There are many, many, football players who say they have experienced at least one concussion from playing football. But the problem is that they never tell the medical team that their head hurts, or they feel dizzy, they just continue playing. A survey said, “6 Of the 160 players interviewed, half said they've suffered at least one concussion”. They have many reasons why they don’t want to tell the medical staff, but it's still wrong. This is bad for the players health, as they may experience memory loss, or blurred vision. And “20% of NFL players admitted to hiding the effects of a concussion.”. And a survey even said that most of the players who have experienced a concussion, don’t admit it either. Unfortunately there isn’t a good solution for this yet, and football players continue hiding their concussions.
The football players don’t tell the doctors about their concussions for many reasons. All of the reasons include them risking their personal health, which is very bad. The NFL’s survey result said that some players don’t want to let down the team. For example, if you are the best player and the team depends on you to win, you wouldn’t want to let them down. Others just don’t want to appear weak, and if they get injured badly enough, they don’t want to lose their spot on the team. And some players are just willing to risk their health for a paycheck, because if you're a professional player, you can get paid. There are many other reasons for this and these are just some. Either way, these are still terrible reasons to be sacrificing their health.
But how were the concussions caused? Football includes a lot of crashing into each other and tackling. The article Most Common Football injuries by Katy Hebebrand, says the most common cause of injuries is tackling. The NFL’s most common side effect to concussions, is to be feeling dazed, or woozy, which is like dizziness. Another common side effect is dementia and Alzheimer's disease which are diseases related to memory loss. A common event of this is when players are talking “gibberish” to teammates. And football player, David Vobora said, "The only thing I remember is coming out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game, and then—a big gap. But I played the whole game, until the last series, when I started asking guys questions, and they looked at me like I was crazy.”. As you can see David’s memory loss is kind of severe, he couldn’t even remember what happened during the game. You can also feel a bit nauseous after being hit in the head, experiencing a concussion.
What is the best solution to concussions? The survey already includes many solutions to the problem that the coaches are already using. Such as changes to the equipment, and some small changes to the rules. The best solution they are using right now is seasonal checks. These solutions have reduced the chances of injuries and made sure that everyone who experienced a concussion would get the proper help. Changes to equipment were strongly needed as Katy Hebebrand also said that some of the equipment didn’t help, they only restricted their movements. Another change you can add is to not replace someone on the team when they are out sick, simply have a backup that can play sometimes. But if they are gone for too long they should definitely be replaced. And for the professional leagues, they can just give their injured players ¾ of their paycheck. Now players won’t be afraid of losing a spot or not receiving any money. If they added these rules, games will most likely go much more smoothly.
Football players will still probably be injured occasionally, but with these solutions it would reduce the chance. It would also make sure that people do talk to the medical staff and not stay quiet just because they don’t want to appear weak. Let down the team, lost a spot, or just for the money. Most injuries are related to being tackled so changing the rules a bit is a great idea. And making more effective equipment would help including seasonal check-ups. A solution to the player’s fears of losing their spot on the team, is to have a backup player to take their spot when they are on sick leave. Another solution to the other problem, fear of not receiving money is to give them ¾ of their paycheck instead of nothing. Now players won’t have to not worry about anything. And these solutions will 100% reduce the chances of getting a concussion and not getting it treated.
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