
Since 1896, the game of football has become an American tradition. Every Sunday American's gather around their televisions for hours to enjoy the popular professional sport. After the sport established it grew rapidly, and continues to do so today. Kids are starting to play sports at a younger age with each generation. Sports are no longer only played at professional and collegiate levels. Parents are encouraging their children to perform at an "elite" level as young as youth sport recreation leagues. 

The more contact each person receives over their lifetime, the more susceptible they are to injury. Specifically, head injuries. Even with an assumption of risk whenever participating in a contact sport, newly discovered medical conditions are questioning the integrity of the safety and the management behind each of these organizations. One diagnosis specifically comes to mind when discussing recently found illnesses that come along with contact sports, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or, CTE. In sum, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a serious disease and the NFL needs to take aggressive precautions to prevent the development of this illness. Through the complexness of this disease, the diagnosis of many former NFL players, and rule changes that the NFL has made, people need to understand the extent of this disease. The NFL needs to take action in order to lessen the amount of cases and decide what type, if any, compensation they are going to provide to those families who are suffering from the disease. As well as make the necessary rule changes to ensure the players safety and continue to update players' helmet to guarantee the greatest amount of protection possible. 

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Dr. Bennett Omalu is a Nigerian forensic pathologist and neuropathologist who first discovered Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in 2002 (Ott). After performing an autopsy on Mike Webster's brain, a former Pittsburgh Steeler, Omalu saw abnormalities. Caused by repetitive brain trauma, "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease" found in athletes (BU). Because of the continuous hits to the head, the athlete doesn't necessarily need to have a diagnosed concussion to develop this disease. When you receive contact to your skull, there's nothing to support your brain inside. Your brain shakes inside of your head and makes contact with the skull, causing brain injuries. The repeated blows to the head "triggers the progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau" (BU). The physical changes to the brain don't necessarily develop immediately. The degeneration can take up to years or decades to progress. Symptoms of this disease include "memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia" (BU). The degeneration of the brain is what makes this disease such a pressing problem in the NFL and explains for itself why action needs to be taken. 

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is separated into four different stages of severity. Based off of symptoms researchers and doctors have compiled what correlates with each stage. In Stage I, most patients complained of symptoms related to headaches and problems with paying attention and keeping concentration. In Stage II of this disease, symptoms include "depression, explosivity and short-term memory impairment" (Mooney). Symptoms of Stage III include, cognitive impairment dysfunction. And finally, in Stage IV, researchers found that "there was evidence of full-blown dementia" (Mooney). Almost everyday, another former NFL 

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player is diagnosed with this disease. Articles reveal that family members question the final years of their loved ones lives because of their drastic change in personality. 

Because this disease was now centered around football players, after Omalu published his findings, he was hoping to receive a response from NFL officials. Instead, they attacked his research. Because there was so much about the disease that was still unknown the NFL "demanded a retraction" of Omalu's findings (Breslow). Omalu later found out that it wasn't necessarily his findings that irked NFL officials. It was the fact that Omalu's research would give football a bad image, and officials didn't want viewers to believe or even know about the detrimental affects the game can have on the player's health. 

The first victim, and possibly the most well known, is O.J. Simpson. Simpson was convicted back in October of 2008 of and armed robbery and kidnapping, and has been in jail ever since. What's unique about this case is not all the complex details that came along with his trial, but that recently new light has shown that his countless hits to the head and concussions may in fact be the cause of his convicted crimes. In the beginning of this year, Dr. Bennet Omalu, the founder of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy claimed that he would bet his "medical license that he has CTE", given Simpson's profile (Breech). The article then goes on to state that within the past five years, three former NFL players have committed suicide and all of them were eventually diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy after an autopsy was performed. Four years after Simpson was convicted, he "argued that he deserved a new trial 

because new evidence would show that the 'numerous blows to the head' during his football career caused several concussions, which led him down a dark path"' prior to his conviction (Breech). Simpson also expressed that during his football career he would continue to play in 

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games despite being knocked out from strong hits to the head. All in all, many factors lead to the belief that Simpson is in fact, suffering from this disease. Although it can only be diagnosed after death, lots of evidence points to CTE. Simpson serves as a prime example as someone who can be a well known and liked celebrity, who's personality can drastically change and cause them to do something which is seemingly out of character for them. Although Simpson has not officially been diagnosed, his public profile could give people answers as to why he took such a turn after no longer playing football and help people to understand the dramatic effects CTE can have on beloved NFL stars.

