Vince Lombardi, arguably the most glorious coach in American football, once said “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” Since then, these words echoed across sports, the workplace, and in any situation where life may seem to be too tough to overcome. The statement, although simple, defined what football truly teaches those who play, coach, and watch. I played football from the time I was six years old to seventeen years old and it engrained life skills in me that are essential to success. Football taught me how to overcome adversity being captain of a losing team for two straight years. It taught me how to lead not only through speech, but by example with an intense work ethic and the ability to sacrifice extra time to improve myself. Over the past few years, however, the sport received negative media attention due to concussions and the recent emergence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, more commonly referred to as CTE. Former football players have been diagnosed with CTE which can only be found in the deceased through autopsies. Some claim that the National Football League (NFL) does not do enough for player safety and traumatic brain injuries because of the negative attention the organization receives after a brutal hit or a severe injury. Although the media negatively publicizes American football affecting the popularity of the sport, the National Football League and other major organizations associated with football are taking proper action to reduce traumatic brain injuries by raising awareness and investing in new technology to improve the safety of the sport.

American football is one of the most contact-oriented sports to play for people ages fifteen to twenty-four. In fact, sports are the second leading cause to brain injuries after car accidents (Gessel 495). Concussions are injuries that occur frequently in sports, however, football receives the most attention with head-related injuries because it is the most popular sport in the United States. In 2015, doctors reported 270 concussions in the NFL (Life Noggin). Parents hear through the media that football players at all levels receive concussions and choose to remove their children from the sport out of fear. People see the research on brains of former football players and worry that this will happen to their children. This fear explains why Pop Warner (little league football) participation dropped nearly 10% between the years 2010-2012 according to an ESPN report (Kelly). Some already committed to never letting their sons and daughters every playing tackle football because “No coaching technique can result in safety” and “the game is violent” as Jon Furjanic, a parent and former football player, explains. On the other hand, there are parents who continue to allow their kids to play football after considering the risks involved. Ben Smith, a parent of an eighth-grade football player, talks about his confidence in youth football programs like Heads Up which is funded by the NFL. The organization teaches youth football players proper technique and raises awareness of the dangers that can occur during incorrect tackling form. A report from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research found that 17 deaths occurred in 2013 at the high school level (Kelly). When people see these statistics, they ultimately begin to worry about the potential risks involved in the sport which results in declining participation numbers.

Concussions are short-term injuries that athletes recover from, but repeated trauma to the brain causes long-term negative effects to former sports players and American football has seen this in recent years. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that can be found through an autopsy of former athletes who repeatedly suffered from head trauma. Football is a prime example where players experience head trauma on a weekly basis. Retired NFL players have shown to be more depressed and have trouble with memory (Coughlin). One of the best ways to reduce concussions in sports is to raise awareness of it which can be done through the study of bio-mechanics. Major football organizations, like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), have invested money into bio-mechanics to learn more about how football players receive concussions. Dr. Jason Mihalik, a nationally recognized expert on head trauma in sports, explains how concussions occur during rapid movement of the brain colliding on opposite sides of the skull after a blow to the head. Mihalik’s findings also show that concussions can occur in two ways: from blunt force aimed at the head or by a quick and rapid movement of the head after a blow to another part of the body. Whiplash is an example of when the head makes a sudden movement after a blow to the body. In football, experts concluded that most concussions occur when the top of the helmet absorbs the collision (Allen). This finding is why tackling technique transformed to the way it has today. 

As late as the 1970’s and 1980’s, coaches taught their players to tackle by leading with their head and positioning it down. Former NFL players like Jack Tatum and Ronnie Lott, two of the hardest hitters to ever play the sport, often led with their head first on tackles. During that era, there were no rules regulating tackling form and hits on a defensive receiver. Fortunately, rules have been made to protect players from dangerous hits that could potentially cause head trauma. Spearing is an attempt to tackle another player leading with the head first and is now a penalty if it occurs. There are also rules preventing players from making helmet-to-helmet contact which is one of the leading ways to receive a concussion. Helmet-to-helmet contact results in an unnecessary roughness penalty and players who commit the penalty could receive a hefty fine and even suspension. Moreover, players can receive penalties now for hitting a defenseless receiver. A receiver now must be able to make a football move before being able to defend himself from a defensive player. Recently the blindside block rule has been put into effect in the NFL. The NFL states the illegal block as, “the initial force of the contact by a blocker's helmet (including facemask), forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of an opponent when the blocker is moving toward his own end line and approaches his opponent from behind or from the side.” These are a few of the many regulations the NFL has added to protect players from the injuries that can tarnish the reputation of the sport. There is no question that football being a contact sport is dangerous, but that is why there are new rules that players, parents, and spectators need to be aware of. 

Many of the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries occur when athletes return to a sport too early after a concussion or receives multiple concussions. Dr. Elliot Pellman found that high school football players tend to heal slower than NFL players because their cerebral swelling lasts longer. This is important to note because players, coaches, and trainers need to be aware that teenagers will have a longer recovery process; putting a player back on the field too early will most likely lead to more brain trauma. Players who received a concussion in the past are more susceptible to receiving another (Allen). In the state of Maryland, high schoolers can no longer play football if they received three or more concussions while playing because of the risks of long-term problems that may arise for a teenage athlete. If players are not aware of the risks of brain injuries after playing football their entire lives, it could be too late to prevent long-term effects from occurring.

