Junior Seau Jr., a former linebacker in the National Football League died from committing suicide by shooting himself in the chest in 2012; He was 43 at the time.  The National Institutes of Health established that Seau suffered from CTE, also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.  The reason behind Junior Seau Jr.’s death and other former players brought negative publicity to the NFL and how they handle the protection of their players. Concussions in the game of football has attracted all viewers’ attention.  Some doctors and scientists believe that football should come to an end, especially for those whose brains are still developing, such anyone below the age of 21.  They believe that concussions can be detrimental to players’ health, especially for those whom have more than one concussion. Others argue that the NFL has made tremendous growth on research about head injuries and on ways to help lower the amount of these injuries. The National Football League has always prioritized the safety of their players, but it was not until the suicides of former players that grabbed the nation’s attention on how harmful effects of concussions can be.  The National Football League's new regulations, constant research on concussions, and their encouragement to get former and current NFL players to talk out their health to health professionals is helping decrease and prevent the damage of concussions as well as help lower the amount of concussions that take place in other leagues such as the NCAA.

Concussions in football has become an issue within the past few years.  Concussions have been traumatically effecting players who played the game of football.  Many retired players who use to play in the N.F.L have had very bad symptoms that came from concussions such as anger management, short-term memory loss, and even suicidal thoughts.  These circumstances attracted many other doctors and scientists that were not part of the National Football League to do research of their own.  Doctors such as Dr. Bennet Omalu have really pressured the NFL about protecting their players.  He has really made the public aware of how unsafe football is and has made comments about how football should not even be a sport.  He had significant evidence after running autopsy’s on passed away players.  He noticed that these players had major damages to their brain causing them to commit suicide.  Dr. Omalu made his case more aware by having Will Smith play him in the movie Concussion. The main question that the press is asking the NFL is how can they reduce the rate of concussions and make the players safe, so that other leagues such as college, high school, and middle school football leagues can follow their example.  

In 2015, the league reached a high with 183 concussions.  This brought a lot of attention to everyone who watches football.  Many were concerned about the players as well as anyone else who played the game, especially kids. The 2015 year brought negative attention to the NFL, causing them to make drastic changes. After 2015, the NFL has been trying to make many new innovations by having their best doctors and scientists come up with ways to keep their players safer at a faster rate.  The league has started finding ways of making better equipment that could help absorb some of the contact that takes place. The other examples of what the league is trying to come up with are new regulations and protocols on where one player can hit the other.  Within one year, the total amount of concussions dropped to 167 in the 2016 season.  Although this number is still very large, the rate did decrease.  The issues that were being brought up are being accounted for and taken seriously.  The issues are slowly getting fixed. These changes that the NFL are making will make football a safe sport for everyone.

The N.F.L is coming up with many solutions to keep their players safe, one of the ways of keeping players protected is by having players be safe during practice. The invention of mobile virtual players, which are robotic practice dummies, help players practice tackling without hurting one another.  Quinn Connell, a former Dartmouth engineering student created the mobile virtual player with the intention of making football a safer sport and to avoid player on player contact from tackling.  The mobile virtual players were first experimented by the Dartmouth football team.  According to the team and coaching staff, they loved the product.  Coach Teevens, Dartmouth’s head football coach, praised the device, it helps his players stay healthy for the game and helps the players tackle regularly during practice.  Certain football teams in the N.F.L use this device such as, the Steelers, the Panthers, the 49ers, and a couple others.  This device has also grabbed the attention of other college teams to take advantage of it. More and more teams are starting to purchase this device to keep their players from offense and defense safe.  This device should be bought by all teams including high school and middle school.  It’s essential for kids in high school and middle school to have this device so that they can keep practicing the proper etiquette way to tackle.  This prevents them from getting hurt by hitting someone the wrong way in a game. This also helps them progress as a player and helps them stay safe as they continue their time playing football. 

The use of proper equipment such as helmets and pads can extremely help prevent players get a concussion. The two biggest helmet companies in the NFL are Riddell and Schutt.  Both companies are constantly trying to produce the best helmet that can help protect players, but it is hard because both companies continuously compete with one another because they do not want to let their business to plummet. Both companies have changed their ways of modeling their helmets over time. After the public became more aware of the amount of brain injuries, “most people in the equipment technology are focused on ways to reduce rattling and/or impact of the brain with the inside of the skull’ (Rieffel, 2016).  In Rieffel’s article, it talked about how engineers are constantly coming up with different ways to help take the impact from the hits to the head.  Scientists want to lower “The force on the helmet and head can be reduced by slowing down the deceleration of the helmet” (Rieffel, 2016).  The speed that players run at one another can bring shock to the head but also to the neck.  Rieffel, made an example that can relate to the helmet to helmet hit.  Rieffel’s example was how a vehicle absorbs most of the impact because it slows down the collision. He used this example to show that scientists and engineers are trying to find a way where a helmet can slow down the collision so that it absorbs the impact.  Both companies, Ridell and Schutt came up with two different types of helmets that help absorb the contact. Although the helmets that these companies made are effective, doctors suggest that players should use a neck collar. The neck collar will help keep the rattling and movement of the head from bouncing around.  The NFL is encouraging all companies that produce any type of equipment and padding to present their pitches so that they can help prevent brain injuries.

