Description
American football is a sport that has always been known for its violence. In fact, as the sport of football started to gain popularity during the turn of the 20th century, so did the number of football deaths and serious injuries. The sport was near the point of abolishment and then President Theodore Roosevelt stepped in and met with some of the coaches at the power schools to establish rules and a governing body to oversee and enforce sanctions on the sport so that it would not be so violent (Klein, 2019). At that time, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the University States (IAAUS) was formed (now the present-day NCAA) and football began to take on more safety protocols, such as the use of more uniform equipment to prevent injury.
Fast forward to 2015, the film Concussion made its debut and shed light on a neuropathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu, who was the first to find and publish on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American football. The film received a lot of attention and people within the football community and beyond became intrigued and worried about the long-term impacts of playing the sport of football.
CTE is a brain disease that is commonly found in football players, because of the repeated trauma to the head. The symptoms of CTE do not start to appear until years after the head trauma and symptoms affect an athlete’s mood and behavior and can lead to depression, aggression, and paranoia. To add on, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, CTE was found in 99% of deceased NFL player’s brains after they were donated to research (Emanuel, 2017).
Since then, the NFL has created preventative measures to assist with player safety and the Play Smart. Play Safe. initiative was launched to continue progress on the diagnosis and treatment of head injuries of NFL players. The initiative is organized under four pillars including:
Protecting Players: Making changes on and off the field to protect the health and safety of every player in the NFL.
Advanced Technology: Championing new developments in engineering, biomechanics, advanced sensors and material science that mitigate forces and better prevent against injuries in sports.
Medical Research: Supporting independent research to advance progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of head injuries, and accelerate scientific understanding of their long-term impact.
Sharing Progress: Sharing what the NFL learns across all levels of football—and to other sports and society at large.
In fact, since 2002, the NFL has made over 50 rule changes which were intended to eliminate the risk of injury in athletes.
Discussion Board Post Assignment:
Since 2002, the NFL has made over 50 rule changes which were intended to eliminate the risk of injury in athletes. Research these rule changes and list and discuss three rule changes that have had a direct impact on minimizing the risk of a concussion (5 points for each rule change- 15 points total).
