NFL2

"Making Head Trauma Safer? The Effectiveness of the NFL's Injury Reduction Plan and Its Impact on Players, Fans, and the Game."

Angelly Chala

F21 PLA4522.0M1: HEALTH CARE LAW

Carrie D. Warring, MBA, MHS

10/19/21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

In the United States, American football is a prevalent sport, with millions of people tuning in to watch games on television every week. Spectators seem to like the game's devastating punches, long passes, and overall excitement (Clark et al., 2017). A staggering $12 billion in revenue is generated annually by the National Football League, showing the sport's continuing appeal (Hanna et al., 2015). With all the bright lights and celebrity-studded events comes a growing issue that is becoming more severe. Many football players, both professional and amateur, suffer severe brain damage due to their participation in the sport. An individual player may get multiple blows to the head during a single game without understanding the extent of the damage they are doing to their brains.

Due to the punches, they throw, individuals may suffer from edema, a shortened life expectancy, and possibly death. When a football collides with another player's head, it is common for athletes to have head injuries that put their health in danger. Making football helmets safer will indeed assist, but it will not completely solve the problem.

Overview

Every year, hundreds of athletes suffer concussions as a result of the head-to-head collisions. Brutal crashes claimed the lives of thirteen players in 2007, and the number is increasing year after year due to these incidents. Significant hits are encouraged by fans, players, and coaches alike, which is a big issue (Jayakumar & Comeaux, 2016). The fact that males are drawn to American football is well known, thanks to the intensive marketing campaigns that have been launched to attract them. It is impossible to break out of this vicious cycle without fundamentally changing the nature of football. Derek Sheely, a 22-year-old football player from Frostburg State University in Maryland, died on August 22, 2011, due to head injuries he suffered while playing on the field. His regular workout routine began to make him feel sleepy as he went through the movements of the performance. Immediately after being helped off the field, his health quickly worsened. He died due to an incurable instance of the massive growth of the brain, which could not be treated. Every year, incidents like this come to light, yet little is done to protect athletes' rights and safety.

Literature Discussion

 The number of concussions suffered by high school football players ranges from 43,000 to 67,000, but experts believe the actual figure is much higher: upwards of 100,000, since many injuries go unreported. The number of concussions suffered by college football players ranges from 43,000 to 67,000. Concussion occurs because many high school students are pushed to "tough it out," which is why it happens to put it another way, I've done things like conceal a minor injury and continue playing despite it to worsen the situation. The same issue affects many players when they ignore a few hard strikes and continue to play.

Furthermore, since their brain tissues have not fully developed, young people are more susceptible to brain swelling than older people or the elderly. For example, in October 2011, a sixteen-year-old lineman died due to a traumatic brain injury he suffered while playing football. A powerful hit resulted in the athlete suffering from a subdural hematoma, blood collection on the brain's surface. A group of inexperienced high school players made the mistake of believing that his skull might be used as a weapon, eventually resulting in his death (Mountjoy et al., 2019). According to ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook, "if players were kicked out of games for deliberate helmet contact, the number of such incidents would decline pretty quickly." Easterbrook made the statement. Head-to-head contact should be penalized with lengthy bans or harsh fines to discourage excessive contact in the future.

Furthermore, there has been a constant increase in cases of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in football players. Reading only and according to Dr. Ann McKee diagnosed on March 2016, 90 out of 94 former NFL players had CTE. As a result of her findings, I believe that it would be in the franchise's best interest to go along with the movement to ban the NFL. It's already been proven that this degenerative disease cannot be diagnosed until after death. To diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, doctors would have to dissect the brain and acquire brain tissue samples. Doctors cannot analyze this in living persons because of all the risk factors and the lack of visual images to prove it.

Besides putting every player at risk of becoming deceased at an earlier age, the National Football League (NFL) continues to raise the prices of tickets and merchandise. The average NFL ticket price is $92.98, and we are now seeing the negative impact it has had on its fan base. The average NFL ticket price would cost a family of four about $372.00 to attend a football game. The average football television rating is up 15 percent from five seasons ago. But in contrast, live game attendance has steadily dropped since 2007. The significant factor of lowered attendance is that fans cannot afford to go to the games (Lawrence et al., 2015). Many fans feel as if they have the perfect view of the football game right at home. I firmly believe that if the National Football League (NFL) continues to raise its prices, fans will no longer attend games.