Spreading awareness about the dangers of concussions can help influence all players of the game as well as parents whose kids play the game to seek out help if they feel symptoms of a concussion.  Spreading awareness about the short-term and long-term symptoms that one can help encourage those who have a concussion to immediately seek medical attention.  Receiving medical attention can help people with the short-term symptoms and help prevent the long-term effects.  According to Christine M. Baugh, author of Football Players’ Perceptions of Future Risk of Concussion and Concussion-Related Health Outcomes stated that the short-term effects are “loss of consciousness, amnesia, sleep disturbances, behavioral changes, and cognitive impairment” (Baugh, 2016).  The long-term consequences are lot more severe because long-term consequences come from repetitive concussions.  These “consequences include cognitive and mood disturbances as well as pathological changes in the brain, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy” (Baugh, 2016).  Chronic traumatic encephalopathy also known as CTE is a neuropathological disorder; this is a disease that is found in the brain of one who has been exposed to repetitive brain injuries through contact sports.  CTE can lead to an increased risk of depression and suicidal thoughts.  CTE has killed some players in the past such as Junior Seau Jr. and Rashaan Salaam.  According to Baugh’s research, it shows that players are knowledgeable about some of the dangers of concussions but still do not report their concussions to the team doctors.  The reason behind this is because players are scared of the negative consequences of reporting that they have a concussion.  Players try to rush the process because they are scared to let their teammates down, losing their spot in the lineup, as well as potentially losing their job or scholarship.  These reasons have contributed to a few kids losing their life on the field because they continued to play right after a huge blow to the head. Many players believe that concussions go away after a few weeks of resting or they do not let their injury heal properly because they rush back onto the field.  Depending on how hard one got hit or the amount of times one has had a concussion, one can really hurt themselves if they do not take the time to properly take care of themselves. For these reasons, the NFL and the NCAA have a protocol where one has to step out of the game and have to seek a trainer or team doctor’s attention immediately to see whether one has any symptoms of a concussion.  If one has a concussion they are not allowed to step back onto the field.  These protocols have helped players from having further damages to their brain and help players that are playing today to not have the same fate as older players who use to play the game. 

The NFL did not have bad publicity and no one knew how serious concussions and head injuries were till Dr. Bennet Omalu raised awareness.  Dr. Bennet Omalu is a leading neuropathologist who believes that head injuries can lead to dementia and other traumatic effects.  Dr. Omalu is one of the head researchers that believes that the game of football should come to an end. He believes it should because did autopsies on people who use to play in the NFL The damages he saw to the brain of those who played football proves that these injuries to the brain connect to brain disease; this is why him and other people who support his claim believe that the reason why some retired players committed suicide was because of brain disease.  The NFL did not receive bad publicity until a meeting was held in a board room in front of a congressional panel.  This case was between Dr. Ira Casson and Dr. Bennet Omalu.  Dr. Casson at the time was the leading doctor for the NFL in head trauma.  Dr. Casson argued that there was no proof that football head injuries were connected to brain disease.  Dr. Omalu proved Casson wrong because of the countless facts and examples that he had showed the panel that football injuries can cause symptoms to football players after their life playing football.  Dr. Casson was not only proved wrong by Dr. Omalu but as well as other researchers in this field. Dr. Casson was soon fired by the NFL because the N.F.L player’s union, called for Dr. Casson’s resignation as well as the former NFL commissioner for letting Casson be a part of the medical team.  

The NFL has helped lower the amount of concussions with the help of new regulations and have donated a lot to companies who need help funding for research.  The NFL has noticed that many of the teams did not report that players had concussions or did not make their players step off the field as soon as they got hit in the head.  To stop this from happening, the NFL have now started fining teams hundreds of thousands of dollars and even making a team lose some of their draft picks.  The NFL did not change the concussion protocol until one case when St. Louis Rams former quarter back Case Keenum was hit to the ground after passing the ball.  After Keenum hit his head on the field, he could not get up.  The trainers helped him off the field but the team did not remove him from the game.  It wasn’t until after the game when the Rams had run a test on Keenum and noticed that he had a concussion. The NFL stated that they would look at the data on injuries annually to see if new regulations or protocols are needed to increase player safety.  The NFL has set up some regulations so that the player can protect themselves while playing.  One is not allowed to clash into one using their helmet to hit their opponents head or neck area.  This rule originally only applied to wide receivers but now it applies to all.  This helps players on offense and defense protect themselves.  Another regulation that has been put into place is to help centers, the player who snaps the ball to the quarterback, to protect themselves.  This regulation states that a defensive player is not allowed to line up directly across from the center because it’s an unfair advantage because he does not have time to protect himself. They also made a new rule that states if a player loses his helmet then the play will stop immediately.  The NFL is enforcing these regulations by having players possibly suspended and pay fines if they intestinally hit their opponent in the head.  These regulations have helped dropped the amount of concussions per year.  It went from 183 concussions in 2015 to 167 concussions in 2016.  If these regulations are enforced, then the game will be safe for players to play.  

The National Football League is a role model to all the other leagues of football.  If the NFL finds ways of lowering the amount of concussions that take place in a year, then other leagues can follow by using them as an example and keep their players safe as well.  There is no need to end the game of football.  Players and parents of those who play football understand the risks of football and know the seriousness of concussions.  They are now aware of what can happen if they do play the game, but there is no reason to end the game.  Football is not even on the riskier end of the spectrum of sports to obtain a concussion.  There are other sports such as bicycling, equestrian, hockey, skiing, and snowboarding that make one’s chances higher to have a concussion.  Football is just a bigger sport that have a lot more people playing the game; this is why they have more people have a concussion, according to Dr. Glatter, a Director of Sports Medicine and Trumatic Brain Injury.  With the innovation of new equipment and technology, as well as new regulations and protocols, all football leagues can help keep their players safe now and keep them safe after their days from football has ended. 
