I am interested in this research question because I watch and love the game of football. The game of football is watched widely throughout the United States in many homes, including my own. If football were to be changed or altered to focus on player safety, many viewers would no longer be interested in the game, yet the players would be at less risk to develop and suffer from possible career or life threatening injuries. I do not have much personal experience besides reading articles and watching the film Concussion recently. Player safety as a whole is important to me because the stories I hear of former and current players with disabilities is heartbreaking. A career should not end in mental and physical illness. I am qualified to write about this topic because I have been watching football for an extended amount of time, I begun to read articles about the topic, even before the research for this project started, and I am an avid and knowledgeable football fan. Football is an intriguing game to watch, but the player safety should not be on the line for entertainment purposes. By continuing to improve and develop equipment as well as medical training that effectively treats players who receive concussions, the game of football can continue to be America's most popular and favorite sport; without it's players suffering permanent physical and mental damage from injuries sustained during their career.

"Are Player Safety Concerns Putting the NFL's Future in Jeopardy?" by Zach Kruse is an article from the magazine Bleacher Report. He starts off by explaining a story of a player who had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE, and continues to discuss that scientists can now test players for this degenerative disease while they are still alive. Football is a heavy contact sport and there are not many ways around the hard hits and injuries. Although the sport is dangerous and alterations in player safety may cause financial loss to the NFL, the league is creating new rules and protocols to prevent as much injury as they can. How much longer will the sport continue and will it survive? The author, Zach Kruse, is a young sports writer who is a member of the Pro Football Writers Association. He lives in Minnesota and studied economics and history. With the background of those subjects, he understands the effects that the science of brain injury can have on the NFL. Although there is bias, Kruse mentions the pros and cons of football while touching on many subjects as well as pulling stories from players. This is important because he reaches a wide variety of topics and mentions both sides.

"Hanging 'em up early" by Jon Fasman mentions the former linebacker, Chris Borland, and the choice of his early retirement due to the concern of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, as a result of repeated head trauma or concussions, loss of movement in appendages due to overuse of joints and wearing down cartilage, and more. The linebacker position is aggressive where the players run at full speed towards others making head on collisions. Fasman acknowledges other players who have suffered injuries such as Andre Waters, Dave Duerson, and Junior Seau. In addition, Fasman writes about other athletes who are similar to Chris Borland; young players who have decided to discontinue a job in professional football due to the health risks. The amount of players could decline in the next years due to the increasing education of what happens to football players after their careers. The author of the article is Jon Fasman who specializes in Asia and United States subjects. He covers a variety of topics such as politics, business, finance and economics. He is credible due to the politics in America which includes controversial topics, this being one. The article, "Hanging 'em up early" is argumentative because the main focus is one-sided. Jon Fasman mentions the opposite argument, such as quotes by the NFL regarding the safety, but quickly refutes the ideas. The article is less impactful due to the bias, but the use of many players' stories aides in the effectiveness.

"New and Improved Safety Measures For America's NFL Stars" by Mark Venables is about the knowledge gained by research and the protection that has been developed for football players' safety. The article mentions the precautions that the NFL will begin to take such as the Sideline Response System (SRS) and the Head-Impact Telemetry System (HITS). Also, Mark Venables includes statistics such as the force delivered, the amount of concussions per season, and the number of tackles during a career. With the statistics present, the stakes of the game are on the line due to the information of how rough the game is. On the positive side, the medical staff of the NFL is taking measures to reduce the amount of injuries with the new systems such as HITS and SRS. The author is Mark Venables who has written other sports articles for the E & T Magazine which makes him credible because of the experience he has and the validity of the magazine. The article is informative rather than argumentative because it provides statistics and data about the issue with little to no opinion involved. The use of citations from other sources adds to the effectiveness of the topic because of the cite. For example, a citation used is from the National Institute of Health.

The research question is arguable because it has two sides and both can be presented. Although player safety is important, the game of football is an active and intense game that is prone to injuries, not just in pro football. Agreements of the articles include the mentioning of past players having many mental problems because of the game. The different perspectives affect my own by the information provided. I began the research project more in the middle of the argument, but as my research continues, I understand the tragic impact the hits during the game can take on a player's life. My research question is very broad, so to revise it, I may need to focus more on one type of injury. 
