The amount of athletes suffering head injuries in today's day and age is overwhelming, eye opening, and quite alarming. Concussions, in particular, continue to be one of the most significant injuries in today's sports. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff,  "a concussion is a traumatic brain injury that alters the way your brain functions". Every day, thousands of athletes are affected by this traumatic injury we define as a concussion. As defined by Mayo Clinic Staff, "chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) results from blows to the head over a period of time that causes a concussion."  Within time, these injuries can lead to difficulties in understanding concepts, emotions, and behaviors.  Unfortunately, a recent study from CNN showed that thirty to eighty percent of athletes had post-concussion signs and symptoms three months after being injured. A surprisingly statistic of one in seven athletes were also still symptomatic after one year. As discovered in recent news, concussions have also led to the suicidal attempts by multiple retired, professional football players. This essay will explore the frequent numbers of athletes being diagnosed in youth, college, and professional sports. It portrays the ignorance of the National Football League (NFL) in this crisis, exemplifies the stance that college leagues are taking, and describes the lack of access youth sports has to prevent these injuries. With the long term, tragic results of concussions, I believe that athletes and families should be knowledgeable and compensated if injured. Preventing concussions and protecting football players after a concussion take place needs immediate attention world-wide. We need to avoid worrying about filling stadiums with fans and pay closer attention to keeping our football players, young and old, safe from harm.

In the 2015-2016 National Football League (NFL) season, an alarming two hundred and seventy one diagnosed concussions were reported during preseason and regular season games. Furthermore, the amount of concussions diagnosed today reach beyond professional athletes. An estimated 300,000 high school athletes sustained concussions last year. Just like any other disease, every day scientist are fighting to find the cure for these brutal head injuries in  laboratories across the world. Today, numerous retired NFL athletes are discovering that they did in fact have CTE, which lead to questions beginning to rise in the NFL. Questions such as: Were these players ever informed about CTE? Were these players knowledgeable about the risk they were taking? quickly grabbed the attention of the NFL. It was rumored that the NFL has been withholding information and has never acknowledged the link. But with the recent confirmation from Jeff Miller, it has been proven that the NFL has withheld such valuable information. In 2009, an NFL spokesman told the New York Times that it is "quite obvious from the medical research that's been done that concussions can lead to long-term problems." But when questioned in interviews, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other league representatives avoided taking a position, repeating that the league would let the medical community decide. There stance on this matter remained consistent for years. The NFL league was hesitant and cautious when they expressed the impossibility that football would be linked to the results of CTE.  These questions were often quickly dismissed by the NFL Health and Safety staff. That was until recently, It was a discussion with the US House Committee on Energy Commerce On March 14, 2016 that changed the way the NFL perceived concussions. Jeff Miller, the Executive Vice President of NFL Health and Safety was at a roundtable discussion when he was asked the question that many avoided. He was asked if  he believed that the cause CTE and various other degenerative brain disorders could be connected to football. Miller responded that, "the answer to that question is certainly, yes." (Fainaru). This marked the first confirmation that the NFL was completely aware of  the link with post concussion syndromes. 

There has been multiple discoveries of CTE in deceased, retired NFL football players. The question remains, why would the NFL withhold these results? Most importantly, why was this information not passed down to current athletes? The National Football League should without a doubt reconstruct their concussion protocol. They should be held accountable for the compensation of the players and their families for withholding information that later lead to multiple deaths and a life long illnesses.

The effect of a concussions last longer than a week of recovery. Research shows that once a person gets a concussion, they are immediately more likely to endure another one. Even within the first few hours after a concussion, the athlete can experience slight dizziness and maybe some difficulties concentrating. According to Brian Burnsed's article, A Gray Matter, this is due to the instability brain state that they are placed in. An athlete will endure headaches, fatigue, sleep disturbance, light sensitivity, tinnitus, neck pain and irritability after a concussion takes pace. In addition, constant headaches and nausea can still be in effect days after an athlete is concussed. But what is most important, is the traumatic long term effects that concussions have; the effects that take place long after the athlete leaves the football field. While the majority of concussions resolve within 7 -- 10 days, in some cases, symptoms persist for weeks, months or years beyond the initial injury. Laurie Ryan details in her  Review of Psychiatry that, "Although these PCS often resolve within one month, in some individuals, PCS can persist from months to years following injury and may even be permanent and cause disability. When this cluster of PCS is persistent in nature, it is often called the post concussion syndrome or persistent PCS." (Ryan 310). The evolution of a concussion injury to a post concussion syndrome is ill-defined and poorly understood. It is difficult to define where concussion ends and post concussion syndrome, or CTE begins. The symptoms of these post concussions syndromes can be subjective and objective. The symptoms can be unclear or vague which ultimately makes it difficult to diagnose. However, the findings of CTE in deceased NFL players prove that it is clear that symptoms do persist to last. The NFL has shown extreme ignorance by not protecting their players and families from such tragic events especially since they were certainly aware of the traumatic effects. 

