Football is America's pastime. According to the National Football League's commissioner, Roger Goodell, ''It unites people. It gives people a chance to sort of come together and enjoy people around this country today'' (Leibovich). The 50th Super Bowl, which was the most watched program in television history, validates football's ability to unite Americans. However, the sport that brings America together is tearing its players apart. The issue dividing the league is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a disease affecting the brains of about eighty-seven retired NFL players (Barrabi). CTE is a common disease found in boxers and not often associated with the game of football because of the use of helmets and other safety protections. When NFL Hall of Famer and former Steeler Mike Webster died, pathologist Omalu discovered the illness through the study of his brain (Laskas). According to protectthebrain.org, CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes caused by a  history of repetitive brain trauma, including concussions and repetitive hits to the head ("What is CTE"). By 2009, this disease had been discovered, defined, and found in several players, but also denied by the NFL in front of Congress. Six football seasons later, the NFL finally recognized the disease, but, despite Goodells attempts at protocol changes, the number of concussions this past season was the highest it has ever been (Leibovich). The increase of concussions means the risk of CTE has increased as well. Due to the serious implications of the disease, the NFL must recognize and take action to protect its players from concussions and prevent the development of  CTE, or the game of football faces endangerment in future years. 

The NFL's disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is directly linked to repetitive head traumas and concussions. CTE eventually leads to brain deterioration and a decrease in mass. The main component of the disease features the build up of the tau protein, which the brain uses to stabilize cell structure: "Tau is temporal gray matter that includes the amygdaloid nucleus"(Laskas). In a brain suffering from CTE, the protein will appear as noticeably strange, dark splotches (Laskas).The increased buildup of tau caused interferes with its natural production, creating clogging and causing neuronal function interference. This clogging interference leads to the death of healthy brain cells (Lakas). In order to find the tau protein and diagnose individuals with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, pathologists must examine the brain upon death using slides and a microscope. Recently, scientists have discovered a way to diagnose CTE in living brains through Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans. According to Ann Mckee, MD and Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, CTE can be divided into four stages. Additionally, Dr. Mckee explains, "The severity of CTE appears to correlate with the length of time engaged in the sport and the number of traumatic injuries" (Drysdale 430). During each stage, the amount of tau buildup increases and causes a change in the symptoms. Stage I symptoms include headaches and trouble concentrating. Stage II includes depression, explosive behavior and impaired short-term memory. Stage III causes brain impairment, problems performing functions similar to planning, multitasking and judgment. Lastly, Stage IV is associated with dementia, or serious memory and cognitive impairments that affect the individual's daily living (Mooney). 

The most famous example of stage IV CTE is NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster. Before his death in 2002, Webster suffered through all four stage's of CTE. According to the Atlantic, Webster started behaving irrationally shortly after he retired from the NFL. His behavior became so concerning that the NFL Retirement Board ruled him disabled in 1999 (Ezell). His behaviors included supergluing his teeth back into his mouth, sleeping in public places, like the Amtrak station and under bridges, and purchasing a taser, which he to knock himself unconscious so he could fall sleep. After dying at age fifty due to a heart condition and a "post-concussion syndrome," Omalu looked into his brain to determine what Webster's mortician meant by his syndrome (Lakas). Once Omalu's discovery and diagnosis of CTE in Webster became public, a chain reaction occurred and led to the findings of the disease in many others NFL players. 

After the findings in Mike Webster's brain, Dr. Omalu reached out to the NFL Hall of Fame for permission to create a study in order to track the brains of retired NFL players, but the League never acknowledged the request (Laskas). It turns out, this was not the only dismissive action regarding Webster's case, and the League's tactics started long before Webster's death. In 1999, the NFL declared Mike Webster "'totally and permanently' disabled as 'the result of head injuries he suffered as a football player,'" but then spent eight years denying this fact to the public (Ezell). According to the Frontline documentary "The League of Denial," during a private meeting between Dr. Omalu and an NFL doctor, Omalu realized the politics of science and corporations. Despite the physical evidence of the disease, he could not go against the NFL because "they will squash you" (PBSfrontline). After presenting his findings to the League, which shut him down and accused him of faulty medical practices, Omalu stopped his research. By 2009, Dr. Ann Mckee picked up where Omalu left off, and that same year she presented her findings to the NFL. When she entered the room in the NFL headquarters to present the data to a group of the league's doctors, she noticed there was a lawyer present (PBSfrontline). The NFL committee had not changed their opinion, and Commissioner Roger Goodell still refused to acknowledge the connection between head injuries obtained during football careers and later brain diseases (Drysdale 432).

