Loving the sport of football has no restrictions. Growing up, it was Saturday game days at the local field. In high school it was Friday night under the lights with your classmates showing your school spirit. College tailgates on Saturdays are something you will never forget. And on Sundays and Monday nights, fans never forget to root for their favorite NFL teams. America loves football and there is no denying that. Superbowl parties, cookouts, tailgates, pickup games in the neighborhood, whatever it may be, the mutual love most Americans have for the sport of football has seemed to bring people and communities together. Rooting for the same team provides group affiliation, watching football provides entertainment, a chance to be with family and friends, and even helps the economy. There are many reasons why America loves football. Because of all these reasons, it is important for the game to be kept safe for the players, so the sport can continue on. This has become a rising problematic topic of discussion between players, parents, NFL commissioners and even medical figures. The concern for safety has been questioned.

It is known and has been known for decades that football is a contact sport that can be dangerous and there is no arguing that. In an article written by Barry Wilner for The Associated Press, called "Trying to make a violent game safer" Wilner interviews John Madden, an NFL hall of famer on his stance of the issue. He answers, "You are not going to take hitting out of football, or take big, fast, strong guys having collisions out of football. There are ways of making it safer and I just want to be part of that." (Wilner n.p) Someone that is such an inspirational figure for the sport admits to the potential safety risks and wants to help highlight the problem and deal with the concerns regarding these issues. There are players that have had serious brain diseases because of the constant hits to head the contact in football allows and requires. However despite this, players in the NFL are aware of the dangers they are facing and make the decisions for themselves whether they would like to proceed in playing with these potential risks. This can be shown in a 60 Minutes script by Steve Kroft interviewing Ed Reed, a former player in the NFL. Kroft asks Reed if he would do it over again given the choice and he says, "Yes, I still would do it again. Why? 'Cause look at me. Look at my family. They're able to eat, they're able to have food and shelter over their head. Would I play football again? Yes." (Kroft n.p) In around the past decade or so, people have really started to question the NFLs concern for the safety of their players. This growing concern has had an effect on the other levels of play such as NCAA, high school and Youth. "Football literally teaches a boy to get back up after being knocked down, brush himself off and move forward", says Brad Schaeffer. It teaches kids life lessons.

Though it is clear that football can be dangerous, more so the higher the level of play gets, through rule changes, improvement of protection equipment and funding to safety committees in the NFL, football is being reinvented to increase the safety for the players. It is being reinvented in a way that does not take away the contact of the sport, but promotes a safer overall game. The contact is what makes the game part of why America loves this sport so much, so changing it in a way that keeps it involved is important in this process.  

This concern for safety of football players in nothing new, the sport has known to be violent and known that it is just part of the game of football, however in the past couple of seasons more is being done in order to make a change than in the past to promote safety of the players. Especially in this past season in the NFL. Before the 2015-2016 season, more rules were changed and things were done to attempt to help fix this problem significantly. An article in USA Today written by Lorenzo Reyes in August, 2016 named "NFL reports reduction in concussions, new measures to protect players" is about precautions the franchise has been making to prevent head and neck injuries for players, which are the most severe types of injuries that football players face. Head and neck injuries can end up effecting players for a long time, even the rest of their lives. So it is important we protect these areas of football players. The article describes two main changes in the rule book that were expected to increase the safety of the players. 

The first rule change that was put into action for the 2015-2016 season was, "First, an offensive player who is attempting to catch a ball that's been intercepted will be ruled defenseless and cannot be hit in the head or neck area by the intercepting team as possession changes or a penalty will be enforced" (Reyes n.p). In football, when a player is attempting to intercept a catch, his focus is fully on the ball and the player becomes vulnerable. The opposing team has an opportunity to gain speed and time to set up to hit the player catching the ball. Making it so the offender cannot be hit in the head or neck area is very effective because at this time of intercepting, the player's body is more vulnerable and prone to injury.  

