SIRS Argumentative Essay

“I’ve had times where I walked up to the line, where I know the play, but I don’t know what to do.” – Oakland Raiders tight end Tony Stewart. SIRS date base reports that athletes who repeatedly get blows to the head can result in CTE, which is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive generative brain disease. Many concussions occur while playing sports such as, football, ice hockey, soccer, rugby, and boxing. According to SIRS date base, “symptoms of a concussion include headache, dizziness, vomiting, nausea, light sensitivity and blurred vision or double vision.” Also, “researchers at Boston University studied the brains of 79 former NFL players and found that 76 tested positive for CTE” (SIRS). This paper will examine viewpoint one,

two and my viewpoint on, “should sports leagues do more to prevent concussions and other sports injuries?”
To begin with, viewpoint one is that changes should be made to make sports safer.

For starters, live contact is not allowed to be practiced more than three days a week for only thirty minutes. Firstly, football guidelines are starting to make the environment safer. For example, Josh Barnett, a writer for USA Today, shares “the acclimation period includes working with air or bags through the first five days, with only helmets for the first two days and shells for the next three” (Barnett). In fact, players have to learn the new term for “thud”, which is contact above the waist only with neither player being taken to the ground. Secondly, Pop Warner Football is heading for decreasing the amount of full-speed, head-on collisions in games. For instance, Jill Martin, a writer for CNN Wire Service, reports that Pop Warner Football is eliminating kick offs (Martin). Therefore, new rules prevent full-speed, head-on blocking or tackling drills. Thirdly, people are looking for injuries to make sure players are cared for immediately by real doctors. To illustrate, Roman Oben, a writer for USA Today, tells us that the NFL is making football safer (Oben). Hence, the league and NFL Players Association decreased the amount of full-contact to help decrease injuries. For all these reasons, the NFL should play by safer rules to avoid injuries and major

concussions.
Next, forty-six states in the United States have restrictions on contact. Firstly, New Hampshire, Delaware, South Dakota and Louisiana still have no restrictions. For example, Josh Barnett shares that “preseason and spring practice regulations mandate that teams cannot have two practices a day until the eighth day of practice and only one session a day can include live contact not to exceed forty minutes” (Barnett). Thus, the NFL is setting limits on contact to make football and other sports much safer. Secondly, executing kickoffs adds more safety without changing the game. For instance, Jill Martin reports that “instead of kickoffs, the ball will be placed at the 35-yard line at the start of each half and after each score in all Tiny Mite (5-7 years old), Mitey Mite (7-9 years old), and Junior Pee Wee (8-10 years old) games” (Martin). Therefore, younger players will not have to suffer from a concussion or worse. Thirdly, Pop Warner limits contact to approximately 25%; it used to be 33%. To illustrate, Jill Martin tells us that “Pop Warner is moving to further improve player safety at a time when the sport of Football—from youth leagues to the NFL—is grappling with concerns over concussions and their long-term impact on the brain” (Martin). Hence, organizations are limiting contact during practices. For all these reasons, more states should have restrictions on contact to better the future of players, children and adults.
On the other hand, viewpoint two contends that athletes know the risks involved in playing a sport. Firstly, for the Con side, players ignore the concerns and risks about concussions. Firstly, it is difficult to maintain the safety rules involved in the game. For example, Liz Clarke, a writer for Washington Post, shares that “You want to do everything you can do to protect yourself and be on the line at the same time. You want to still be aggressive and still be a monster” (Clarke). Secondly, the NFL introduced a new term called Preemptive Retirement. For instance, Liz Clarke reports that “Preemptive Retirement was at least a question on the minds of NFL executives during the run-up to this year’s draft” (Clarke). Therefore, players can choose to leave their career in the NFL. Thirdly, risks are an ugly realty in sports. To illustrate, Josh Aldrich, a writer for the Canadian Press, tells us that “Players are supposed to be able to fight through whatever injury comes their way, lest they be known as soft or wimps or by other more derogatory monikers” (Aldrich). Hence, players will not come forward and get help when injured because they will get bullied. For all these reasons, the dangers of sports are a price worth paying.
Furthermore, the NFL also does not think that safety precautions are a big deal. Firstly, players end up loving sports so much that they never want to quit. For example, Liz Clarke shares “You get to a point of loving the game, and you’re like: ‘This is me. This is what I have to do. And I know I’m going to do it for a long time” (Clarke). Thus, players are willing to play until they cannot play anymore. Secondly, leagues with higher levels refuse to share the risks of their sport. For instance, Josh Aldrich reports “Both football and hockey leagues have been hammered by lawsuits about the refusal to disclose or accept information about the effects of head injuries to their athletes and improperly rushing them back into action (Aldrich). Therefore, the NFL does not think that the risks are important. Thirdly, Roger Goodell insists that football is safe and that there’s risks in life. To illustrate, Ken Belson, a writer for the New York Times (online), tells us that “When asked whether it was safe for young people to play football, Goodell said that he was glad he was able to play tackle football for nine years before college” (Belson). Hence, the new safety rules are disliked by some players. For all these reasons, football is not a safe sport to play.
Finally, I believe athletes do not know what they could lose when damaging their brain. Specifically, when I see players get tackled to the ground and just lay there, it is so sad. Firstly, football should stop being played because it is ruining people’s lives later on. For example, Ken Belson shares that “The number of diagnosed concussions rose by 31.6% this season over last season (Belson). Thus, players are going to start either dying or going through memory loss if we do not put a stop to this sport. Secondly, players that love playing football do not listen to the major risks. For instance, Liz Clarke reports “Alabama defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, a second-round pick of the Detroit Lions, who has played tackle football since age four says that he wants to play as long as he can make it” (Clarke). Therefore, the coaches should talk to the players about the risks of playing. Thirdly, many sports can make you have head injuries. To illustrate, Josh Aldrich tells us “In my final year of hockey at our annual midget tournament in Kitscoty in 2000, I was cross-checked over the head as I went to go hit another player. I was diagnosed with my 6th concussion, five of which are from playing hockey” (Aldrich). Hence, sports in general are dangerous for your health. For all these reasons, everyone around the world should work together to make sports safer.

In summary, this paper explored viewpoint one, two and my viewpoint on, “Should sports leagues do more to prevent concussions and other sports injuries?” Some sports leagues are doing more to prevent concussions, but not all of them. Pop Warner Football is leading toward decreasing the amount of full-speed, head-on collisions in games. A lot more people are looking for injured players to make sure they are cared for appropriately. Some states have limits and some do not. When we eliminate kick-offs, the game is much more safe. Pop Warner Football decreased the percent of contact to 25% when it was 33%. Some people say that it is hard to keep up with the safety rules, because some players do not like them. Players love their sports so much that they do not realize the damaging risks that can lead to death. Imagine your child or significant other not remembering the memories you shared together; that is what it is like when players get concussions or CTE, The long term effects include memory loss and it is very upsetting. Think about how the effects can affect the ones around you.