl-concussion-protocol-explained.