Demtrius DuBose was a former player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1993-1997. He played special teams position that is informally known as the “suicide” position because the player must run at a full sprint for fifty yards and hit the opposing team’s ball carrier. DuBose was frequently injured on gamedays and placed on injured reserve but taken on just before the following game (Culverhouse 8-9). The average career for a professional football player is four years and most football players live this lifestyle week by week because football is their occupation and source of income. If a player does not perform they lose their job, so they must lay their safety on the line. Unfortunately for DuBose, the long-term effects of trauma to his brain led to him to the decision of charging at police with nun chucks and therefore being shot. His autopsy found cocaine, ecstasy, and alcohol in his system (Culverhouse 9). This is a clear example of how brain deterioration from injuries can cause people’s behaviors to change suddenly. DuBose’s colleagues referred to him as an easy-going and laid-back guy, but he never received the proper intervention needed to save him from this tragic incident. Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Buccaneers and author, founded the Gay Culverhouse Player’s Outreach Program in 2010 with a mission to raise awareness to those involved with the NFL of the physical issues players have. The program evaluates players so that the NFL services can accommodate them (Culverhouse 90). The Player’s Outreach Program is only one of the many organizations that raise awareness of the dangers of football and bridges the gap with players and the NFL to seek proper ways to accommodate their health.

The NFL has made major investments to reduce head injuries in the league for the future. The league collaborated with General Electric and Under Armour to create the Head Health Challenge in 2013 and invested sixty million dollars combined to give to companies providing solutions to head trauma. The NFL also invested forty million to medical research on concussions. The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) created a substance that attaches from a player’s helmet to his chest plate which prevents the head from whiplashing. Viconic is a private company that created a mat that can prevent players from injuries that occur because of a forceful impact into the turf.  The mat goes under artificial turf only and cannot work on a grass field (Roberts). The NFL’s investment in Viconic can potentially improve the technology of the material and can make it more accessible for football teams at all levels to use. The NFL also invested in a helmet that is being created by the University of Washington. The Visis helmet includes many layers of different materials to absorb hits. It comes in all sizes and is available for college and NFL players to wear. About half of the pro football teams ordered Viconic’s designed helmet. Cliff Avril is a football player for the Seattle Seahawks and spoke on the helmet saying, “you don’t always feel the thuds as hard as they normally do.” Mitch Morris is another pro football player who said that the helmet was “an easy switch to make,” (Garcia). The technology that the NFL invests in is beginning to break ground in professional football and reports from players show that the helmet improves safety and is an effortless switch to make. Since the technology is new, not many players use the helmet. As more are aware that they will be at less risk with wearing the helmet, it is safe to assume that these number will only increase.

There are many skeptics who claim that dangers of football will never be improved. Dave Bry is a columnist for the Guardian and claims that trying to make football safer with better equipment will not work. Bry also believes that eliminating helmets from the sport completely will in turn make the game safer by almost forcing players to not collide with each other head first; the game would be similar to rugby. If the NFL does not consider removing helmets from the game, he proposes that the sport should be illegal. Bry seems to have an extreme opinion that is not supported with statistics in favor of his argument. The Viconic Visis helmet is ranked the highest for player safety according to the NFL and appears to make a difference for players. He also does not take into consideration that football and rugby are two completely different sports. A running back in football must run through the defensive line on majority of his carries and the player usually results in the player being tackled by multiple members of the defense. Running backs get hit in the head almost every time they touch the ball so removing helmets from the sport will only cause more injuries. Bry never mentions how more knowledge of traumatic brain injuries in recent years have improved player safety drastically. Concussions decreased 25% in the NFL in 2014 and helmet-to-helmet hits decreased 28% (Kelly). Tackle football participation at the youth level dropped 20% from 2009-2015 but recently started to rise again at approximately 1.2% in 2015. Flag football participation at the youth level in 2016 increased 8.7% as well. When scientists discovered the groundbreaking evidence of CTE and other traumatic brain injuries related to football, many worried for their children’s safety. In recent years, these numbers have been reversed because major organizations are taking the right steps to raise awareness of risks and prevent them through proper teaching.

The actions taken by the NFL and other organizations to prevent the risks associated with football and invest in technology to improve safety has paid dividends for the game. The discoveries to the causes of concussions and other major injuries helped evolve tackling technique to the way it is today. It also called for the NFL to create new rules to protect players from these risks like preventing them from leading tackles with their helmets. The discoveries found that the recovery rate and susceptibility of concussions for players who received one or more head injuries is the reason why states like Maryland do not allow high school athletes to play a sport they received three concussions in. The Gay Culverhouse Players Outreach Program is an organization that bridges the gap for retired players who received injuries with the NFL’s benefits. The NFL sponsors Heads Up football which acknowledges the risks and teaches youth and high school football players how to properly tackle to prevent major injuries. The NFL also invested $100 million towards new technology and medical research to improve player safety and reduce concussions to the fullest. With the commitment of these major organizations to improve the safety of players through investments and raising awareness of the effects of head trauma, the participation in football at the youth and high school level are finally being reversed after five years. The NFL sees one-fourth less concussions today than it did in 2012 and that attests to the NFL’s efforts to improve the game. There are still skeptics who will have extreme views and will believe that the sport will always be dangerous. These major organizations proved these skeptics wrong by reversing the decreasing numbers in participation by increasing safety. Football is a sport that evolves to its surroundings and will always invest in technology to make the game safer while always being America’s game.  
