Football Players and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

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Thesis Statement What does Jovan Belcher, Ray Esterling and O.J. Murdock Have in common? They all were famous football players who commented suicide. Each player had something called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. This is a condition where sufferers have had repeated hits to the head that leads to concussions and ultimately head trauma. In this research paper, we will go over the data about the NFL to see could they have prevented CTE in these players if they had placed the player’s safety first. Highlighted players Above in my thesis statement are the men I would like to highlight for you. According to USA Today, (Mihoces, 2013) Jovan Belcher loved to play sports especially wrestling and football. He was drafted in 2009 with the Kansas City Chiefs and defied the odds by being a great defensive player. On December 1, 2012 he killed his girlfriend and himself (Mihoces, 2013). His mother is currently suing the Kansas City Chiefs for a wrongful death suite to the many concussions that he received while on the football team (Skretta, 2014) Ray Esterling played for the Atlanta Falcons for many years and retired at the age of 35. At the age of 62, he committed suicide, and an autopsy was completed and CTE was found inside his brain (Tierney, 2012) His family has also opened a case against the NFL for a wrongful death suite as well. Last but not least there was O.J. Murdock. He loved sports as well. He was a superstar player in his high school and later in college he continued playing the game. However, O.J Murdock never played NFL. He took his life while sitting in the parking lot of Middleton High School (ESPN New York Associate Press, 2012). Each player was believed to have CTE and committed ... ... middle of paper ... ...mself Had Brain Disease http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/sports/football/ray-easterling-autopsy-found-signs-of-brain-disease-cte.html?_r=0 ESPN New York Associated Press, 7/30/12 O.J. Murdock dies in apparent suicide http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/8214355/police-tennessee-titans-player-oj-murdock-dies-apparent-suicide Jason La Canfora, Aug 3, 2012 League could suspend players for helmet-to-helmet hits http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81b6d381/article/league-could-suspend-players-for-helmettohelmet-hits Peter Berkes on Aug 8 2013 NFL announces rule changes for 2013 season http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/8/8/4594316/nfl-rule-changes-2013 No author acknowledged, January 22, 2013 Former race car driver designs safer football helmet http://www.examiner.com/article/former-race-car-driver-designs-safer-football-helmet

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