Suffering Concussions

The major issues that have emerged from this review are just how serious and life-altering concussions and CTE can be. What this review showed is just how unpredictable it is to suffer from CTE. The study with 2 NFL players one who played in the league 20 years and one who played 3 years. It goes to show that sometimes it is just the way you get hit repeatedly not necessarily the number of hits taken. Suffering multiple concussions is also something that can turn catastrophic after reviewing this literature. Suffering from multiple concussions can lead to learning disabilities which can really harm one's future abilities such as their critical thinking and processing skills. Recovering from concussions is also very critical to return because of optimal baseline levels. After reviewing multiple pieces of

literature no athlete should return to the football field within 7 days of post-concussion.

There's just too much risk involved of the player not fully returning to baseline levels and suffering a recurrent concussion. I believe that there should be a mandatory one-game sit out rule at all levels for players suffering a concussion. Therefore if it is mandated and no one can influence someone or themselves to play in a game and risk further injury within that one week. The last point of view is that participation in youth football has been in decline since 2009 due to the rise of concussions and CTE. Parents have become less enthusiastic of allowing their kids to play football at such a young age in risk of developing these head injuries.

The current thinking of my topic is that the game of football is at an all-time crossroads regarding concussions and CTE. The negative press and the studies show that the numbers of players suffering from these 2 things are increasing every year and it already has impacted our game. Yet, at the same time National Football League television ratings are at an all-time high so obviously, it has not discouraged the fans to stop watching. This is where I do believe that there are some

flaws in my theories and findings. I never found any articles suggesting that the game of football is safer than it ever has been. Which it very well might be the case, technology has helped football equipment become top of the line over the last few years. Football helmets now have the ability to be precisely custom fitted for each player to help lower the risk of concussions. Also, the National Football League is passing rules to help make the game safer. For example, they are modifying the kick off rules which is the play where most concussions occur on. So, there are some flaws in my findings because in some ways the game of football is safer than it has ever been it is just not in statistical form to provide evidence. Some questions that I have that may need some further research are is the National Football League willing to sacrifice viewer ratings for the safety of their players? And will there ever be a breakthrough of there being a way to discover CTE before somebody is diseased? I know it seems so tough to do but if someone could invent that it could potentially save a lot of lives. The relationship between the Determinant of CTE and Concussions in Football and the National Football League is very cutting edge. These doctors who do these studies are always collecting data to send to the NFL to let them know where the league stands on player safety. The NFL can either save the game of football by modifying the rules for all or they can choose greed and continue to cash in the paycheck while putting player safety to the back burner.