Football is one of America’s favorite sports, with 114.4 million views for the Super Bowl alone. However, recent studies have begun to prove that the popular sport is deadly. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease which affects the brains of people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries 1, and it is the reason why football needs to become a sport of the past.
The main reason that the sport of football needs to be banned is the tragedy of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy was first discovered in 2002, when Dr. Bennet Omalu performed the autopsy on Mike Webster 1, and since then, the knowledge that Chronic traumatic encephalopathy exists has not …show more content…
One of these arguments is that football players can merely wear better helmets. However, better helmets will not protect the brain the way that people think they would. One of the best responses to the helmet argument is, “Imagine your brain like an egg; the shell is the helmet; the yolk is your brain. Just because you have a thicker shell, like an egg carton, doesn 't protect the yolk from moving back and forth whenever the egg is shaken or moved.” 3 This image makes it so clear that the padding around the head is not the answer, but rather the head needs to not be hit in the first place. Another argument is that the NFL will just change the rules. A spokesman for the NFL said, “We are dedicated to making football safer and continue to take steps to protect players, including rule changes, advanced sideline technology, and expanded medical resources.”5 The main problem is that these rule changes listed above do nothing about the real issue, which is head injuries. Just having an extra doctor on the field does not prevent the thing that causes the need for the doctor, which are the constant head-on collisions which are the norm in football. Finally, the last and most horrific argument is that chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a made-up disease. Dr. McKee who runs the lab at VA Boston Healthcare System stated that, “People think that we’re blowing this out of proportion, that this is a …show more content…
It is estimated that 64% of Americans watch football. In small towns, football can even be king, as Friday Night Lights is not a made up, unreal TV show, but a portrayal of events that actually do happen in small town Texas. Our movies are saturated with football that glorifies the game, such as “We are Marshall,” “The Blind Side,” “Remember the Titans” and “Rudy.” Even our ‘normal’ movies too often end with the star quarterback winning over the head cheerleader, not to mention the many movies that are solely about football. However, despite the popularity of football, the discovery of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy demands that there be changes made to the game. The resulting suicides are tragic and unnecessary. The cost of the game is too high: Men’s lives are not worth three hours of athletic entertainment per week. Currently, we look back on ancient civilizations, such as Rome, and call their practices, such as the gladiator games, barbaric because the result of this practice was death. However, football has the same, although not immediate result. It is my hope and belief that soon we will look back with the same disgust of football as we do on the gladiator games. I will concede, that adults can make their own decisions, as with any other thing in life, if an adult wants to ruin their life with drugs or alcohol, they have the right to do that, and football is the same way. If an adult wants to ruin their body, of their
The main reason that the sport of football needs to be banned is the tragedy of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy was first discovered in 2002, when Dr. Bennet Omalu performed the autopsy on Mike Webster 1, and since then, the knowledge that Chronic traumatic encephalopathy exists has not …show more content…
One of these arguments is that football players can merely wear better helmets. However, better helmets will not protect the brain the way that people think they would. One of the best responses to the helmet argument is, “Imagine your brain like an egg; the shell is the helmet; the yolk is your brain. Just because you have a thicker shell, like an egg carton, doesn 't protect the yolk from moving back and forth whenever the egg is shaken or moved.” 3 This image makes it so clear that the padding around the head is not the answer, but rather the head needs to not be hit in the first place. Another argument is that the NFL will just change the rules. A spokesman for the NFL said, “We are dedicated to making football safer and continue to take steps to protect players, including rule changes, advanced sideline technology, and expanded medical resources.”5 The main problem is that these rule changes listed above do nothing about the real issue, which is head injuries. Just having an extra doctor on the field does not prevent the thing that causes the need for the doctor, which are the constant head-on collisions which are the norm in football. Finally, the last and most horrific argument is that chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a made-up disease. Dr. McKee who runs the lab at VA Boston Healthcare System stated that, “People think that we’re blowing this out of proportion, that this is a …show more content…
It is estimated that 64% of Americans watch football. In small towns, football can even be king, as Friday Night Lights is not a made up, unreal TV show, but a portrayal of events that actually do happen in small town Texas. Our movies are saturated with football that glorifies the game, such as “We are Marshall,” “The Blind Side,” “Remember the Titans” and “Rudy.” Even our ‘normal’ movies too often end with the star quarterback winning over the head cheerleader, not to mention the many movies that are solely about football. However, despite the popularity of football, the discovery of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy demands that there be changes made to the game. The resulting suicides are tragic and unnecessary. The cost of the game is too high: Men’s lives are not worth three hours of athletic entertainment per week. Currently, we look back on ancient civilizations, such as Rome, and call their practices, such as the gladiator games, barbaric because the result of this practice was death. However, football has the same, although not immediate result. It is my hope and belief that soon we will look back with the same disgust of football as we do on the gladiator games. I will concede, that adults can make their own decisions, as with any other thing in life, if an adult wants to ruin their life with drugs or alcohol, they have the right to do that, and football is the same way. If an adult wants to ruin their body, of their