The Dangers of Football

The Dangers of Football

                American Football is widely known all throughout the world. From its games, players, and the thrill and exhilaration of it all, what's not to like about the sport? From its very beginning in 1920, Football had dramatically skyrocketed in popularity. Unfortunately though, as football has gained more popularity, much attention has turned to the darker side of football, which are the prices the players pay from taking repeated blows to the head, causing a disease called CTE. With this large commotion arising, this pops the question to thousands of Football fans and players, which is, “is Football to life-threatening to play?”

All throughout the history of the NFL, the sport of football has been long known for being one of the most brutal, fierce, and hard hitting-games to ever be played. The grueling gridiron surroundings about the game didn't take much notice back then, until a devastating find would take place in a Pittsburgh hospital that would change the minds of millions. In 2002, Dr Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-American Physician, was assigned to do an autopsy on former Hall of Fame star, Mike Webster, after the former standout football player had suddenly passed away at the age of 50 of a heart attack on September 24th, 2002. What Dr. Omalu found was shocking, a disease that had never been identified in football players. This case is simply known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE. This was the very first evidence that playing football could cause eternal brain damage from taking repeated blows to the head.

This disturbance took the NFL, and the world, by storm. The world had finally taken notice at how football was a very dangerous sport. Today, over 100 NFL players have died from CTE, including stand out stars like Ken Stabler, Andre Waters, Terry Long, and Junior Seau. But how can one die from this deadly disease? Well, the answer is very shocking. The symptoms for CTE contains depression, aggression, disorientation, and dementia. This disease can also lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. In fact, most of the CTE deaths end with people taking their own lives. CTE can only be diagnosed when they examine the brain after the victim has passed away.

 But this issue isn't just in the big leagues, but is also in innocent high school football.  Did you know that 1 in 5 high school football players will endure a concussion during the season? In the very beginning of the 2015 high school football season, there were 7 deaths in the first 7 games of the season. This should be very alarming to the parents and coaches that are involved in high school sports. The awareness level for high school football needs to be inflated if we don’t want more deaths to take place.

Though helmets and padding are being upgraded to try and prevent injuries like CTE, it still is sometimes not enough. A good site about spreading awareness for CTE is StopCTE.org. With the help of many, we can help to prevent more players from getting CTE. Hopefully, as more and more upgrades to the equipment are taking place to help keep football safe, this disease will be noticed by many, and more will want to step in and help.