After years of hiding and avoiding attention, football’s deadly secret has finally been revealed. For decades, it was believed that concussions had no long term consequences, but there is amounting evidence that constant head trauma has potentially fatal effects. If something is not done to address these dangers soon, the sport of football may be history.
In 2002 Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic neuropathologist, found Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease that reduces the weight of the frontal and temporal lobes, inside of star NFL center Mike Webster’s brain. This disease, which has only been found in people who have suffered multiple concussions and frequent head trauma, causes neuronal loss, tau protein deposition, white matter changes and other abnormalities. It has potentially fatal effects, leading to decreases in mental health and suicide in many cases.
C.T.E. caused Webster to suffer memory loss, confusion and dementia, ultimately leading to his death at the age of 50. Currently, C.T.E. has been found in 33 former NFL players and 12 current players. This disease generally affects people who are older, but in 2010, C.T.E. was found in Owen Thomas, a 21 year old football player at the University of Pennsylvania. The team captain apparently hanged himself in his apartment. Doctors determined that C.T.E. led to his untimely death. These incidents have raised the concern over whether football is safe and worth playing.
As a football player myself, the fear of suffering a concussion is constantly on my mind. I have suffered countless blows to the head and many of those hits have resulted in long, painful headaches. Although I have never been diagnosed with a concussion, I have certainly had my fair share of pain caused by the constant trauma my head has to endure.
However, it is not the thought of suffering a concussion that scares me the most; it is the long term effects of head trauma that has my concern. Football has always been a big part of my life, but I have been forced to wonder whether or not football is worth risking my life for. As much as I want to be able to tell my children and grandchildren about my football memories, I fear the risk I might not have a chance to live to tell my stories even more.
The solution to my problems lie in the hand of the major football leagues of America. They have begun to enforce new rules, but those have not had a significant effect on concussion rates. Regardless answers need to be addressed quickly or else football will die with the players who have died for it.
yea!
Actually, a lot IS being done to protect players from potential concussions, and head injuries in general. In the last several years, helmet designers have developed new technologies for the construction of helmets to reduce the jarring effect of collisions during play. More impact-absorbing padding, as well as more durable shell designs have been implemented in accordance with National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) regulations.
In addition, the rules of the game have been changed, putting more emphasis on restricting helmet contact, and even ensuring helmets fit and are worn properly. Furthermore, game officials are being trained to identify signs of potential concussion (i.e., slurred speech, apparent loss of consciousness, nausea), and have been given the authority to remove a player for the duration of the contest if such signs are observed. This action alone helps prevent the long-term effects of repeated head trauma, as it forces the player to rest and allow the traumatized brain to recover.
While there is no way to completely eliminate the risk of head injuries from the game, measures such as those noted above have gone a long way to reduce the frequency of concussions and concussion-related brain injury during football. Similar strides have been taken in all sports, at all levels. The result has been fewer concussions, lower incidence of repeat-injuries, and a near-elimination of permanent brain damage cases.