Injuries, especially to the head are a touchy subject in football. Concussions are a serious issue, not only in all types of athletics, but all levels of football ranging from high school to the NFL. Although certain rules have been passed such as the madden rule which is taking any player out of the game that shows any symptoms of a concussion. But, players still seem to still get them, what is the sport doing wrong?
In high school football, head trauma is a serious matter. On average, roughly 3 players die each year due to injuries sustained on the field. There has been 3 football related deaths in the past four weeks, whether it was a cardiovascular problem or a simple hit to the head.
The fact is that athletes are not safe, player safety should be the number one priority when athletes take the field.
All of the deaths have been at the high school level. For the most part, the NCAA and the NFL have been good when it comes to head trauma or to any injury, but why at the high school level? Although the NFL and NCAA have had fairly clean records with injuries, they have dropped the ball with head injuries before.
Former NFL player and Hall of Famer Junior Seau passed 3 years ago, his brain was studied in a medical research program only to find that he had sustained multiple concussions on field that were never reported. Thus, increasing the speculation that the NFL had ignored concussions at one time.
Some athletes have continued in games after bad hits to the head, something that could prove fatal one day and hurt them long term. Who is to blame for this? One could argue the coaches want star players to play no matter the circumstance, but another could argue that the players pride takes the best of them. The fact is, football is fatal.
