GAVIN MERCER

STAFF WRITER

   Concussions are an extremely terrifying and far to common injury in a majority of contact sports, and more specifically in football.

   Football is one of the commonly played sports in America, perhaps even the largest, and many athletes suffer from head trauma, mainly concussions.When some one suffers from a head injury, their mental and physical health are at a grave risk along with their career.

   A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury. It can occur after an impact to your head or after a whiplash type injury that causes your head and brain to shake quickly back and forth. Symptoms for concussions can occur within seven to twelve days and last for about 3 three months.

   Football is a very contact heavy sport. So, even with all the protective equipment that they use, concussions are still common. The NFL is trying their best to make these injuries less common, by using new helmets. 

  Unfortunately, concussions will most likely never go away. Many players have suffered from concussions; 20% of players get a concussion during the season. Players are spending too much time out of the game because of these injuries. 

  Also, former players are suffering from several different permanent problems caused by these injuries. Concussions cause a symptom called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. 

  Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma (often athletes), including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic ,sub-concussive hits to the head that do not cause symptoms. 

  American football player Mike Webster died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 50. The legendary Steeler’s center had a successful career.  But his post-NFL years were saturated with setbacks. He lost all his money, got divorced, forgot how to eat, and was sleeping in his car. 

His behavior became erratic and explosive. This behavior is all because of CTE. 

Concussions may seem like a small injury, but they have several long-term effects, causing major problems within teams and players lives. The NFL is doing everything possible to stop them from occurring.