Sports; we all play them, watch them, cheer on the athletes that play them. We have created a culture where athletics is at the forefront of and has major presence. Our youth participates in different sports to get the enjoyment we all get from our past playing days or watching the games we love. Sports are more than just a game to those invested in them. They become something special for the fan that helps them in everyday life. Athletics can be beneficial by teaching life lessons people may be missing out on. Dedication, commitment, and teamwork are a few of the major skills one can learn from playing or coaching. Some may overlook all the pride and accomplishments that can come from it. Sports like football bring along the fear of head injuries for the young athletes that play it. Parents must question if it is safe enough to put their children through such a dangerous sport. There is the risk of suffering a concussion once the athletes step onto the field for practice or a game. The goal we should be setting is to decrease major injuries such as concussions, as much as possible. It is the job of the adults to look deeper into the game of football and all that comes with it, the good and the bad, the success and the injuries; all of it. It is a choice to put the child at risk for recognition and pride. 

Football has become America`s favorite past time. Sunday nights have families surrounding the TV to watch that night`s match up of teams. Little kids watch the National Football League players and wish to play professionally like they do. They only see the cheering from the crowd for their favorite players, not the testing the players do after the game because they have a concussion. Fans of the game only get a glimpse of the game. There is more to football than just winning a game and having kids wear your jersey everywhere. New research has arisen to show how common concussions are to our youth players. The research even caused the parents of one of the most well known quarterbacks, Tom Brady, to keep him from playing football till he was in high school. The research during that time was not as inclusive of new information as we have now. With the new information Tom Brady`s parents may not have even let him play football at all. Researchers have seen that because of the still developing brain of young kids, the constant head to head contact can disrupt their brain function. After being hit their heads are thrown around in their helmets. A TIME Magazine article says, "Kids are not miniature adults. By age 4, the heads of kids are 90% of adult size. However, their necks are much weaker than an adult's neck. The combination creates a danger. When a child takes a hard blow from falling or being struck in the helmet, it is more difficult to keep the head steady. The result is greater force to the brain from being jerked inside the skull." Having this kind of impact repeatedly creates a greater risk for kids to cause irreversible damage. With multiple hits in a game as well the possibilities of doing a lot of damage add up. It has also been shown that newly created test help show the changes in one`s brain. New technology helps us look closer at the brain then we ever could before. This allows for quicker, more precise evidence of damage done to the brain. Even if a child has not received what they consider a concussion there still may be damage. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans show greater changes in the children who have had more impacts than those who received less. The technology helps give in-depth looks into the brain. The data brings researchers closer to understanding the brain and how the concussions affect it. No matter how small the change is, it can all add up and in the end become life threatening. Every hit can affect a child`s life in the near and distant future.

The research about concussions has become more prominent in our lives today. Movies like Concussion, based on doctor Bennet Omalu`s discoveries, are made to teach people about the risk of football. Omalu was the doctor who brought the truth about concussions to light against the wishes of the NFL. The NFL tried discouraging people from believing Dr. Omalu in fear that people will believe all his new research. The fear was that if people began really studying and understanding of what Omalu was explaining then no one would want to play or watch football. The information would be causing parents and athletes to wonder if they could have damage found in their brains as well. It would hurt the large impact the sport has on the fans and people around the world. The data he collected looked deeper into what was really happening to these athletes because of the sport. His research has explained diseases such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or C.T.E. "Children are at risk for the disease that causes symptoms like major depression, memory loss, suicidal thoughts and actins, loss of intelligence as well as dementia later in life" (Omalu). The irreversible damage that was brought on by repetitive and hard hits to the head is becoming more common in athletes who have their brains studied by scientists. These athletes give their brains to science either while they are playing to show the progression of their brain or when they die to see if that was the cause. Diseases like CTE are becoming so news worthy because the side effects associated with them make it hard on the players. They are unable to control what affects them. Things like depression, suicidal thoughts and more lead to the players taking their own lives even though they were never that way before. Omalu brought this data to the NFL to make it a priority to protect the athletes and show parents who are allowing their children to play, how it can happen to them. With his discoveries and other doctors` research into the issue as well, they can all help create a safer game those athletes we cheer for in the Super Bowl, all the way to the elementary school teams that play.

