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Jeremiah Bellissimo
Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1103
November 12, 2015

How are Concussions Impacting the Future of the NFL?

From players suffering premature deaths to many promising young athletes being
forced to retire early. Concussions are impacting how the NFL runs today. A concussion
is a temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head. It is a trending issue in the
nation football league. There has been rules implement because of the issue, players
retiring early, and even deaths because of the issue. With more and more people being
made aware of the issue, how is this going to affect the most popular sport in the U.S?
A concussion is caused by a blow to your head or a blow to your body causing
your head to hit something. They are a brain injury and the severity of them can span
from mild to very severe. Symptoms are headaches, vomiting, and fuzzy vision, along
with a long list of other symptoms. Even the slightest concussions can affect the way the
brain works. The NFL has adopted many new rules to limit the amount of helmet-tohelmet hits during plays. Players are penalized if they hit players who are defenseless
and if they hit them in head while tackling them. These efforts to limit the amount of
concussions are controversial though. Lots of times they can really help the offense, in an
already offensive favored league. Moreover, since it is a judgment call on the side of the
referee, many times it is a controversial call. Big hits are a big part of football games and
can really change the momentum and outcome, so whenever a play like that happens and

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the defense is penalized because of it, it can becomes a very influential play in the game.
The way the game is being played and how the players are allowed to play it, is affecting
the NFL. With the way that the rules are changing, it is also transforming the game of
football that so many people all love.
Chris Borland had a great rookie year after replacing an injured all pro Patrick
Willis; if he continued to play he would make millions. Chris Borland didnt chase the
money. He retired at the young at of 24 years old. I just honestly want to do whats best
for my health, Borland told Outside the Lines. From what Ive researched and what
Ive Experienced, I dont think its worth the risk.
Borland isnt the only player retiring early on San Francisco; Anthony Davis was also
another promising young player who did the same. After a few years of thought, Ive
decided it will be best for me to take a year or so away from the NFL. This will be a time
for me to allow my Brain and Body a chance to heal. I know many wont understand my
decision, thats ok.
It may seem like with players becoming more conscious of their health and the long-term
health risk of staying in the NFL more and more players will retire early, but there is a
whole other side of this that will keep the future of the NFL unaffected. John Urschel is a
lineman for the Baltimore Ravens. Two days after Chris Borland retired, Urschel said he
simply loved the game too much to worry about whether it would hinder his ability to do
math in the future.
Urschel had previously just published a scholarly paper in a mathematics journal the
previous week. John Thornton, who is a former ten year NFL player for the Titans and
Bengals, thinks that most of the NFL players will keep playing in spite of the risk of brain

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damage, because of their love of the game and the financial freedom it can bring. Middle
Linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks, Bobby Wagner, supports the theory of John
Thorton. He sent out a tweet saying the following, No offense to anyone but Im playing
this game till I cant anymore. I love this game too much. These opposing opinions to
the ones thinking that the NFL is too violent really give support to the future of the NFL.
John Hopkins University did a study on the brains of former NFL players. They
took a look at their brains and observed them. The way they look at the brains is by PET
scans and by MRIs. The professors want to do this study to learn more about long-term
effects of brain injuries and to look at ways to protect players. The players who are being
looked at played different positions so it gives an accurate look at football in general. One
interesting thing they found is with translocator protein. It shows the degree of damage
and repair in the brain. Healthy individuals have low amounts of this protein spread
across the brain, while those with brain injuries tend to have concentrated zones with
high levels of this protein wherever an injury has happened. The PET scans showed
damage in many of the former players medial lobe regions, a region that is important in
regulating mood. Damage also occurred in the verbal memory region of the brain.
Researchers are now looking at the transolcator proteins in active players to determine if
the change happens rapidly or not. Depending on how rapid the changes are, it could lead
to changes in the way players are treated post-concussion or even how sports are played.
The relationship between the NFL and Concussions has been a short one. It only
really started, in 1994, when the NFL created the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Committee. Which seems like would be a positive thing because it seems to be
addressing the issue. The problem is Dr. Elliot Pellman was named chairman despite not

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having experience with brain injuries. Another character came along who was on to
something early. In 2002, Dr. Bennet Omalu, who is the co-founder of the Brain Injury
Research Institute, discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the brain of former
Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. He was 50 years old when he committed
suicide. In 2005, the NFLs Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee makes an incorrect
discovery. They determined that returning to play after getting a concussion does not
involve significant risk of a second injury either in the same game or during the season.
Still in the same year, Omalu identifies CTE in the brain of Steelers player Terry Long.
Moreover the same thing was discovered in Andre Waters brains in 2006. They were 45
and 46 years old when they committed suicide. After Dr. Elliot Pellman stepped down in
February of 2007, the NFL came out with new concussion guidelines, which include a
telephone hotline to report when a player is being forced to re-enter the game contrary to
medical advice. This does not solve the problem, but is moving in the right direction. The
second mistake made was by Dr. Ira Casson, occurring in 2010. She was a co-chair on the
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. She came out and denied a link between repeat
head impacts and long-term brain damage. On October 20th, 2010, Now NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell tells all teams that there could be suspensions for players
who violate the playing rules that unreasonably put the safety of another player in
jeopardy have no place in the game, and that is especially true in the case of hits to the
head and neck." Once again, this is a step in the right direction.
June 7th, 2012, a lawsuit that contains more than 80 concussion-related lawsuits on
behalf of more than two thousand NFL players is filed in a federal court in Philadelphia.
They are suing them for negligence and failing to notify players of the link between

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concussions and brain injuries. The NFL of course tries to fight it. At the end of August
the NFL filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuits filed. It was unsuccessful, On August 29th,
2013, the NFL and former players agree to a deal in a class action lawsuit that calls for
the NFL to pay $765 million to fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation,
medical research for retired NFL players and their families, and litigation expenses.
After one judge disapproves of the settlement saying the NFL owes more money, the
district court in Pennsylvania grants preliminary approval to the settlement. On April 22,
2015, a federal judge gave the final approval of the lawsuit. Each player receiving up $5
million.
Due to rule changes, more scientific discoveries, and new protection technology,
the number of NFL concussions per year is dropping. In 2012, 261 diagnosed
concussions, in 2014 only 202. With that large amount of money being given out to
former NFL players, the NFL is going to do all they can to limit the number of
concussions occurring. This includes, continued research in fields of prevention. The
numbers shown are very positive numbers. Showing that this league is going in the right
direction and is sustaining what it is today. In the end, a lot of it comes down to money.
Yes, the league may lose some players do to safety issues, but players play for the love of
the game and the money. The NFL does not want to dish out hundreds of millions of
dollars in compensation, so it will spend millions protecting its players and sustaining
itself as one of the most powerful associations in the world.

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Work Citied
Fainaru-Wada, Mark. "SF's Borland Quits over Safety Issues." ESPN. ESPN Internet
Ventures. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Hedin, Marin. "Johns Hopkins Study of Retired NFL Players Sheds Light on Concussionrelated Brain Damage." The Hub. 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
"NFL Concussions Fast Facts - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 12 Nov.
2015.
Nordum, Amy. "Chris Borland Retirement: Is Football Worth It?" International Business
Times. 22 Mar. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Sports Concussion." Sports Concussion. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

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