Nfl Player Safety Research Paper

NFLPA Player Safety

The National Football League has become the most exciting and thrilling sports league to watch in the last few decades. Most recently players have become much faster and bigger than in the past and the safety of their lives have become a risk. Recently the NFL has been subjected to a large amount of controversy and criticism dealing with how they have handled player safety. This issue has come to the forefront because concussions have become a weekly occurrence. In the last few years it has been studied then proven by doctors that former players have suffered traumatic brain injuries from hits to the head during their NFL careers. As a fan of the NFL, I believe it’s best for the game that the NFL makes some change so
The short and long term effects of concussions can be devastating to the human mind. Not only does the brain suffer long term physical damage but many players often suffer from long term mental problems. A prime example of someone who had been affected by head trauma was former linebacker Junior Seau. Recently “a team of scientists who analyzed the brain tissue of renowned NFL linebacker Junior Seau after his suicide last year have concluded the football player suffered a debilitating brain disease caused by two decades worth of hits to the head” (ABCNews). Junior Seau who had a 20 year NFL career was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after his death. The real question is what could’ve the NFL done to prevent such a terrible tragedy or did they not have the capability to control what happened to him? The NFL has said many times that it did not intentionally hide the dangers of concussions from players and is doing everything it can to protect them. With the focus on head injuries in football being put under a microscope the past few seasons, the NFL is taking drastic measures trying to find solutions that will help in the
Most recently, Roger Goodell implemented shorter kickoffs which moved the kickoff spot up five yards from the 30 to the 35 yard line to decrease injuries, but would now largely increase the number of touchbacks. This rule change could have a negative effect by eliminating the job prospects of special team’s players. “Cleveland Browns kick returner Josh Cribbs, the league's career leader with eight kickoff returns for touchdowns, has been irate since owners, citing the need to protect players from violent collisions, announced the change during the lockout in March.” “I don't see (injury) stats behind it, and that's what the issue was,” Cribbs said last week. "There's no stats to back it up. Their intentions are good, but the stats aren't there to back up the reasoning” (ESPN). During the last month a rule change that the NFL has implemented was met with high opposition as former and current players disagree with the intention of changing the game. The new rule states that ball carriers would be penalized if they lower their head to deliver a blow. “The proposed rule change for running backs might be the most absurd suggestion of a rule change I've ever heard of. In order to lower ur shoulder u obviously have to lower ur head. It's a way of protecting ur self from a tackler and a way to break tackles” (Matt Forte