The concussion: a natural phenomenon in the sports world that has been talked about quite frequently in recent years. It is definitely a hot topic and can certainly be a touchy one as well. The constant blows to the head in the sport of football has been proven to take a toll on players’ well-being and effect their lives. C.T.E., or Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in dozens of former NFL players. It is believed to be caused by repetitive brain trauma. This includes concussions but also hits to the head or brain trauma that does not come with symptoms. So with every hit a football player takes to the head, whether it results in a concussion or not, they are increasing their chances of being diagnosed and hearing that dreaded news from their doctor.
“I remember getting blindsided by a player and he dug his helmet right into the side of my helmet and I saw black for a split second,” said 20-year-old former football player Matthew Wolfenden. “I got knocked down and I was just laying on the ground. I remember the athletic trainer asking me if I knew what day it was and what team I was playing against. I really didn’t know the answers and it was terrifying. It turned out that I had a concussion. I recovered in just about a week but it is a scary injury that I know can result in a bunch of long term problems too.”
Many former NFL players have reportedly been diagnosed with C.T.E. and have or are currently suffering from the disease and many have died because of the irreversible effects it has on a person. That list includes the likes of hall of famers Junior Seau and Ken Stabler. These players poured their heart, blood, sweat, and tears into the sport and it is devastating that they have to pass away so young because they did their job in a way that, at the time, was the right way to play.
“Yeah we actually get a lot of children and high school teenage athletes come into the office with headache issues without even the thought that it could be a concussion. It turns out they have a concussion and they don’t even know it,” said Dr. Donald DeLollis out of Medford, MA. “It’s sad because of the news of all of these former athletes dying and having C.T.E. and other head issues that effect their daily life. It really is an issue and I’ve bee trying to emphasize catching the concussions early so they can be treated the right way.”
The argument of whether football will eventually be completely erased as a sport in the future is getting more serious by the year. Parents are starting to restrict their children from playing youth football solely because of this concussion concern. There have been many instances of young men taking their own life because of C.T.E. and their involvement in football. The worst part is that they are unaware they have C.T.E. and their parents and family members have to find out after the death that C.T.E. was found in their loved one’s brain.
“When my son first started playing around 4th grade, I had my concerns definitely. I was more concerned with the teaching by the coaches and if they would think about injuries and the kids’ futures when coaching. I wanted them to teach my son the right way to do things so he wouldn’t get hurt. Simple as that,” said Peg O’Donnell, parent of a football player in Winchester, MA.
Many people remain afraid or hesitant to let their children play youth football for this reason because stories of former football players dying are becoming substantially more public but coaching is a big part of it as well. The way they are taught to hit someone should be centered around avoiding injury and it starts at the youth level. The hiring of youth coaches needs to be a more elongated and detailed process to ensure the players’ and kids’ safety.
If a child is not taught the right technique and correct way to play at a young age than the likelihood of injury increases substantially. Also, with youth football in the past, the parents of the kids were not properly educated on concussions and really did not know what they were getting themselves into because the equipment was not even close to as advanced as it is now and the coaching was not focused on proper technique or safety.
“When I just got into coaching and applying for college coaching spots, I sort of prided myself in teaching the kids the right way to hit and to always play with your head up,” said Wally Dembowski, who played football at Holy Cross and coached at Boston University, Northeastern University, and is currently the head football coach at Winchester High School in Winchester, MA. “It really is important and during my playing days, I didn’t understand all that shit so now that I’m coaching, I really want to teach kids the right things because I’ve seen what it can do to people.”
It is way more advanced now and coaches are being hired for youth football that have gone through safety training. Even high schools are beginning to give mandatory concussion information sessions for parents of players no matter the sport. This definitely helped and still is helping raise awareness of concussion diagnosis. Obviously, concussions cannot be completely taken out of any sport but a serious effort needs to be made to reduce them as much as possible. That serious effort will help the future of football substantially and if concussions are significantly reduced, then the future of football is not in jeopardy.
“Concussions can happen in any sport it’s all a matter of luck and the NFL will always be around there are way too many advocates of the game to let it disband,” said Wolfenden when asked about his opinion on the future of the NFL and football.
For right now, the sport is in a good spot and is clearly improving in terms of awareness and diagnosis. However, NFL officials are creating penalties that result in fines of large amounts of money as well as yardage penalties in the game. This creates another argument of whether or not these penalties will actually lower the amount of hits to the heads and ultimately the amount of concussions. This question is raised by Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
As there will always be people against the sport because of this concussion issue, the NFL is extremely invested in improving the epidemic and hopefully they will continue to improve at the rate they are going. If so, the fans will continue to have a blast and be entertained, the players will continue to safely play the sport they love for a living, and the NFL will continue to run a successful business full of teamwork, determination, fun, competition, and of course safety.
“A lot of people think we’re gladiators, but we’re human beings,” said former NFL player Damien Woody. We get injured and we’ve got the rest of our lives to worry about. Playing football is like a vapor – it’s here and it’s gone – and you still have the rest of your life to live.”
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