Concussions In Professional Sports

Concussion (2015) Official Trailer (SONY PICTURES)

Over the years there has been extensive focus on the NFL and their inability to accept the severity of the results from repeated head trauma. Above is a trailer for the movie Concussion which was a movie based on Dr. Bennet Omalu and his research on CTE (chronic Traumatic Encepalophy) in football players and his struggle with the NFL.


Although there are concussion issues among many sports, I am going to mainly focus on the NFL as they have attracted extensive attention for being openly resistant to the idea of long-term effects of repeated head trauma and their responsibility on the matter.


NFL and Concussions

Chuck Bednarik hits Frank Gifford. Gifford suffered from CTE. (John G Zimmerman/Sports Illustrated)

FACTS:

• From 2012-2016 there were over 1200 concussions diagnosed in the NFL 
• In January 2015 the NFL's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee found that there was no significant risk of a second injury after returning to play in the same game or the follow game after a potential brain injury
• 2012 - Dave Duerson, a former Chicago Bear committed suicide via gunshot to the chest to ensure that his brain could be used for CTE research 
• It took until 2016 for the NFL to acknowledge there was a problem with repetitive head trauma and CTE
• Out of 111 brains of former football players that were donated for research, 100 tested POSITIVE for CTE

Considering the above facts.. How could the NFL ever be resistant to the idea that repeated head contact resulted in many athletes deaths? 

Maybe it was business related? Maybe they were scared about what would come which lead to them not admitting to the relationship between repeated head trauma and football. Regardless, it is the constant head to head contact, the glamorization of injury, the normalization and humour of "seeing stars" after being hit hard, the feeling that the athletes were property of their respective teams, the worship of football within the USA that ultimately lead to the death of many athletes.