Concussions in the NFL...

How do They Aect the

Players?
By Emiliano Garcia-Rayas

Players in the NFL are being

aected by concussions in
every game and practice.

A concussion is caused by a
hit to the head or violent
shaking of the head.

According to Concussions in
Sports, a concussion is the Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty images
most common type of brain injury (Luke Kuechly crying after concussion)
(Concussions in Sports).

Similarly, Chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE is a brain injury that can

be caused by repeated blows to the head or even just a violent blow to the
body that would shake or swing the head.

According to Concussions in the NFL, Kyle Turley, an

oensive lineman in the NFL, said he was told to go back
to the eld by trainers just a few days after recovering
from a concussion (Concussions in the NFL).

NFL trainers are encouraging players to return to the eld

just days after a serious injury.

Despite this, the NFL commissioner Rodger Goodel said

Photo: The Huffington Post "We need to make the game safer" (Concussions and the
(Kyle Turley) NFL). Making the game safer would start with the health
ocials.
In addition, people should begin to realize that the trainers aren't being paid to
keep the players healthy. They're being payed to keep them on the eld.

However, the NFL makes their money o of the fans who are football lovers.
The fans want good football games with lots of highlights and hard hits. NFL
teams draft and try to get players who are playmakers and excite the
audience. That's how the NFL runs.

Not only are players being aected during their time in the NFL, they are also
being aected after retirement.

Players are getting Alzheimer's disease and other memory related diseases at
a rate that is 5 times more than regular people (Concussions in the NFL).

Similarly, according to the survey Life After Football: Tough to Tackle, 763
former NFL players, 61% of them said it was hard to adjust to everyday life
after the NFL. 85% said that the league did not prepare them enough. Even
after all of that 89% said they would play football again (Life After Football:
Tough to Tackle).

Nobody wants to get a phone call from the league telling them that their
husband or son is going to die or not be able to function properly anymore.
Football is a very dangerous sport and the NFL should start realizing what
kind of situations they are putting these players in.

Photo: The New Yorker

(Football player getting hit in the head)