One idea to change the game to make it safer could cause parents to reconsider allowing their kids to play. By teaching new tackling methods, ones that are not directed at the head of the person being tackled, reduces the risk of injury. The new form lessens the risk of being hit directly at the helmet attempting to reduce as much injury as possible. USA Football has devised a step by step guide that explains where someone should aim and hit the other player. New techniques and methods can be explained in practice, step by step, to make sure the kids understand how to do it properly. The goal of practice is to perfect technique and teach the players so they understand completely and know how to perform it in the games. This creates a safer environment for the players because they know they are not going to be hit as hard. Because safety is becoming a more important issue in football the tackling methods are leaning towards keeping contact away from the head, creating the terms "keep your head up" and "hit at the shoulders". Teaching this way of tackling will help protect the person with the ball and the person doing the tackling. Both players are able to still have intense contact with each other put it is aimed at other parts of their bodies instead of their heads. Better techniques create for an overall safer way for the players to tackle one another and have any form of contact. Scientists are even trying to make new advancements in the equipment used in football. Scientists like Eric Wetzel said, "If we can control the head motion where a player`s head snaps back and slams to the ground, and reduce the whipping motion when they hit the ground, we can reduce the acceleration on the head and the brain, and maybe reduce the likelihood of the concussion" (Wetzel). Him and other researchers are experimenting with the straps for army paratroopers, to try and reduce concussions. New advancements will continuously be researched created to give the athletes the best chance of staying safe while playing hard. With the special equipment that will protect the kids, parents can do their research about what kind of things will be for their own children. Working towards discoveries like this will only help lead towards trying to make football the safest it can be. Even as these discoveries are being tested out and are far from being put in action, the sport is at high risk for our young kids.

Even with all the research presented to show how dangerous the sport is, there are people who believe the game should not be changed. They believe the mentality of how the sport is watched will be altered from something entertaining people cheer for to a sport parents shy their kids away from playing. Many coaches and teams teach the "shake it off" thinking. When a player gets injured they are told to get up and get back into the game to help their team. By staying out because of a possible injury they are letting their team down. Keith Groller explains that even with his own son he would push him back onto the field after a hard hit to the head. He never would have thought his child would be developing a concussion. He goes on to say that, "Far too many parents have abandoned the original concept of what youth sports were intended to be  --  getting children involved for the fun of it, keeping them active and fit, learning how to get along with others, overcoming adversity and other important life lessons" (Groller). By putting the enjoyment and safety of the children behind winning is causing kids to not look out for their own health. With safety not being a top priority the athletes are more at risk to really change their lives because of one game. The NFL also plays a big factor in how the game of football is played. They see the players as money makers. By keeping the fans invested in the games keeps the revenue coming in. Author Kenneth J Marci uses an example like the New York Giants. When they won the Super Bowl they had a parade thrown in their honor. He says, "They had worshipping fans stand shoulder to shoulder in a small, enclosed street way hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite player, or any player for that matter" (Marci). This shows the dedication fans have to support their favorite team and players. These kinds of fans are the ones that keep leagues like the NFL thriving and prosperous. Fans buy the apparel and tickets to go to games which adds up a lot of money. A lot of it continues to grow the National Football League and make it even bigger than it was before. The fear of the league`s is if we start to put fear of injury in the minds of our younger players we risk them not wanting to continue playing or watching games because they know that something could go wrong. The main goal of the National Football League is to bring football to as many people as they can. They would like to start them at a young age and have them development and grow into bigger, stronger players. Scientists and people who fear injury for their children can keep that from happening. League officials should be examining which comes before the other, money and fame or the safety of those who they make their profit off of.

It is hard to turn on the TV everyday and not find some kind of sporting event on. Athletics seem to be a major part of the American lifestyle that helps bring friends and families together. The entertainment value is so big the Super Bowl is the most watched broadcasted event every year. As important as the NFL is, it all begins with our youngest players. The youth teams that play pee-wee football are the ones who could eventually become of the big name, huge salary, always recognized players we see today. They can possibly have careers in the National Football League while making money and playing a game they are good at and love. Even with that possibility we must focus on our young players who play the game just for fun and don't look beyond a regular Saturday night game. Football is something parents and players can not take lightly. Because of the high risks of injury there has to be levels of protection for the athletes. Because the players can be young they are not able to fully comprehend the risks they go through when they sign up for their first football team. It is the job of the public to inform them and give them the chance to decide if it is something they are willing to put themselves through. The research shows us how allowing our children to play football, even at the youngest level, can cause them to have irreversible brain damage. No matter the level of play a young child can be badly hurt no matter what. Children have continuously growing brains and interrupting that development will cause many problems for them in the future. There are multiple risks of concussions every play an athlete participates in. From here on out parents have the hard decision to allow the people they are supposed to protect knowingly damage the most important part of their body, the brain. New ideas have been brought up on how to create an overall safer game. As new equipment is being invented and better tackling methods are taught to children there is still the possibility of injury in the end. The sport of football can never be fully safe for event he youngest of kids to play. Because the main aspect of the game is to hit one another children will be continuously at risk of injury. As a fan of the sport myself, I encourage parents to put the safety of their children first before any fame and glory that may come to them in the long run. You only have one brain that does everything for you everyday. Every day activities become harder and sometimes impossible to do when the brain becomes too damaged. More aspects of a person`s life then just football become impacted because of a major hit or a long season of hard hits to the head. Why put that all at risk for a sport that is only a temporary part of your life. Football comes to an end at some point and the best option is to keep your mind and body safe in the process.

