Concussions and the issues they bring with them is a large talking point in the world of sports recently. More specifically, the NFL is the main focus for issues like concussions. Many retired NFL players experience CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a degenerative disease that occurs after suffering repetitive head trauma. The effects of CTE can be extremely painful and can result in short term and long term memory issues. There have been players who committed suicide and players who have died a premature death that were found with CTE. Clearly, this is a hot topic in the sports world, and many media icons and retired players are calling for the NFL to pay reparations and adjust the in game concussion protocol. The topic of CTE and concussions in football interest me because I have dealt with three concussions, and I love the game of football. Also, every time I hear SportsCenter anchors and ESPN reporters paint the NFL as an organization as the sole person responsible for the pain and death that occurs due to CTE, which makes me question why the players are not taking any responsibility for playing a violent game. The risks of playing football are well documented and should quite honestly be common sense. Players should have to take some of the responsibility for playing the game because the NFL is not forcing anyone to play. This is why it affects my personal values. A value I hold strong is the idea of taking responsibility for your actions, which is important for you to achieve success. Playing the blame game and making excuses does not get anyone anywhere. While the NFL is also at partial fault I do not concede to the idea that they are at full blame. 

Dave Duerson, a retired football player, killed himself back in 2011. Boston University = found out that Duerson suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Dave Duerson's son is now angry at the NFL's commissioner, Roger Goodell, and his comments saying that great progress has been made to improving the rules of concussion protocol and equipment safety. The major issue this article brings up is that Roger Goodell, during a press conference, put out a statement that the NFL is improving safety for players and that there is no definitive link between football and CTE. Roger Goodell's comments upset Duerson's son, and Duerson believes that Roger Goodell should show more empathy to these players and families who suffer from CTE. Most of the article were direct quotes from Roger Goodell, Tregg Duerson, and Dr. Mitch Berger. The rest of the article are facts about the incident. I see bias with the author because he is painting Roger Goodell in poor light by picking and choosing which quotes he uses to back up Duerson's quotes.

Nancy Amour is a football writer for USA Today. This is an opinion piece by her about CTE and the NFL. Nancy Armour's opinion is that football is not a safe sport for our children to play and that the NFL are at fault for not protecting their players to the best of their ability. She also believes that the NFL has not devoted enough to the research of CTE and concussions. The major issue she brings up is that the NFL makes billions of dollars each year in revenue and only devoted around 100 million dollars in concussion related research. Another major issue she brings up is that the in-game concussion protocol needs to be improved and amended. Also, she says that what the NFL is saying about how great steps have been made to improve safety of players are just to appease people and nothing is really fixed. This article is an opinion piece, which shows that her biases are clear. She believes that the NFL are at fault for not protecting their players, and too money hungry to care about their player's futures. All the facts she uses are from credible sources such as Ann McKee the chief of neuropathology at the V.A. Boston Healthcare system. However, she clearly only picks out sources that back up her opinion.

Dani Bostick's article is about another retired NFL player who was found to have had a premature death caused by CTE. The main issue discussed in this article is CTE and its symptoms with a small opinion piece that the NFL is not doing enough to protect their players. This is a more informative piece about CTE. The article lists the symptoms of CTE, and describes the degenerative disease in further detail. The article also uses examples from recently retired players talking of the pain and memory loss they have endured since exiting the league. Bostick believes that the NFL is under pressure to make great strides in attempting to fix this problem and protect its players. For the most part, this article is an informative piece and does not have much bias. Bostick does use many sources. The most prevalent source he uses is a recently retired player who is current suffering from the symptoms of CTE, and he expresses how he regrets his career already because of CTE.

This research question is arguable. There are many sports writers and reporters who are saying that the NFL is at fault for all the problems related to concussions that retired players are experiencing, and I am saying that the players need to take some of the responsibility. Some arguments that I have found in my research is that children should not be allowed to play football until they are of a consenting age. I have also found some arguments saying that the NFL needs to amend their concussion policy and make it tougher for players to reenter the game after a concussion. Different perspectives have swayed my perspective slightly thinking that the NFL does have a responsibility to toughen up their concussion policy, but I still believe the players need to assume some responsibility because they are willing to play a dangerous game.