A second rule change described in this article is as follows, "Also, the league has given certified athletic trainers who are stationed in sky boxes at each game the authority to stop play with the touch of a button if they see a player who is exhibiting notable signs of injury" (Reyes). Generally, during a game if an athlete gets an injury that is not major, they try and play through it without anyone noticing because they want to finish and help their team a win. However, if these certified athletic trainers were up high in these boxes looking over the whole field for any potential injuries, more player's injuries would be called out. This helps greatly because when athletes continue playing with an injury, it makes the problem much worse.  

There were even more rule changes made before the 2015-2016 football season. Many other rules have been changed to help fix this issue. In an article written for NBC Sports by Michael David Smith called "NFL passes five player safety rules" five rules to help increase safety of the game are described. The first rule states that, it "Bans defensive players from pushing teammates at the line of scrimmage when the offense is in punt formation." (Smith n.p). The plays in football that are prone to most injuries are special team's plays. These plays involve kickoffs, kick and punt returns. This is because the players that come from the line of scrimmage to attack the receiver of the kick or punt have the chance to gain so much more momentum before making the hit. Players not being allowed to push their teammates at the line of scrimmage makes it harder for the defensive team to gain as much momentum, therefore the hit that they will be making will not be as hard which protects the player receiving the ball. This is effective because it is not taking the contact of the sport away, but it is regulating it in a way that will decrease potential injury. As stated in Wilners article, "John Madden wants to make pro football safer, not tamer." Which is the ultimate goal. 

The second rule put into action for this past season is also effective, in a way that it "Prohibits all offensive players from engaging in peel back blocks" (Smith n.p). A peel back block is when an offensive player blocks a defensive player who is running towards his own end zone (from the side or behind). These blocks can be dangerous because the player with the ball is unable to see the defender if they are coming from behind or the side. These changes in the rules are effective because the offender can still be hit from ahead of him, it just eliminates the potential risk of injuries if one is hit from behind. So once again the contact is still there but just limited to where it can be enforced. 

The third rule described in this article is the same rule change in Reyes's article regarding defenseless players, it "Gives receivers defenseless player protection when a pass is intercepted." (Smith n.p). The fourth rule put into effect is in regards to the promotion of safety, which "Makes it illegal for a running back to chop a defensive player engaged above the waist by another offensive player outside the tackle box" (Smith n.p). To "chop" in football is a blocking strategy in which an offensive player will block a defensive player, and a second offensive player will attempt to cut down the defensive player by blocking him down around the knees. Basically it means double teaming a player once they are already wrapped up. This is effective because chop blocks before this rule change were very dangerous for the player's knees. Because the second player isn't allowed to make contact in the tackle box, the potential risk for these injuries decreases. The last rule change in this article "Allows an injury spotter to stop the game if a player appears to have suffered a brain injury" which was also one of the changes described in Reyes's article but it still very effective in helping players realize the severity of their injuries. (Smith n.p)

 As time passes, improvements on just about anything become easier to achieve. When football was first invented, the protective equipment was nowhere near the level of effectiveness that it is today. Helmets hardly covered a player's entire face and pads were about half the size and strength as they are today. With previous constant concussions and head injuries, something about the quality of protective equipment needed to be done so that football players could still have full contact but keep themselves more safe.

A movie was released in 2015 called "Concussion" starring Will Smith. Will Smith played the role of Bennet Omalu who was a doctor from Nigeria, Dr.Omalu who was the first to recognize in a football player the same kind of brain damage that had been seen in longtime boxers. The brain disease was named chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

