Being a gladiator in sports is the American way. Every year, professional sports leagues acquire millions of dollars from fans that love to watch their games. As the number one form of entertainment in the United States, sports games are a symbol of what it means to be a true American. Most parents start their children off playing youth sports and have dreams of having birthed the next Junior Seau, Derek Boogaard, or Muhammad Ali. For most, this dream is simply that --  a shimmer of hope in a reality that will most likely never come true. Yet, for some this farfetched dream becomes an actuality as the parent watches their child develop into a top athlete as they advance through high school, college, and the ever so sought after professional sports league. While most would see this as a success story, it is actually an all too common story that could possibly chronicle the beginning of hardships in an athlete's life. What most do not realize is that many athletes sustain their first concussion in youth sports which only makes their brain more susceptible to future concussions. With advancements in technology and growing public concern about the well being of America's beloved athletes, now is the time to wage a war against concussions and improve the safety of our games. By refusing to admit that their games cause concussions, professional sports leagues are doing more harm than good to the future of their games. I argue that if the leagues tackle concussion concerns head on and increase the safety of their games by changing the rules to reduce head contact, professional sports will have a brighter future. 

Thought to be a mixture of soccer and rugby, the game of football has been in existence since the 1860s. As the game grew in popularity during the 1880s and early 1900s, the National Football league was founded in 1920. With the average team value in the NFL at over $2 billion, it is safe to say the sport is very popular today. Throughout the years, the game of football has seen many changes such as modifying kickoff rules, adjusting passing rules, and even changing the shape of the ball to make the game more exciting. However, while these changes add to the entertainment factor of the game, they do not increase player safety. Such changes have not been enough to stop the growing concern about concussions and whether the game is really safe. 

In 1994, the public was first made aware of safety concerns against the National Football League and a possible link between playing football and concussions. To combat these accusations, the league created the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) committee to research such claims. During this time, then NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue chose New York Jets team doctor, Dr. Elliot Pellman, as chair of the committee. This selection was highly controversial because Dr. Pellman had no prior brain science experience. In response to the growing concussion concerns from the public, Pellman told Sports Illustrated in an interview, "concussions are apart of the profession, an occupational risk" (Ezell, "Frontline").   Throughout the next decade, there was debate between doctors, players, and those affiliated with the NFL regarding whether football caused concussions. The American Academy of Neurology was most adamant in discrediting the claims of the National Football League. In 2002, Dr. Bennet Omalu examined the brain of deceased NFL center Mike Webster and discovered the brain disease now known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is most commonly found in the brains of those who have suffered multiple concussions and eventually results in the loss of brain mass. Still, the MTBI committee refused to acknowledge that there was a concussion crisis haunting the game of football. Dr. Omalu estimates that 90 percent of all NFL players have CTE and on-going studies prove this belief concluding that 87 of 91 players who submitted their brains for research had the disease (Gutierrez, "The Grim List"). Omalu found evidence of CTE in every position in football except for kicker. After doing this research, doctors discovered that among these players was NFL linebacker Junior Seau who committed suicide in 2012. In an ESPN interview, his ex wife Gina Seau expressed that, "the family was told that Seau's disease resulted from a lot of head-to-head collisions over the course of 20 years of playing in the NFL" (Avila, "Doctors"). Strikingly enough, the National Football League continued to deny all claims that there was a link between their game and CTE until March of 2016. With this confession came a whole new wave of questions surrounding whether the league should be to blame and how they were going to fix this problem. 

