To many people, football is considered the most dangerous sport. The violent tackling nature means the possibility of broken bones or torn tendons with every play, and these injuries have always been understood as part of participating in the sport. A newer, less understood injury, however, is the concussion. 47 percent of all concussions in sports occur in football. For this reason, some parents are not allowing their children to play football because of the risk of head injuries. Unlike injuries of the body, concussions can affect children or young adults into adulthood and can impair brain development. In order to reduce the amount of concussions in football and the negative effects to players, the NCAA must require new VICIS helmets be
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Isenberg states in his article Concussions Concerns Continue as High School Football Season Nears, “Over the past 25 years, much publicized reports of the dangers of concussions, head trauma, traumatic brain injuries and a condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in football players from the NFL ranks on down” (Isenberg 1). Football had been a staple of American culture since long before we understood the full anatomy of the brain, and that is why head injuries before the last couple decades were never an issue. In her book concerning concussions in football, Carla Mcclafferty claims that, ”today the seriousness of concussion is certain. Medical experts understand that a football ‘ding’ or a ‘bell ringer’ is a concussion. Concussions are one of the most dangerous aspect of any sport. Especially football” (McClafferty 32). While we have always understood that football may cause head injury (thus, helmets have been mandatory for decades), the bigger problem is addressing how much these “bell ringers” impact players after they hang up their jerseys. Former players from the National Football League are now …show more content…
Having doctors or trained medical personnel on concussion observing players for concussions will help keep players safe if an injury unfortunately does occur. While preventing concussions is preferable, immediate recognition of a concussion is the next step, and “[t]here are methods of testing that a trainer can use on the sideline to determine a player’s fitness and capability of returning to a game” (Isenberg 2). These athletic trainers on the sideline are trying many methods to figure out if players have concussions. They need to be trained not only to test for concussion symptoms immediately following an injury, but also be trained to recognize later symptoms hours or days after impact. When it comes to technology and equipment, there should be a focus on ensuring all players have the best helmets possible. However, the case now is that “[t]oo many of the helmets on the market . . . are filled with a single substance that isn’t much better than styrofoam” (Roberts 4). By comparison, the VICIS helmet “has multiple layers of different materials-the inside looked like a rock formation” (Roberts 4). The VICIS helmet is unlike any other helmet on the market, and is built to do its job of protecting better than its competitors “by offering four layers of protection” (Garcia). Each layer of protection works differently but in harmony to protect the head. “An outer layer compresses to absorb shock
Isenberg states in his article Concussions Concerns Continue as High School Football Season Nears, “Over the past 25 years, much publicized reports of the dangers of concussions, head trauma, traumatic brain injuries and a condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in football players from the NFL ranks on down” (Isenberg 1). Football had been a staple of American culture since long before we understood the full anatomy of the brain, and that is why head injuries before the last couple decades were never an issue. In her book concerning concussions in football, Carla Mcclafferty claims that, ”today the seriousness of concussion is certain. Medical experts understand that a football ‘ding’ or a ‘bell ringer’ is a concussion. Concussions are one of the most dangerous aspect of any sport. Especially football” (McClafferty 32). While we have always understood that football may cause head injury (thus, helmets have been mandatory for decades), the bigger problem is addressing how much these “bell ringers” impact players after they hang up their jerseys. Former players from the National Football League are now …show more content…
Having doctors or trained medical personnel on concussion observing players for concussions will help keep players safe if an injury unfortunately does occur. While preventing concussions is preferable, immediate recognition of a concussion is the next step, and “[t]here are methods of testing that a trainer can use on the sideline to determine a player’s fitness and capability of returning to a game” (Isenberg 2). These athletic trainers on the sideline are trying many methods to figure out if players have concussions. They need to be trained not only to test for concussion symptoms immediately following an injury, but also be trained to recognize later symptoms hours or days after impact. When it comes to technology and equipment, there should be a focus on ensuring all players have the best helmets possible. However, the case now is that “[t]oo many of the helmets on the market . . . are filled with a single substance that isn’t much better than styrofoam” (Roberts 4). By comparison, the VICIS helmet “has multiple layers of different materials-the inside looked like a rock formation” (Roberts 4). The VICIS helmet is unlike any other helmet on the market, and is built to do its job of protecting better than its competitors “by offering four layers of protection” (Garcia). Each layer of protection works differently but in harmony to protect the head. “An outer layer compresses to absorb shock