The denial did not stop there. In late 2009, due to the increase in press coverage, Congress called on the NFL. According to the Frontline Documentary, when asked if football was the cause of CTE, commissioner Roger Goodell did not give a complete answer.  A congressional representative compared the League's dismissiveness to the big tobacco companies and their lung disease issue in the 1990s. In other words, the NFL dismisses the evidence proving football as the cause of the disease as insignificant, despite the overwhelming amounts. This comment sparked the NFL's first action in regards to accepting CTE. The League donated money to Boston University Center for research into cognitive brain injuries (PBSfrontline). An NFL spokesman stated, "We are dedicated to making football safer and continue to take steps to protect players [...] we continue to make significant investments in independent research through our gifts to Boston University, the [National Institutes of Health] and other efforts to accelerate the science and understanding of these issues" (Breslow). In the following year, the NFL took their second major step by creating a poster to put in the locker rooms of all teams, which stated that concussions "may lead to problems with memory and communication, personality changes, as well as depression and the early onset of dementia. Concussions and conditions resulting from repeated brain injury can change your life and your family's life forever" (Ezell). Two years later, in 2012, five players had committed suicide in order to receive a postmortem diagnosis with CTE, or due to the complete loss of brain control because of the disease (Ezell). Despite these deaths, the NFL still did not openly admit football as the cause of CTE.

One year after the NFL's poster creation, an Atlanta Falcons player filed a lawsuit against the NFL. Not long after the lawsuit, 4,500 League retirees joined in and sued the NFL. The lawsuit stated that playing NFL football "caused and contributed to the increased risks of latent brain injury," and that the NFL failed "to take appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate repeated traumatic head impacts (including sub-concussive blows and concussions) and the latent brain injury" (Drysdale 433). The class action lawsuit was settled in 2014, when a judge ruled that the NFL will pay players up to five million dollars for medical conditions caused by their time playing football for the League (Almasy and Martin). Despite the money, over 200 former players did not accept the settlement. In April of 2015, they created a new in class lawsuit after the settlement, stating that the NFL "sought to conceal a link between football and long-term brain disease" (Breslow). By the end of 2015, a total of 81 out of 96 retired NFL players were diagnosed with CTE (Barrabi), and studies found 131 out of 165 individuals who played football professionally or semi-professionally tested positive as well (Breslow).  

With the rising number of CTE diagnoses, one would never know that the National Football League had made protocol changes in an attempt to reduce concussions suffered on the field. According to a Vanderbilt Journal, in the early to mid-2000s the NFL used their own faulty concussion data to make their protocol rules, but, after an outcry from the scientific community, resorted to changing these rules (Grove). According to "Helmet to Helmet Contact," the NFL's changes included the length of kickoffs, new rules that limited head and neck contact with defenseless players, and a required consult with independent neurologists after suffering a head injury (Drysdale 427). Another major change included moving the beginning game kickoff from the thirty yard line to the thirty-five yard line. There has also been talk about eliminating the kickoff all together, due to the "successful decrease of concussions" (Drysdale 439).

