Throughout the years, football has become an increasingly popular sport. From peewee
leagues all the way to the NFL, football is played on a daily basis. Although it has been viewed
as an American sport and pastime, the concern for safety within these leagues has become
prominent over the past decade. Most people associate football as a dangerous sport and some
injuries can be career and even life-ending. When football first started as a sport, there was no knowledge about the impact of the physicality needed and endured throughout the games. Because of the constant body-slamming, brain injuries have become more and more common with football players. This has sparked a movement to create a safer game of football and treat injuries more seriously than they used to.
When football first started in the late 1800s, it was revolutionary. Among the Ivy League schools, it was growing increasingly popular. Because it was so new, various committees met to make sure that the game was being played as safe as possible. One former Penn football player, William Harvey, received various injuries throughout his time playing in this newly former sport. He even recalled back to in 1894 “when in a scrimmage behind the goal I was knocked insensible, but recovered in about fifteen minutes” (Harrison, 2014). Even before there were medical studies on the impact that football can have, it was known that it was a dangerous game. Before the turn of the 20th century, newspapers and the media reported various stories surrounding football including “A Student Killed at Football, Dead From Football Injuries, and More Slugging Than Playing” (Harrison, 2014). During the beginning stages of football, there was no padding for players and their “helmets” were cloth hats that were worn for decoration. The reason why this such dangerous game got so much attention from the American public was that “the bold students” were willing to “risk life and limb to gain football honors for their colleges” (Harrison, 2014). When colleges started to become more aware of what this game was doing to their students, they started to ban their students from participating in this sport. But, because of such harsh backlash that they received from students and fans, they decided that in order to implement the game on college campuses, it would have to be “modified so as to permit of playing without danger of life and limb” (Harrison, 2014). Through the many decades of the 19th century, “an intercollegiate rules committee was formed to revise and standardize the rules of the game” (Harrison, 2014). This rules committee came to an agreement to start making rules that allowed more plays, but also to slow the momentum down during it. Although many thought that these rules would help to reduce concussions during games, they didn’t. In 1906, a student-athlete at Harvard University died during a game. His brain was examined and doctors released a study that looked into “The Physical Aspect of American Football” (Harrison, 2014). This study published that damaging the central nervous system through multiple concussions can have severe effects on the brain, and long-term can be damaging, leading to death (Harrison, 2014).
Although football was introduced to the college level, and then moved on to the professional field, many athletic directors sought for ways for athletes to get involved before they got to college. Football was first introduced into high school during the early 1930s and the response to participation was through the roof. Because full safety of the sport has not yet been developed, many were unaware of the long-term effects that playing in such a contact sport could have. From the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, doctors conducted a study to look into whether high school football players during 1946 to 1956 who worse less protective headgear than was around today experienced neurodegenerative diseases later in their lifetimes (Savica, Parisi, Wold, Josephs, & Ahlskog, 2012). Through access to prior medical records from these high school students, they were able to compare the football players to those who only participated in band. Parkinson’s disease and ALS showed no significant impact between the two groups, but there was an increase in dementia from the football players (Savica, Parisi, Wold, Josephs, & Ahlskog, 2012). Because of the “poorer equipment and less regard for concussions compared with today and no rules prohibiting head-first tackling,” the effect that this contact sport had on high-school football players was significant (Savica, Parisi, Wold, Josephs, & Ahlskog, 2012).
After different regulations and associations that passed multiple rule changes and procedures in college football, it was thought that the game was finally safe to play altogether. The NCAA tried its best to enforce these rules through the college football programs throughout America, but there were still schools that were not enforcing the rules to their fullest extent. Back in 2011, a football player at Frostburg State University “collapsed on…a practice field after sustaining a blow to the head during full contact preseason drills” (Pretty, 2014). The football player was then in a coma for six days afterward before passing away. What caused his injury was a drill that required players to run from opposite sides of the field and collide into each other. This drill (Oklahoma drill) is a practice implemented by universities all throughout the nation and is “used by coaches to determine which players are not afraid to hit” (Pretty, 2014). After the incident in 2011, it was brought to Mark Emmert’s (NCAA President) attention that this drill caused the death of one athlete, and coaches still had the ability to have this drill be used across the nation. He made an effort to try and make sure that the NCAA was enforcing their concussion policy to its fullest extent, but there still is a sufficient amount of work that needs to be done. The NCAA’s basic concussion training requirements still allow the schools themselves to decide how they deal with concussions, and there is no policy that is enforced across the board (Pretty, 2014).
