4/30/24
Composition
CTE Solutions in Sports
It’s safe to say the sport of football will not be going anywhere soon, each year more and more kids want to compete, increasing the amount of athletes in the football community. With this being said, there is a continuous increase in injuries year after year. Although it’s clear that leagues like the NCAA and NFL are paying attention to this ongoing issue, the problem continues to arise. In fact, within the last five years the NFL has seen a constant increase in the number of concussions, despite the new equipment being given to the players.
In today’s football there is an unacceptable number of concussions. As stated earlier, this isn’t going unnoticed. I truly believe that the NFL is trying to come up with a solution that works for both players and fans. For instance, the NFL has instated a rule that during contact practices, players must wear a softshell cap to go around their helmet to lower the amount of impact that they take each day. This idea ended up being very successful, “The Guardian Caps worn by offensive and defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers resulted in 52% fewer concussions” (Reed). This was a step in the right direction for the NFL and it proves that they aren’t ignoring one of the critical issues that occurs in football today. The bad news is that there are thirty-two teams in the NFL, that each have 17 game seasons without even mentioning playoffs, which means there is a lot of time in the regular season where the soft shells won’t be worn. Unfortunately, this means that although “soft shells” were a good idea for the time being, there needs to be a better solution that eliminates CTE risk during the games as well.
Another strategy that the NFL and NCAA are slowly trying to implement is changing the rules of football to make it less physical. Ideally if you were to make the game less physical, the game immediately becomes safer, however football is a contact sport. Trying to reduce the amount of contact from a sport that revolves around tackling opponents is not a valid option. For starters, the way football has been taught for over a hundred years would have to entirely be redone. Defensive players would immediately be at a disadvantage because they would have to almost relearn the game that they have been playing their whole lives. Thirdly, fans wouldn’t like to see the sport they enjoy watching every Sunday become “soft”. As a matter of fact, fans are already reporting being upset by current rule changes in sports, “I’ve been feeling dissatisfied with sports recently. Every game I watch—whether it’s professional or college, football or basketball—seems tainted by bad officiating or senseless rule changes. No matter who ultimately ends up on top, I’m still confused or upset by something” (Murphy). This statement was made by a fan already, and concussions are still a continuing issue in football today. This creates a real problem for the NFL business because having a brand that produces the amount of concussions that they do in a season is an awful to represent the sport of football. However, making the sport less physical upsets fans and players.
This is not an easy topic to figure out, however throughout my own research I believe there are a few ways for the NFL to keep moving in the right direction. The NFL has done plenty to prove they aren’t just ignoring the amount of concussions that their players receive each season, however with the technology given today it seems as if they aren’t taking it as seriously as they should be. For example, a recent study showed that concussions are still on the rise, “The number of concussions remained largely stable from last season — 219, including those suffered in preseason and regular-season games and practices. That is up from 213 in 2022” (Battista). Although the NFL claims to be hearing out enough doctors, 219 concussions in 2024 is unacceptable. The NFL should take a closer look at a recent prototype helmet that was created at the well renowned Stanford University. Students found that by using their liquid absorbing helmet would reduce the amount of impact by an outstanding 33% (Gillham). They continued by saying, “The helmet with liquid shock absorbers preformed better than the existing helmet models, producing the lowest HARM value in 33 out of 36 different impact conditions tested” (Gillham). If these helmets were able to make it into professional football and reduce the head impact by over 30%, this would be a juristic step forward for the entire sport of football. The NFL should invest the money into making these helmets comfortable enough where players would have no issue wearing them.
Although it isn’t clear what the NFL’s next steps are, it’s good they’re showing some effort into making football a safer sport. It has been one of the biggest sports in America for over one hundred years now, and it would be a shame if it were to slow down due to the physicality of football. The reason it’s so important for the NFL to begin the switch to safer equipment is strictly due to the fact they’re the flagship brand for the sport, and if they were to start wearing different helmets, that would trickle all the way down to youth football. I would love to see the NFL begin to devote more time and money into the great sport of football, to limit the CTE of their own players, as well as kids that wish to begin playing.
Works Cited
Battista, J. (2024, February 2). NFL’s prioritization of player safety leads to promising injury data for 2023 season. NFL.com. https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-s-prioritization-of-player-safety-leads-to-promising-injury-data-for-2023-season
Gillham, Angharad. “New High-Tech Helmets May Protect American Football Players from Debilitating Concussions.” Frontiers Science News, 9 June 2023, www.frontiersin.org/news/2023/06/09/new-high-tech-helmets-may-protect-american-football-players-from-debilitating-concussions/.
Reed, Tina. “NFL Announces More Steps to Reduce Head Injuries.” Axios, 16 Aug. 2023, https://www.axios.com/2023/08/16/nfl-more-steps-reduce-head-injuries
Murphy, Ryan. “Enough Is Enough: Recent Rule Changes Are Ruining Sports – the Echo.” The ECHO – East Chapel Hill’s Source for Student-Run News, 18 Oct. 2021, echhsechoonline.com/enough-is-enough-recent-rule-changes-are-ruining-sports/
Sprockets and Springes 