In an attempt to make the game of football more safe, the National Football League approved rule changes for the 2015-2016 season that included defenseless player protections, prohibits illegal "peel-back" blocks, and medical timeouts (NFL, "New Rules"). Still, these are not enough. In order for football to remain a popular sport within the next 20 years, the most dangerous aspects of the game must be taken out. These dangerous aspects include the elimination of current helmets that promote players using them as a weapon and negligent game officials . Instead, the league should introduce a more advanced helmet that utilizes new technology to absorb impact and in turn protect the player's head from brain injury. Professional teams should have intense concussion rules that entail the player seeing an outside medical professional for evaluation and doing away with the concept of self report from a player all together. In the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, authors Robeson and King discuss self report by saying, "The imperatives of self-sacrifice and self denial for the sake of the team [..] lead players to down-play insults to the body" (336). With this knowledge, sports teams should pay close attention to the well being of the player and not just on winning the game.

Despite the attempts to make football safer for the players, many feel as though the games were meant to be tough. The players see themselves playing as an intense competition and  view the game as a way for them to show their manhood. Many coaches echo these sentiments and openly disagree with some of the changes being made to the games. For example, NFL cornerback Richard Sherman told ESPN in an interview that he feels as though too many people who are not actual players are the ones deciding the future of football (Smith, "Richard Sherman"). He felt that a hands on approach by the players could significantly increase the safety of the game. Perhaps, it is important to suggest that more football players should work with the competition committee to create changes in the game they love. The competition committee is an eight member group that is comprised of team executives and coaches that analyze film and work to determine changes that need to be made to the game (NFL, "The History"). This committee is intended to take input from coaches, general managers, team owners, and the players themselves before deciding definitely on a new rule. In addition to Sherman, other players have voiced their opinions on not wanting to see the game changed also. This leads to the current debate about how many more changes the committee can make to the game and still consider it traditional football. Some argue that if you get rid of the physical aspects of football, it might as well cease to exist. 

Comparable to the warrior culture surrounding football, ice hockey has a similar stigma surrounding the game. Created in the mid 1800s and arguably an advanced version of hurley or lacrosse, hockey first garnered popularity in Canada and then in the United States in 1893. Over the years, hockey has seen rule changes such as a decrease in the number of players on the ice and equipment updates. More recent changes have consisted of expanded video review for calls on ice made by referees, new 3 on 3 overtime rules, and even changes to the coach's challenge rules all approved by the National Hockey League Board of Governors for 2015-2016 (NHL, "Board of Governors") . While the game seems simple enough, it is the intense body contact between players that makes the game so dangerous. 

Concussions are cited as the most common injury in hockey players. Most of these concussions are a result of on ice fighting .Why is it necessary to have fighting in a game that involves hitting a puck into a goal? I argue that by allowing fighting between hockey players on the ice, the league is promoting a violent nature surrounding the game while carelessly allowing its' players to get hurt. While there are official rules banning illegal hits in hockey, most referees allow such fighting because it brings increased attention and revenue to the game. Although fighting in hockey may be exciting to the fans, it has led to serious injuries and even the deaths of a few famous players. This was the unfortunate case of Canadian professional ice hockey player Derek Boogaard. Boogaard was most famous for his tough on ice persona and has many fight video compilations on the web dedicated to his "best" fights. Unfortunately, these fights and the concussions sustained from them led to evidence of CTE in Boogard's brain and ultimately his death. A New York Times Article written by John Branch detailed how his teammates saw CTE affecting Boogaard as one said, ""He didn't have a personality anymore. He just was kind of  --  a blank face" (Branch, "Derek"). This problem is the direct responsibility of those on the National Hockey League Board of Governors and their refusal to make the game safer for their players by demanding that rules are enforced. 

In short, the game of hockey does not need fighting in order for it to still be considered exciting. The National Hockey League should change rules to enforce stronger penalties against players that participate in on ice fighting and implement more serious suspensions on their players. More severely, the NHL should also place responsibility on the hockey teams, and their owners, who should have to pay for the wrongdoings of their players. With these changes, the teams would be forced to take the idea of fighting more seriously and encourage their players to simply follow the hockey rules. 

