Austin Reid Deborah Reese

English 1101
4 December 2013

Introduction
The game of football has brought entertainment to people including myself for decades, but only at the cost of many players health and safety. In Offensive Play: How Different Are Dogfights and Football Malcom Gladwell challenges his audience to consider the brutal effects that football has on players brains. The rules of football and the equipment players wear have evolved immensely in order to protect the heads of players. Although rule changes help prevent head injury, improving the headgear that players wear is the only way to effectively reduce head trauma in football due to the brutal nature of the game. Improving helmets is the only way football players will ever be completely protected from severe head and brain injury.

Helmet History
Helmets were not required to be worn until the 1930s. The first football helmets were made from soft leather and looked much like aviator caps (Barkley). These helmets only provided minimal protection and were constantly being modified with pads and cushions. They did not have facemasks like todays helmets which left players faces completely exposed. Over the past one hundred years helmets have continued to be improved by changing the materials the helmet is made from, the shape of the helmet, and the addition of facemask.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/design/2012/10/leatherheadto-radio-head-the-evolution-of-the-football-helmet/

Helmets of Today
Football helmets today are much different than they were one hundred years ago. Today they are made of molded polycarbonate shells that are much stronger and lighter than leather helmets and previous helmets made from plastic (Hall). The inside of helmets have air liners and jaw pads that absorb the energy from blows to the head. The facemasks are made of steel wires and are coated with plastic. Todays helmets are much more advanced than previous helmets and provide better protection, but they still have flaws and are not completely effective in preventing concussions and brain damage.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/ nfl/2011-06-16-helmets_n.htm

http://www.digitaltrends.com/sports/technologysolving-the-nfls-concussion-problem-is-a-nobrainer-right-not-exactly/

Helmet Research and Testing

The video below gives insight to what researchers are now doing to improve the safety of helmets by changing their design and incorporating new technologies into the helmets of players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugwfuPXngQ#t=112

C.T.E
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E) is a progressive neurological disorder found in people who have suffered some kind of brain trauma. C.T.E is much like Alzheimers. It affects ones behavior and personality, causes irritability, and eventually dementia. But C.T.E isnt the result of an endogenous disease. Its the result of injury (Gladwell). This disease is the most common among football and is one of the main reasons the protective headgear that players wear is continuing to be improved and modified.

http://ripleeforensicpsych.umwblogs.org/2013/04/ 21/traumatic-brain-injuries-a-brief-examinationof-the-injury-violence-correlation/

Hits like these occur thousands of times every year. This shows how crucial it is that helmets are made as safe as possible.

http://www.totalprosports.com/2012/01/26/35-awesome-football-tackle-gifs/

http://17power.blogspot.com/2012/09/17-random-thoughtsseahawks-out-team.html

Shocking Truth
According to Scott Kacsmar, in 2012 NFL players suffered 1,496 severe injuries. That is the highest number of severe injuries since 2004. The number of injuries in professional football continue to rise for various reasons. Treatment for injury is becoming more extensive which causes injuries to now seem more severe. The NFL claims that the reason the number of severe injuries are rising is because injuries that were previously considered minor are now considered severe because of the longer time they take to treat. There is no data that supports this claim, so how can people believe that the game is truly being made safer by equipment and rule changes when statistics do not support this claim?

The Future of Football

Pop Warner, the most recognized youth football program, saw its participation levels drop 9.5 percent between 2010 and 2012. The number of youth participating in football is continuing to decrease due to the long term affects it has on players brains. The risk of head injury is causing parents to not allow their children to participate in the sport. This could greatly affect the future of the game. The only way participation will begin to increase again is if the game is made safer. Changing the rules of football takes away from the tradition of the sport which means the helmets that players wear must be improved to consistently protect them. Without these advancements in equipment participation will continue to plummet (OConnor).

Personal Opinion
Player safety in football is an issue that is becoming a large focus of players and spectators. The brutal and violent nature of the game is one of the reasons football is so appealing to people including myself. Gladwell talks about gameness in his essay which means players are willing to persevere through injury and pain for their team and fans. The entertainment people find in football only comes at the price of long term injury of players. If the helmets of players were consistently protective spectators and players could enjoy the game without the price of injury.

Works Cited
35 Awesome Football Tackle GIFs . Total Pro Sports, 2012. Film. 4 Dec 2013. A chronology of NFL helmets . N.d. Photograph. SmithsonianWeb. 3 Dec 2013.

Adams, Brandon, dir. 17 Power, 2012. Film. 4 Dec 2013.

Blakely, Louis F.. "History of the Football Helmet." Past Time Sports . N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. Chicago Business, dir. Safer football helmets: Inside the Riddell testing lab . YouTube, 2013. Film. 3 Dec 2013. Gladwell , Malcom. Offensive Play: How Different Are Dogfighting and Football. 2009. Word by Word. AASU ed. Ed. Nancy Remler. Boston,MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012. 147-161. Print. Hall, Susan. "How Football Helmet is Made." How Products are Made . N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. Kacsmar, Scott. "The NFLs Battle with Concussions and Severe Injuries." Football Outsiders . N.p., 16 Aug 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013. Kamenetzky, Brian. 3012. Photograph. Digital TrendsWeb. 3 Dec 2013. Mihoces, Gary. N.d. Photograph. USA TodayWeb. 3 Dec 2013. Miller, Scott. 2012. Photograph. New Web. 4 Dec 2013. O'Connor, Anahad. "Trying to Reduce Head Injuries, Youth Football Limits Practices." New York Times 13 June 2012, n. pag. Print.