Football Safety Essay

Dating back to the 1800’s, Football has been one of America’s favorite pastimes. Every Sunday, countless homes tune in to watch their favorite teams play, or they head out during the week to see their sons, nephews, brothers, or even grandchildren play this sport. However, it was not until recently that researchers began to understand just how dangerous this sport was to play. Once studies about the danger of the sport began to circulate, the NFL (National Football League) tried to hide the findings for years. Because of the hesitation of the findings, getting information out to the public about the dangers of the sport was proven to be difficult, and still is. There are still many parents, children and players that do not understand the risk associated with playing football, and are being put in danger because of it. In order to protect players from the dangers of the game and the potential long-term risk, it is essential that there is more education to parents, children, and even players about the risk.
Today’s Football is
According to an article posted directed from the NFL, last updated in 2012, the NFL released some rule changes, and described why they were changed in order to further protect players. Some of these rules include: “prohibit a player from launching himself off the ground and using his helmet to strike a player in a defenseless posture in the head or neck” (2010), “when a player loses his helmet, the play is immediately whistled dead” (2010), “during field-goal and extra-point attempts, the defense cannot position any player on the line directly across from the snapper, who’s considered to be in a defenseless position” (2010), and “each team must consult with an independent neurologist whenever there is a head injury”