In the National College Athletic Association (NCAA), concussions are rampant. Interestingly enough, colleges are taking more of a stance in this serious issue than the NFL. The NCAA has recently redefined its rules to help prevent their unpaid athletes unlike the NFL who has done nothing to aid in its paid  players safety. One rule that differentiates NCAA football and NFL football is the Targeting Penalty. The NCAA's targeting penalty "discourages defenders from targeting above the shoulder when coming into contact with a defenseless player" (Kashyap).Targeting results in an immediate ejection from the game. In the NFL, no such penalty exists. The closest penalty they have to this is "unnecessary roughness." Unnecessary roughness is when a player uses any part of his helmet or face mask to butt, spear, or ram an opponent violently or unnecessarily, which results in a 15 yard penalty. With this penalty called, the player who committed it is sometimes, and rarely fined based on the severity of the injury. Based off the rules in the NFL and NCAA football, there is not much the officiating can do to protect the players. In the NCAA, there are different ways that some schools are using to protect, and better evaluate their players after concussions. Dartmouth Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens, is adopting new standards for limiting contact in training camp and during practices. Players will go through practices and drills without hitting another player. This is just one small way a Coach is aiding in the protection against concussions. Colleges are willing to aid, yet the NFL still fails to help? Elizabeth Eckhart discusses on how some athletic facilities are engineering new ways to attempt to prevent such a harsh injury. She states "Another solution, now implemented by the University of New Haven men's basketball team, is the use of Triax head sensors. Placed inside a headband, these sensors track the g-forces of a blow to the head, transmitting the data wirelessly to computers in real time, thereby enabling trainers to know when athletes are injured and, potentially, to remove them from the game." (Eckhart). If the NFL was constantly fighting the prevention of concussions like the NCAA has, the NFL would not be under investigation. 

Like mentioned previously, concussions are being diagnosed beyond the professional football fields. In fact, youth sports contribute to nearly 80% of concussions in sports. This too should be closely examined and explained to the families of young football players, despite the fact that these games are not streamed live on national television. It is not a surprise that the NFL has millions and millions of dollars now invested in the most up-to-date "anti-concussion" helmets and equipment. Yet, youth sports do not have access to use such equipment to keep them protected. So, how can these youth athletes be protected without having elite equipment or professional doctors on the sideline? Some may say the only way to protect these youth athletes is eliminate the game completely, to ensure their safety. However, is this the only solution? Imagine the NFL as a parent, and the players as its children. Would a parent willingly let their kids continue to injure themselves and increase their chances of horrible long term effects over just a sport? No. Michael McCrea, a neuropsychologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin, has played an enormous role in some of the most important advancements in sport concussion research these past two decades. After hearing some of the stories of deceased NFL players who's brains have gone against them later in life, McCrea's wife Ann Marie, said that she would be reluctant to let their 6-year-old son, Joe, play football when he became old enough. Recently, with all the constant buzz about concussions, many schools have started teaching their kids the dangers of concussions in sports and its long term effects, making them well known to them the risks they are taking. In the article Looking at the Risk of Concussion in Sports Head On, Elizabeth Eckhart informs the reader on the actual seriousness behind the commonly misunderstood injury. She explains the importance of the injury by giving statistics such as "a study conducted in May 2013, revealed that 53 percent of high school football players, said that they would continue to play despite a head injury that produced a headache." (Eckhart). Eckhart explains that over half of athletes will return to the game regardless of how they feel. It is extremely important that these athletes are informed about the post concussion effects. It is very uncommon for these youth athletes to have a someone/somebody cover their liability to the fullest extent like the NFL can for their athletes. I'm not saying that these youth athletes do not have enough money to protect themselves, and cover the medical costs of the treatment. I'm explaining how youth athletes don't have scientist working everyday to prevent their chances of getting a concussion, obviously, but this is not what is most important. What the NFL CAN and SHOULD do is what is important. In the National Football league's concussion protocol, it explains how the NFL Sideline Concussion Assessment evaluates the players directly after the player's injury. According to the protocol, "The athlete may have a concussion despite being able to complete, and pass the NFL Sideline Concussion Assessment 'within normal limits' compared to their baseline". The NFL was fully able to inform their athletes of what is to come from the most common football injury in the world. 

