concussions in NFL
Concussions in Football
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, has been under a lot of scrutiny for the past couple years for his attempts to change the rules to decrease and pretty much get rid of violent hits to the head and neck to protect the players. These rules are under scrutiny because there are many people that are saying these rules are making the game of football a “soft game” and ruining it in a sense. Football has been a game that since its beginnings has always praised and celebrated toughness and violent hits. Now these rules are making it frowned upon. These rule changes drastically started popping up before the 2010 season. There are a couple big events that have pulled concussions to the forefront of concern in football. One of the biggest ones is the Concussion lawsuit that was brought against the NFL by4,500 members of former players families and even former players themselves. The lawsuit was just settled last Thursday that will cost the NFL $765 million. Much of that money is going to players and families to compensate for all the medical treatments. Also some of it will be going to baseline testing for retired players, and $10 million will fund research and education for concussions. Another big event that has been occurring over roughly the past 10 years has been many ex NFL players such as Dave Duerson, a former Chicago Bear, who shot himself in the chest after struggling from “chronic headaches, blurred vision and memory loss.” Before he died, he left messages to his family requesting that his brain be donated to a lab where it would be studied. He was only 50 years old. There are many like this including Andre Waters, 44, and Shane Dronett, 38, who both also committed suicide in the past six years. All 3 men were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which you get in part from multiple hits to the head. The NFL players are not the only ones that are being affected by CTE. Doctors found the CTE in 21 year old
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, has been under a lot of scrutiny for the past couple years for his attempts to change the rules to decrease and pretty much get rid of violent hits to the head and neck to protect the players. These rules are under scrutiny because there are many people that are saying these rules are making the game of football a “soft game” and ruining it in a sense. Football has been a game that since its beginnings has always praised and celebrated toughness and violent hits. Now these rules are making it frowned upon. These rule changes drastically started popping up before the 2010 season. There are a couple big events that have pulled concussions to the forefront of concern in football. One of the biggest ones is the Concussion lawsuit that was brought against the NFL by4,500 members of former players families and even former players themselves. The lawsuit was just settled last Thursday that will cost the NFL $765 million. Much of that money is going to players and families to compensate for all the medical treatments. Also some of it will be going to baseline testing for retired players, and $10 million will fund research and education for concussions. Another big event that has been occurring over roughly the past 10 years has been many ex NFL players such as Dave Duerson, a former Chicago Bear, who shot himself in the chest after struggling from “chronic headaches, blurred vision and memory loss.” Before he died, he left messages to his family requesting that his brain be donated to a lab where it would be studied. He was only 50 years old. There are many like this including Andre Waters, 44, and Shane Dronett, 38, who both also committed suicide in the past six years. All 3 men were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which you get in part from multiple hits to the head. The NFL players are not the only ones that are being affected by CTE. Doctors found the CTE in 21 year old