Football and ice hockey are known for being brutal games, but the most notorious sport for traumatic brain injuries suffered by its' athletes is boxing. Today's boxing is identified with whoever can be the toughest person over a maximum series of twelve rounds. The sport has been in existence since Greek and Roman times, but modern day boxing emerged in the mid 1800s. Throughout the years, the game has seen changes such as the standards for boxing gloves, three minute rounds, and the banning of wrestling during the fights. 

Today, we look to boxing champions like Floyd Mayweather Jr. as key symbols of the boxing world. Yet, there were once boxing greats such as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Joe Louis who dominated professional boxing and led to increased popularity of the sport. While people love to watch a good fight and use it as a form of entertainment, it is important that people take the time to step back and think about the dangers repeated trauma to the head can cause on a persons brain and life in the future. Although boxing has always been seen as a brutal sport, an article published in the Western Journal of Medicine in 2000 sparked the debate regarding whether boxing should be banned altogether. The article detailed how physicians should treat boxing injuries that cause major trauma to the athlete and how these injuries could result in major health problems later in his life. A key example of this case would be the boxing legend Muhammad Ali who today has Parkinson's disease. Many physicians believe this disease to be a direct result of repeated head trauma sustained during his 21 year boxing career. Parkinson's Disease is characterized by poor balance, tremors of the body, and in some cases amnesia. 

Despite the obvious signs of danger to the body from this game, athletes continue to box and risk their health doing so.  Authors Leclerc and Herrera raised the question in the journal regarding whether neurologists believe that the sport should be banned for good ("Western Journal of Medicine" 2000). However, some neurologists believe that the game can be saved by the addition of special boxing gloves created to prevent eye damage and having ringside physicians who can monitor a boxer's health through brain imaging and stop the fight if need be (Rosenthal, "Rebel Neurologists"). I believe that with the addition of physicians at the fight who can monitor an athletes health, the game of boxing could be made safer to those that participate. Boxing could never be a sport that is completely safe, but introducing safer equipment and having doctors on site could prolong the future of the game. 

With the prevalence of concussions being so high in sports today, it is crucial that we educate athletes, their parents, and coaches about ways to prevent brain injuries while playing a sport. The most beneficial way to reach out to athletes while they are still young is through awareness campaigns. In the Journal of Healthcare Law and Policy, authors Shilpa and Hadoo express that, "players who return to sports prematurely following a concussion are at an increased risk of developing permanent brain damage" (162). With every campaign that is created to bring public awareness about a topic, there must first be someone well versed on the matter to persuade others. Neuropsychologist Kim Gorgens argued for athlete's protection against concussion from childhood into adulthood when playing sports (Gorgens, "Protecting"). In her TED Talk she spoke on the importance of continuing education methods that should start from youth and continue throughout an athletes career onto a professional level.  I believe that it is important to have mandatory concussion awareness preached to teams during the sports season as well as in the off season to ensure that players remember everything they need to be safe. Organizations such as the Concussion Foundation have worked hard to ensure that athletes are safe through research, policy, and education. Their mission is "dedicated to advancing the study, treatment, and prevention of the effects of brain trauma in athletes and other at- risk groups " (Concussion Legacy Foundation, "About").  Other organizations that have similar causes are the Brain Trauma Foundation, Sports Safety International, and the Matthew G. Feller Foundation. While there is ample amount of information regarding athlete safety online, there needs to be a more hands on approach within teams that consists of more than a simple flyer that briefly details the risk of concussions in sports. Teams should create more extensive presentations about concussions that include medical personnel to answer questions and further educate the athletes. 


While it may be easy to sit in our homes and complain about sports ruining our athletes, taking action against concussions will have the most promising effects. It is important to note that if league owners do not t attempt to change their games for the better, parents will stop enrolling their children in these sports. This would make less violent sports such as basketball, track and soccer become more popular in America. However, if the leagues continue to modify their games in the name of safety, the future of high contact sports could be brighter for us all -- most importantly the athletes. With the addition of better equipment, eliminating unnecessary roughness during games, and adding more medical personnel to the sidelines, the most dominant sports in America could exist for generations to come. 