In the National College Athletic Association (NCAA), concussions are rampant. Interestingly enough, colleges are taking more of a stance in this serious issue than the NFL. The NCAA has recently redefined its rules to help prevent their unpaid athletes unlike the NFL who has done nothing to aid in its paid players safety. One rule that differentiates NCAA football and NFL football is the Targeting Penalty. The NCAA's targeting penalty "discourages defenders from targeting above the shoulder when coming into contact with a defenseless player" (Kashyap).Targeting results in an immediate ejection from the game. In the NFL, no such penalty exists. The closest penalty the national football league enforces to this is "unnecessary roughness." Unnecessary roughness is when a player uses any part of his helmet or face mask to butt, spear, or ram an opponent violently or unnecessarily, which results in a 15 yard penalty. With this penalty called, the player who committed it is sometimes, and rarely fined based on the severity of the injury. Based off the rules in the NFL and NCAA football, there is not much the officiating can do to protect the players. In the NCAA, there are different ways that some schools are using to protect, and better evaluate their players after concussions. Dartmouth Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens, is adopting new standards for limiting contact in training camp and during practices. Players will go through practices and drills without hitting another player. This is just one small way a Coach is aiding in the protection against concussions. Colleges are willing to aid, yet the NFL still fails to help? Elizabeth Eckhart discusses on how some athletic facilities are engineering new ways to attempt to prevent such a harsh injury. She states "Another solution, now implemented by the University of New Haven men's basketball team, is the use of Triax head sensors. Placed inside a headband, these sensors track the g-forces of a blow to the head, transmitting the data wirelessly to computers in real time, thereby enabling trainers to know when athletes are injured and, potentially, to remove them from the game." (Eckhart). If the NFL were to take after the NCAA and protect their players by instating new rules and safety regulations, the rampant issues of CTE and concussions would not be as prevalent.

Since 2005, there have been many different conformations of CTE and Brain disease in deceased NFL players bodies. Previous research has indicated that concussions could also raise the likelihood of suicide by 300 percent. Starting in 2006, Dr Bennett Omalu, forensic pathologist, and Andre Waters, conducted an autopsy of Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. This led to their discovery of a new disease that he named chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Mike Webster committed suicide. In February of 2011, former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson, who was only 50, also committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the chest rather than his head. He left a note requesting his brain to be researched for CTE. In April 2012, former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, know for his explosive hits on the football field, committed another suicide, and after autopsy results, his brain as as well affected horribly by CTE. In 2012, just before Ray Eaterling's suicide, one of the league's most dominant linebackers, Junior Seau committed suicide, with a gunshot to his heart. After autopsy, Seau's brain was terribly affected by CTE. All of these athletes had a common source, and this was their concussions in football. In a parallel type league, the Canadian Football League has endured similar instances. Arland Bruce was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion while playing for the Lions in September 2012. He reported fogginess, headaches, sensitivity to light and sound, memory loss, confusion, dizziness, anxiety and personality changes, all symptoms of the common concussion. Bruce is currently in a lawsuit against the Canadian Football league because the team permitted him to play following his concussion. The lawsuit claims that the CFL should have prevented him from being able to play. Bruce continues to suffer permanent disability, and his head injury will continue to cause earnings loss along as well as the loss of enjoyment of everyday life. Similar to Arland Bruce, Junior Seau's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL, claiming that Seau's suicide was the result of a brain disease caused by violent hits he endured while playing the game. To silence the controversy, the NFL quickly donated 765 million to fund the medical research towards concussions. 756 million may seem like a ridiculous amount of money. There are 32 professional teams in the NFL, each team averaging in a net worth of 2 billion. The NFL is roughly a 70 billion dollar industry and the 756 million they put towards research has been questioned as just a silencer of the Seau case. The NFL has been covering up, and continues to hide the truth behind CTE. 

Overall, Concussions are single handedly the most dangerous injury in sports. 97% of football players around the world have reported symptoms of concussions after playing football. 90% of retired NFL players have experienced a concussion in their career. The NFL has and will continue to lie, and withhold information from its players about valuable life altering information. The NFL's focus is not on its safety of the players, its focus is mainly directed towards profit. A 70 billion dollar industry, has been covering up, and dismissing lawsuits the past 10 years and needs to be justified. Even though there is no real cure/solution to the never ending issue of concussions, athletes from youth sports through professional sports can minimize their risks of concussions through their awareness on how to prevent them.  The National Football League is guilty of wrongful death should reconstruct their concussion protocol, be held accountable for the compensation of their diseased players, along with their families for withholding information that later lead to multiple deaths and a life long illnesses. 

