Dangers of Concussions in Football
Loren Powers
11/20/2012
English 102
The Dangers of Concussion in Football
In a country that thrives on competition it is no wonder Americans have embraced football as their favorite sport. Every weekend during football season, millions line up, tune in, or change the channel to watch their favorite teams do battle for 60 minutes. It is a rough physical game and at the collegiate and professional levels, played by some of the worlds best athletes. There are many dangers involved when participating in such a sport. Rarely will a player go through a game without being hurt in some capacity. This is part of the game and everyone involved knows it. Because of this, players often have to be the judge of whether they are “Injured”, or “hurt.” The difference being that someone who is just hurt can still perform physically and should be able to return to the game. However if a player is injured, this means that they have been hurt to the point where they are not physically able to play, or to the point that further play could escalate the injury into something much more serious. For most injuries this distinction is easy to make, for instance a sprained ankle can either be ran on or it cant, depending on the extent of the sprain. If a player suffers a concussion though, it can be much more difficult for that player to consider himself injured.
The reason concussions are such a problem is because physically a player can still perform, even though they may be impaired mentally. Dedicated football players will often do anything they can to avoid coming out of a game, especially if the player is not well educated on the effects of concussions. They may notice concussion like symptoms, but may chose not to tell the coach or medical staff in order to stay in the game. In fact many teams (required by NCAA/NFL) give their players a baseline test before the season to see how fast their mind works when completely healthy. A player can then be retested during
11/20/2012
English 102
The Dangers of Concussion in Football
In a country that thrives on competition it is no wonder Americans have embraced football as their favorite sport. Every weekend during football season, millions line up, tune in, or change the channel to watch their favorite teams do battle for 60 minutes. It is a rough physical game and at the collegiate and professional levels, played by some of the worlds best athletes. There are many dangers involved when participating in such a sport. Rarely will a player go through a game without being hurt in some capacity. This is part of the game and everyone involved knows it. Because of this, players often have to be the judge of whether they are “Injured”, or “hurt.” The difference being that someone who is just hurt can still perform physically and should be able to return to the game. However if a player is injured, this means that they have been hurt to the point where they are not physically able to play, or to the point that further play could escalate the injury into something much more serious. For most injuries this distinction is easy to make, for instance a sprained ankle can either be ran on or it cant, depending on the extent of the sprain. If a player suffers a concussion though, it can be much more difficult for that player to consider himself injured.
The reason concussions are such a problem is because physically a player can still perform, even though they may be impaired mentally. Dedicated football players will often do anything they can to avoid coming out of a game, especially if the player is not well educated on the effects of concussions. They may notice concussion like symptoms, but may chose not to tell the coach or medical staff in order to stay in the game. In fact many teams (required by NCAA/NFL) give their players a baseline test before the season to see how fast their mind works when completely healthy. A player can then be retested during