Like Simpson, Mike Webster is another well known NFL star. Webster played for the Pittsburgh Steelers as the center, one of the toughest positions to play. Researchers say that center is one of the most vulnerable positions in football. Centers are known to take more hits than any other position in the game, which is why Mike sustained such incredible brain damage. When Mike Webster passed, Dr. Bennet Omalu was the one to perform the autopsy. All eyes were on Omalu to find out what happened to such a well-liked man at a such a young age. Webster's physical appearance was so diminished that according to Omalu, "he looked far older" than fifty because "football had taken a punishing toll on his body" (Breslow). After performing the autopsy Omalu claims that when examining the slides, he "looked again and saw changes that shouldn't be in a 50-year-old man's brains, and also changes that shouldn't be in a brain that looked normal" (Breslow). Based on Omalu's findings, a disease that had never been found before was seen in Mike Webster's brain. Now that the disease was found in a football player, medical professionals were able to link playing football and permanent brain damage that can 

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occur from participating in this sport. Omalu's finding prove to have so much significance because of the startling effects it had on Webster during the final years of his life. 

Tyler Sash is another former NFL player who has been diagnosed with CTE. Sash, who played football for a total of sixteen years was found dead in his home at the age of twenty-seven due to a drug overdose in September of 2015. Back in 2013, Sash was eventually cut from the New York Giants after receiving his fifth recorded concussion. Since then, Sash's family reports that he "increasingly displayed surprising and irregular behavior" and also suffered from "confusion, memory loss, and minor fits of temper" (Pennington). Because of Sash's condition, he was never able to find another job once cut from the NFL. Sash's sudden change in behavior raised a lot of questions for his family "about the final, perplexing years" of his life (Pennington).  However, once Sash's passed his family donated his brain to medical research in order for him to be tested for CTE.  Once diagnosed, professionals stated that they rarely see people of his age with such an advanced form of this disease. Sash was considered to have Stage 2 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, on a four-stage grading scale. However, before diagnosed Sash's mom reports that she tied most of her son's behavioral changes to the "powerful prescription drugs he was taking for a football-related injury that needed surgery" (Pennington).  What's so troubling about this number is that medical professionals are finding that "it's the duration of exposure to football that give you a high risk for CTE", and Tyler Sash certainly had a high exposure (Pennington). Another factor which so frequently can go unseen are the head traumas that go undiagnosed. They happen so frequently in high contact sports, but if it's not a concussion, nothing is done about it. Although the final years of Sash's life were out of character for him, his diagnoses helped to bring some clarity and light for his loved ones. Researchers are 

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learning about the ins and outs of this disease everyday. Professionals need to be aware of the duration of time everyone has been playing, and know that this can have an affect on their injuries, especially head injuries. Knowing how long and how many injuries each player has individually had could effect the way they are treated when receiving head contact 

Ken Stabler is another former NFL star who fell victim to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. After Stabler's passing, his brain was "dissected for clues" to find answers as to "why his mind seemed to slip so precipitously in his final years" (Branch). Stabler was said to have had Stage 3 of CTE, considering his long career in football, the extent at which his disease progressed comes as no surprise to medical professionals. Out of the long list of players who have already been diagnosed with CTE, Stabler is the seventh reported quarterback to be diagnosed with this disease. Stabler, like many other players, began displaying a "rapid decline in his cognitive function" (Branch). Stabler's family gave some horrific details describing all the ways in which he changed during the final years of his life. His wife explained that during his last year alive, "he once gritted his teeth so hard that a broke a bridge in his mouth and had to get dental implants" (Branch). His daughter also told reporters that noise and light became very difficult for him to deal with, as well as frequently repeating himself. He also no longer listened to music when he drove. He was described as "a lifelong lover of music" who then chose "to drive hours in silence" (Branch). Although many of these specific scenarios cannot be directly tied to symptoms of CTE, his diagnoses certainly help to explain all the changes that occurred during the final years of his life. Stabler's case prove that not position on the field is virtually immune to this disease. quarterbacks probably receive some of the least contact on the field, and yet, a significant number of quarterbacks have still been diagnosed. 

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After analyzing multiple players and all of their individual stories regarding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, taking a look at a timeline of statement made by the NFL regarding 

the concussion crisis, helps to put these events and this troubling problem into more of a perspective in a year by year basis. 

The main question being raised regarding the concussion crisis is, what did the NFL know and when did they know it? The issue was first brought up as early as 1994. When the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, MTBI, board was first established by the NFL, Dr. Elliot Pellman stated that "concussions are part of the profession, an occupational risk" (Ezell). At the time, this statement did not seem absurd to the public, or those involved. However, as time went on, and the problem continued to grow, future statement questions the integrity of the NFL. Later that year, Paul Tagliabue, another person on the MTBI committee, made a statement expressing that the "so-called" concussion crisis was just a media issue, and not an actual problem within the NFL (Ezell). In 1999, years after Mike Webster's retirement, the NFL Retirement Board stated that Mike Webster was "permanently disabled" due to the amount of head injuries he suffered during his football career (Ezell). After the NFL admitted to this, Bob Fitzsimmons, Webster's attorney, responded saying that the NFL should have been aware of the link between football and brain damage. Later that year the MTBI then released a statement expressing that "serious brain injuries are a rarity in the NFL" (Ezell). Despite the fact that in that point in time, many other players, including Webster, had suffered significant head trauma during games.