The Chicago Bears were recorded as one of the "Fan Favorites" from the previous football season. Even though the Chicago Bears had a losing record of (3-13), they've decided to increase the prices of the standard seats that was $131.90 (NFL). Not only is that more than double the average ticket price from last season ($84.55), but it's about $50.00 more than what a Bears' season ticket cost in 2016. Where did you get this information? Cite your source so that you avoid plagiarism.] The main concern that many fans will have with this dramatic increase is getting their money's worth. With the dull performance of the Chicago Bears, no fan should have to pay that much money to come out and support them. Fans should be accommodated with the best services, prices, and entertainment provided by the National Football League (NFL).

The National Football League (NFL) has not dropped the prices of any merchandise. The NFL has many different contracts with brands like Nike, Adidas, Under Armor, and Polo. For both the NFL and the brands provided to make any revenue, they've increased the value of an object they know fans will be interested in buying. As of April, Nike decided to raise the prices on apparel held in the NFL pro shop. The Game jersey, the cheapest replica, will still cost $100 while being the most affordable. However, the price of the Limited jersey, which has embroidered twill numbers and letters in lieu of the silicon printing seen on the Game jersey, has increased from $135 to $150 as a result of the price increase. The National Football League (NFL) placed tags on goods that said they were "Limited Edition" or "Special Offer" to encourage consumers to purchase the products.

Conclusion

Numerous ideas have been made to solve the concussion problem, but none has proved effective. Even though the inside of the helmet is very soft, many people believe that adding extra padding would decrease the likelihood of a concussion being sustained. This, on the other hand, is wrong. Concussions are caused by the force with which our heads move. We get a concussion when we come to a sudden stop because our brain collides with the inside of our skull (Hymel et al., 2018). When a big strike occurs, this is precisely what happens to the population. Instead of adding more padding to the inside of a helmet, we should think about cushioning the interior of our skulls instead of the outside. Helmets are already very well-padded, so adding more padding would make them completely ineffective. Another alternative that was proposed was the elimination of helmets from the game entirely. However, many people are skeptical that the strategy would have the intended effect of making players fear going head-to-head with their opponents. It is argued by some who are opposed to the notion that even minor accidents might result in severe brain damage if helmets were not worn. Many people feel that boxing is a violent sport by its very nature, and as an alternate proposal, they propose that the participants be left alone. Football was the most frequent reason for youngsters to be admitted to the hospital due to an injury. Even though more children are being injured, parents are becoming more aware of the dangers of football-related brain injuries and are thus getting their children checked for such damages. People must be informed about and made aware of the risks to be addressed or avoided altogether.

The board should come together to finalize these actions. Football not only does promote violent acts, but it hinders the lifespan of thousands of players. The National Football League's concussion protocol is not always acceptable or dependable for players; it also outlines problems that players face before and after their career is over. Concussions are more than a brain injury that only lasts a couple of weeks. Concussions are life-ending head traumas that could potentially kill players well before it's genuinely "time".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Michael, D. C., Brenton, M. A., Stephen, W. M., & Kevin, M. G. (2017). Descriptive characteristics of concussions in National Football League games, 2010-2011 to 2013-2014. The American journal of sports medicine, 45(4), 929-936. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546516677793.

Hanna, J., Goldschmidt, D., & Flower, K. (2015). 87 of 91 Tested Ex-NFL Players Had Brain Disease Linked to Head Trauma. CNN.

Kent P. H., Antoinette L. L., Kathryn R. C., Ming W., Veronica Armijo-G., Terra N. F., Kelly S. T., Robin F., Kerri W., Kent P. H., Mark S. D., E S. H., Ming W., Vernon M. C., Bruce H., Robin F., Douglas R. W., Mark M., Veronica Armijo-G., … Wouter A. K. (2018). Racial and ethnic disparities and bias in the evaluation and reporting of abusive head trauma. The Journal of pediatrics, 198, 137-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.01.048.

Jayakumar, U.M., & Comeaux, E. (2016). The Cultural Cover-Up of College Athletics: How Organizational Culture Perpetuates an Unrealistic and Idealized Balancing Act. The Journal of Higher Education 87(4), 488-515. doi:10.1353/jhe.2016.0022.

David, W. L., Michael G. H., & Paul, C. (2015). Descriptive epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries and concussions in the National Football League, 2012-2014. Orthopedic journal of sports medicine, 3(5), 2325967115583653. https://doi.org/10.1177/2325967115583653.

Mountjoy, M., Miller, J., & Junge, A. (2019). Analysis of water polo injuries during 8904 player matches at FINA World Championships and Olympic games to make the sport safer. British journal of sports medicine, 53(1), 25-31. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099349.