In most recent studies published, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), has been prominent in football players who have retired from playing professionally. “110 out of 111 subjects, over 99%” showed signs of CTE years after they had stepped off of the field for good (Lindsley, 2017). Dating back to 2005 was when the first real CTE case had surfaced from a professional football player. The diagnosis came mostly from those who had participated in positions that required the most helmet-to-helmet contact. This caused an uproar in the media and current NFL players because they were concerned for their safety and needed to decide whether or not if they wanted to continue in playing in a sport that they loved so dearly. It was alarming and a wake-up call for those to take injuries more seriously in the NFL and treat concussions immediately and not wait to take the right action on them (Lindsley, 2017).
From the 2012 to 2014 seasons in the NFL, over 446 different concussions were diagnosed among players. Although most, if not all, have already been cleared, “a single concussion can cause persistent headaches, sleep problems, memory disorders, and reduced attention spans” (Hanson, Jolly, & Peterson, 2015). Because of the increased amount of concussions that are prominent through NFL players, the NFL decided to start compensating those who have started to show signs of prolonged concussions from playing in their league. Even though this settlement has helped in some respects, it was essential that the NFL took the necessary steps to make sure that the players were kept as safe as possible. After the 2012 season, “the NFL implemented the ‘Crown of the Helmet Rule (CHR)’ in attempt to reduce the incidence of concussions and head injuries penalizing a player who intentionally initiates contact with another player using the top of his helmet” (Hanson, Jolly, & Peterson, 2015). When adding the Crown of the Helmet Rule, it helped to reduce the “incidence of concussion injuries among affected players” (Hanson, Jolly, & Peterson, 2015). This rule was revolutionary because it started a change in the NFL to start to become more aware of the safety of the players and make sure that they were playing in the safest environments as possible.
Although the recent rule changes in the NFL have helped to put the players first in terms of safety, it has also gotten some backlash. Sometimes, the rules that are implemented aren’t fully executed and enforced. Back in 2016, the Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton, “sustained several hits to the head by Denver Broncos players, yet never left the game to be examined” (Davis, 2016). According to the NFL policies, there are supposed to be certified athletic trainers and “neurotrauma consultants” watching from the sideline to see if players have experienced any symptoms of concussions (Davis, 2016). But, sometimes these important medical personnel are scared to speak up when they see the signs because they don’t want to have to remove a key player from the game and receive criticism for it. There have been talks of creating a medical timeout for the players, but they don’t want to take away from the entertainment aspect for the fans (Davis, 2016).
Although it may seem like the issue of concussions have just started to become increasingly popular lately, the crisis first began to rise nearly over a century ago. But, because the public was more inclined to accept the risk of concussions during football games, the issue was placed on the backburner. The American culture became more accepting of violent behavior displayed in football games which shifted the focus to more visible injuries and ones that would require participants to have to leave the game. Medically, this concerned doctors and professionals because they wanted any injury to be taken seriously, not just the ones that were visible (Harrison, 2014). Head injuries are usually associated with neurodegenerative diseases that can come up later on in life. The most common injury, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), can cause a flare-up of dementia in athletes that participated specifically in football. Although CTE can happen in other sports such as soccer and hockey, it is most prominent in football because of the amount of physicality that is needed to endure a game. When American football was first starting out, there were no safety measures in place to help reduce these injuries, leading to more concussions and CTE later on in life (Savica, Parisi, Wold, Josephs, & Ahlskog, 2012). One aspect where the issue of concussions has failed is through the NCAA and their enforcement policies. Because of their ignorance on the injuries of college players, they now can face future lawsuits because they have not acted in the best interest of the players as the head enforcement agency for college sports. The NCAA needs to act on their own to make sure that rules are being enforced properly before legally they are made to do it by law (Pretty, 2014). The NFL most recently has been faced with actions that they need to take in order to address the increasing presence of CTE in retired football players. With the many studies that have been coming out and have been more aware to those that participate in this sport, it’s important for those playing at a higher level to take these injuries more seriously, and possibly try and make this sport safer for those who continue to play for years on end (Lindsley, 2017). With the new addition of the Crown of the Helmet rule, it helped to reduce concussion and head injuries for players. It’s important for the NFL to implement these rules to overall help with the safety of their players and make sure that they help to reduce the life-long effects that concussions can have on these athletes (Hanson, Jolly, & Peterson, 2015). With the addition of additional personnel on the sidelines during game days, it has helped to add an element of safety for the players. But, because these people aren’t taking the actions that are needed because they don’t want to interfere with the game, it causes some concern for fans. Ultimately it seems as if the NFL, although trying to put the players first, are more focused on the fans entertainment and making sure that the game goes on no matter what. Ethically, this is wrong but its most often ignored because the fans like to enjoy the game and tend not to pay attention to these significant injuries such as concussions (Davis, 2016).