 An article from NBC news named "'Concussion' Shines Light on Brain Injuries and Football" written by Blake McCoy describes this claim of CTE and what is being done by the NFL to fight it. It describes how "The NFL has made numerous changes to the game to enhance player health and safety at all levels of football. These include nearly 40 rule changes in the last decade, strict concussion protocols and better training and sideline medical care" (McCoy n.p). This shows the NFL's concern with the effects of CTE and will help the sport of football as a whole not just at the professional level. Along with this the NFL is "funding independent scientific and medical research and the development of better protective equipment to advance further progress. The game continues to change, and player health and safety remains our highest priority" (McCoy n.p). As the game evolves, protective equipment must evolve along with it because players continue to become stronger and faster. The fact that these aspects are being funded and scientific medical research for improvement is being done shows that the franchise does care about the safety of the players. The better the equipment is effects the amount of contact players could make while still being kept safer. McCoy states that "You have to meet in the middle for all of this. You can't just get rid of the sport." America loves football too much to just get rid of it because of its potential dangers, so this represents the steps being made in order to keep the sport while improving its aspects. 

While the article about the movie "concussion" argues that CTE is a real problem that is life threatening, another source "Renowned neurosurgeon says football 'has never been safer'" written by Tom Rock argues that it is not nearly as big of a problem as people are making it out to be. Dr. Joseph Maroon said in this article, "I think the problem of CTE, although real, is it's being over-exaggerated and being extrapolated to youth football and to high school football," People are making it out to seem larger of an issue than it really is (Rock n.p) The article portrays that CTE is more of a rare phenomenon and the media with the movie "Concussion" did not make it seem as if it was. In fact the article argues that, "A Steelers neurosurgeon who advises the NFL on head, neck and spine injuries told the NFL Network on Wednesday that football "has never been safer" and that youth football is safer than riding a bike or a scooter or using playground equipment." (Rock n.p) Initially, this neurosurgeon is part of the head, neck and spine committee in the NFL. This is a committee that was formed about a half a decade back to do studies on injuries so changes could be made. The NFL creating and regulating these specific groups goes to show their interest in bettering the solution to these injuries. These studies show that the sport has never been safer so it wouldn't be possible that the NFL is ignoring concussions and other head injuries.  

The head, neck and spine committee of the NFL works specifically on types of injuries that have to do with hits to the head. In a source named "Helmet technology is focus at NFL injury prevention conference" By Jason La Canfora, examples of what the committee really does is discussed. In this article it says, "Helmet manufacturers, scientists and concussion experts met at a ballroom one block from the NFL's office Wednesday to evaluate leading technology in concussion-preventing equipment during a gathering of the league's Head, Neck and Spine Medical Committee" (La Canfora n.p) The committee had a meeting with all of the most important groups of people that can actually help make significant changes in the quality of protective equipment. All of this was being discussed at the injury prevention conference. A conference held for the reason of concern for player's safety alone. The NFL clearly cares about the wellness of their players and doesn't just ignore the injuries that occur.

As far as improving quality of equipment goes, the helmet is the most important part. Obviously the helmet is what protects player's heads so improving this is going to help prevent the most severe type of injuries in football, which are head and neck injuries. Funding for scientific research has been increased in the last couple of years and with this funding, a biomedical engineer and a professor at UCLA, Vijay Gupta conducted research and experiments to improve helmet quality by switching the materials they are made with. This is discussed in an article named "Making football helmets safer to prevent concussions" by Mike Fricano. Gupta created a new type of Polymer, it says "He's created a polymer that could diminish the force of helmet-to-helmet hits on a football field or shockwaves from explosive devices on a battlefield. To test out his material, Gupta uses lasers and a grandfather-clock-sized hammering machine" (Fricano n.p). This new polymer that could be used in helmets could have a large effect on the safety of football players. If the force of helmet to helmet hits was diminished, it would make the sport significantly safer. The funding allows Guptas research to be tested, he was able to use lasers and a hammering machine to see if the polymer was actually effective. 

In conclusion, the sport of football is being reinvented to make the game safer. Even though it is being made safer, the toughness and contact still remains just as big of a part of the game as before, just concern for the player's safety is important. The NFL has changed multiple rules, funded scientific medical research and improved protective equipment to promote wellness of its players which has rubbed off on the sport as a whole. America loves and needs football, so it is important we protect the players that love the game. 