The integrity of the NFL is further questioned in 2000. When asked about a players return to play, Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, "tells ESPN that he'd push Aikman to ignore concussion concerns if it was a key game" (Ezell). This statement helps prove that the 

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NFL, and the people involved, care more about the game itself, then the health and safety of their players. A few years later in 2003, a player on the New York Jets was sent back into the game after being knocked out. What's so significant about this specific case is that at the time, the New York Jets doctor, was also an MTBI chair. Someone who should be taking all head injuries seriously, no matter who the player, and how important the game is.

Later, in 2004, the MTBI states that NFL players are less likely to sustain head injuries, because their bodies eventually adapt to the many hits they receive over the course of their careers. A year later they then say that a players return to play after a hard hit, does not increase their chances of injury. In 2006, after Dr. Bennet Omalu published his findings on Mike Webster, the NFL refutes his work saying he used "fallacious reasoning" (Ezell). They then demand that Omalu retracts his research because of this. However, despite their hard reactions, in 2007, the NFL holds its first Concussion Summit. Here, NFL doctors and other scientists and researchers presented their findings on the long term effects of concussions and the correlation it has to playing football. In 2009 although the NFL states that studies being done regarding head injuries are flawed, this is also the first time they admit that concussions can have long term effects. They also then establish new return to play guidelines. These guidelines enforce that players who show any concussion symptoms after a hit should not return to play the same day. Since 2009, the NFL begins to move forward and its recognition of head injuries, without explicitly doing so. As years go by, they provided 30 million dollars for brain research. They also made another significant rule change in 2011. This rule change pushed back the kick off by five yards. The point in implementing this rule is to hopefully reduce the speed of collisions during kick off. However, despite the subtle changes the NFL begins to make, researchers find a 


14 percent rise in concussions in 2012. Although it took the NFL a while to do so, the slight changes that they have made have not shown much of a significant improvement from previously reported statistics regarding the concussion crisis. 

As you can see from the statement made above, the NFL and committees involved, does a lot of contradicting themselves regarding the concussion crisis. It makes sense that they would 

quickly deny relationship between football and head injuries in earlier years. However, once they begin to make preventative changes, they still refuse to explicitly state that there is even a crisis. 

However, despite the lack of cooperation from the NFL regarding this issue, within the past few seasons, they have attempted to make rule changes that allow for the better quality of play, hoping to eliminated and lessen injuries. Although, the other side to this argument questions, when are these rule changes too much? In the year 2013, the NFL made many rule changes that effected the play of the game. They made stricter rules regarding running backs lowering their helmets and have started kick-off positioning at the thirty-five-yard line, which was previously the thirty-yard line. These rule changes have given certain players a disadvantage to their position. Running backs are no longer capable of gaining extra yards by lowering their helmets. Likewise, a kick-returners job "just got less prestigious" (Tracy). Avid NFL fans are mostly questioning the kick-return rule. They claim that within the next ten years, kick-returns could potentially be eliminated from the game at this point. Would the elimination of this important of the game still be football? The eradication of a kick-return would then lack "dramatic returns for touch downs. And no more exciting, surprising, game-changing onside kicks" (Tracy). If these rule changes persist, the game of football will virtually be changed forever. Those on this side of the argument argue that football will never be completely safe, and 


although measures could be taken to improve safety, the NFL needs to decide on the stopping point. Supporters claim that they "need to push for a league that does more than tinker around the edges, but instead, is clear about how far it will go to protect the players  --  and how far it won't" (Tracy). Although some claim that the change in kick-returns changes the game, the number one priority should be the safety of the players. I think that the NFL making this rule change is a good thing for the league, and the players. Over the next few years, the NFL will be able to look at the statistics of head injuries and can tie this back to the rule change. If the league wants to continue producing as much revenue as it does, they need to take the players health into consideration first even if it means making a significant change in the game. 

Overall, the NFL has done an insufficient job with handling the many head injuries that are continuously occurring within their organization. The list of players who are being diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is constantly growing. As of now, the list is over one hundred names long, and at least seven of these players were elected into the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Ninety-four former NFL players have received brain autopsy in order to test for CTE. Out of these ninety-four players, ninety of them were found to have this disease. Football players from virtually every position are found to have suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. This frightening statistic shows that no player on the field is immune, even the quarterback, who is virtually protected by the offensive lineman and who have specific rules in place that "discourages severe blows to players in the most important position on the field" (Branch). Based off of the many cases which have already gone into extensive detail about each individual diagnoses of the disease, the NFL can no longer ignore the seriousness of this disease. Also, society needs to be aware of this issue so that they themselves 

can take a stance on it. The NFL can no longer dodge the accusations being placed on them. Instead, they need to take action to protect their players. 

