I have been very intrigued by the NFL and all of the dangers that come along with it for quite some time. However, it wasn't until I saw the recently released movie "Concussion" that I realized just how dangerous the game is. The human brain has always interested me by all of the things it is able to do and how essential it is to our every day life. I suffered two concussions throughout middle school and didn't give up football until my sophomore year of high school, realizing that the game wasn't worth putting my brain at risk. I have always been a fan of football and always look forward to Sunday afternoon to Monday night stretch in the fall but researching this topic and seeing the statistics and facts about this particular injury can make anyone cringe. It is a scary game that does not affect my values since I am not involved, but sooner or later these players will understand what they are doing to their heads. 

The article "What the NFL's New Concussion Numbers Don't Answer" provides real statistics on the number of injuries to the head over the past couple of seasons. Some that stand out include that there was a 31.6 percent increase in the number of concussions suffered in 2015 from 2014. Another is that only 39 of 100 players that were surveyed said that the injuries they were mostly worried about were the ones to the head, when it is clearly the most serious danger of the NFL today. This article values the severity and common occurrence of this injury in the league and how these concussions are getting more serious and more often. The interests of league officials, doctors, and players themselves are at stake here. This article is serving as a big red flag and exposing results from real studies and surveys that support the claim that the blows to the head need to be taken more seriously. "Frontline" is a credible source for such a topic because they have been covering the NFL's concussion crisis for years now since the issue was initially brought to hand. 

My next article by David Haugh brings Commissioner Roger Goodell's speech at the NFL's Super Bowl 50 news conference to the table. He is being criticized for comparing the danger of the game to "sitting on the couch." This piece also sheds light upon the fact that 90 of 94 brains of ex-NFL players were tested positive for CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in a study done by Boston University. The major values and interests here are questioning how seriously Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL staff are taking this head trauma deal. By comparing the game of football to sitting on the couch, Goodell impressed nobody in a conference in which most everybody thought would be focused on the concussion issue on hand and possibly ideas for solutions. The Chicago Tribune is a credible source as it is a big time newspaper company with factual information. Writer David Waugh is a well-known researcher and reporter that has been writing for the newspaper since 2003. 

The article written by Sean Gregory with "TIME" magazine contains a central claim that the NFL and its officials are beating around the bust at this concern with the NFL. It highlights comments made by neurosurgeon/member of the NFL's Head, Neck and Spine committee Dr. Mitchel Berger that there is no "link" between football and degenerative brain disorders. The values and interests at stake here is the denial of the issue that has come to be so serious and true that it is unfair for these important people involved to not believe and admit. "TIME" magazine is a very credible main news source and the articles author Sean Gregory is a long time writer who has focused in sports throughout the years. 

This is a research question that can be argued due to the fact that there are the league officials like ones discussed above that do not take this issue seriously enough but there are also the facts and statistics found by neurosurgeons and other studies that have proven this to be a major issue. There are many agreements that pertain to these results from these tests done on brains of ex-NFL players whose post-NFL lives went bad. The disagreements reside in the minds of the people who deny that this is a major problem, such as Goodell and Berger. These perspectives have not changed where I stand on this topic as I am a strong believer that this is something that will tear America's most popular game to the ground if the right steps aren't taken to try and prevent the constant blows to the head. I may need to revise my research question by making it more specific, possibly focusing on CTE itself and the information found on the disease through studies by different neurosurgeons. 