Although these new rule changes appear as a step in the right direction, they actually have not changed much in regards to the amount of head injuries suffered. The league has made thirty-nine rule changes, yet the number of concussions has increased (Leibovich). For starters, according to "Helmet to Helmet Contact," the NFL still has the rule in place "when a player sustains a grade one concussion, the player will remain conscious and suffers only momentary confusion [and] no medical intervention is necessary" (Drysdale 429). Another problem results from defensive players not always knowing what constitutes a penalty during the game, "and they still may be fined for plays that were not even penalized at the time of contact" (Drysdale 444). Also, the punishments are inadequate, and the major punishments players and teams receive for violating the new safety rules are fifteen yard penalties and fines (Drysdale 439). To make matters worse, the NFL notoriously sells images of the same hits that break the safety rules, and profit between fifty and two hundred and fifty dollars (Drysdale 445). 

Another major set back in the safety changes lies within the League's players and the mentality that working for the NFL corporation gives them: "The biggest problem faced by the NFL and its players in the battle to reduce head  injuries is the mentality of the players themselves, a mentality that appears to be supported by the NFL" (Drysdale 445). For example, many players believe that getting injured is part of playing the game, saying that concussions "[are] part of football" and "[if] you get concussed you gotta keep on playing" (Drysdale 446). Additionally, the players that do admit to their injuries could face replacement or could lose their job completely. A source states that "players continue to hide concussion symptoms from coaches and trainers to avoid being taken out of a highly contested game and possibly even losing their starting positions permanently" (Drysdale 427).  An example of this type of incident is when 49ers quarterback Alex Smith suffered a severe concussion during a seasonal game. Smith sat out for the remainder of the season and was replaced by the backup quarterback, Kaepernick, who lead the team to the Super Bowl (Drysdale 447). Incidents like this cause players to hide injuries or downgrade the problem, even when something more serious is at risk. The player chooses "job security [in] the short haul vs. quality of life [in] the long haul" (Drysdale 447). 

Despite all these flaws in the NFL's changes, the league still claims that the number of concussions have decreased. However, the League performs its on studies, presenting biased data. For example, researchers do not gather concussion statistics from the last week of the season unless the team makes it to the playoffs (Drysdale 443). Only six out of thirty-two teams go to the playoffs. As stated in the Journal article, "One Hit to Many," "It is precisely what the fans don't see that shapes the game for professional football players" (Truman 10). The NFL trys to appease the public more than they try to prevent CTE in their players. All the rules intended to reduce the prevalence of hits that cause brain disease proved ineffective, but the NFL continues to settle for them (Truman 11). What is not being discussed is the fact that the players are the ones to lose in this situation. They lose their capacity to control their brain, and they can eventually lose their lives. CTE is a disease that can develop in the brain of any player, endangering fifty brains per team. The NFL's actions and lack of action shows their value of corporation over individuals and money over lives. Football players are "at risk of enduring some of the worst kinds of brain damage a person can endure -- while entertaining people" and making money for the NFL (Truman 11).

At some point, the League will have to uphold their moral obligations and decide that their players' lives are more important than annual profit. The players use their bodies for entertainment and money for the League, and, after they retire and the NFL no longer profits off them, the players suffer. The facts prove that the league uses its players for the corporation's benefit at large, going against its moral obligations as a company. The only way to fix this problem is if the NFL stops focusing on profits and focuses on the players. The NFL must fill its obligations as a league and take necessary actions to protect its players. In order to take a step in the right direction, the NFL should have proper doctors on the sidelines to make correct diagnoses, provide for every player to have PET scans, have outsiders conduct research on new safety equipment and protocol to introduce to the game, and, overall, confront CTE head on and no longer deny its seriousness. 

Unless the NFL  takes action to protect its players from developing CTE, the game of football will be threatened in the future. However, the game of football has already changed as fans and players become aware that football is among the most dangerous sports to play (Truman 12). With or without the NFL taking proper action, fans of football must take the time to understand CTE and how it kills the players. The NFL corporation and fans offer little support and kindness "to [the] men who turned their bodies into wrecking balls for amusement" (Truman 15). We all must "acknowledge that the human body, even the human body of a professional athlete, is breakable in ways we can't immediately see" (Truman 15). By taking these steps as a corporation and as fans, we can help the game of football obtain the transformation it needs.
