The Cons of Being a Football Player
In 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched show in U.S. history with a whopping 114.4 million viewers. Based on these data found in a press release made by NBC Sports Pressbox, there is no denying that American football is currently one of the biggest sports in the world and it shows no signs of slowing down. Many parents, huge football fans themselves, have taken to sending their sons to play football at the tender age of seven or younger, in hopes that their sons will become a professional football player in the near future. Being a football player would generate many incentives, such as having a well-toned physique; garnering good team playing skills; learning to be efficient; putting together a …show more content…
It requires players to be pushed around by other players and occasionally be thrown off their feet, in order to defend their team. While many may argue that being a football player almost always guarantees a fit and healthy lifestyle, this may not always be true. As Chishty shared, being a football player caused him to always feel sore and stiff all over even on his rest day, and that is not what I would deem living a “fit and healthy lifestyle”. In fact, an average kid who exercises regularly could be living a fitter and healthier lifestyle when compared to these injury prone football players. For example, Pam Webster, ex-wife of Steelers legend Mike Webster, mentioned in an interview with Frontline that the former pro football player - who was renowned for his workouts - had suffered “broken bones in his feet” and “his fingers were all broken” too which resulted to him being physically tortured. To further prove the harmful effects of playing football can occur to anyone, here is an incident found in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons website: “A high school senior was injured in a game on Sept. 7, 2012. Two tacklers hit him as he attempted to make a block – one from the front and one from behind. He was unconscious and had two fractured cervical vertebrae. He had initial paralysis but is recovering from the injury, but will not be able to play football again”. Football players not only …show more content…
In the book Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond, he mentions that “a growing body of medical research has confirmed that football can cause traumatic injury to the brain” (38). While some may argue that the concussions that occur do not cause much harm and are treated by a physician before a player is allowed back on the field, I would beg to differ. A couple of concussions a year accumulated over a span of five to ten years have been the recipe for possible brain damage. This is proven true by the growing list of retired stars that have come out and are reporting that they could possibly be suffering from a form of dementia called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE does not only occur to the aged players, as told by Almond, “Doctor Ann McKee showed me her two large color prints that hung in the hallway outside her office. One showed the brain of an eighteen-year-old football player with the brown spotting that signifies the onset of CTE” (56). Many former football players also reported to be suffering from depression, disorientation, loss of cognitive function, and suicidal ideation. That being said, it shows that being a football player could result to a lot of emotional anguish and will effectively disrupt a person’s potential
In 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched show in U.S. history with a whopping 114.4 million viewers. Based on these data found in a press release made by NBC Sports Pressbox, there is no denying that American football is currently one of the biggest sports in the world and it shows no signs of slowing down. Many parents, huge football fans themselves, have taken to sending their sons to play football at the tender age of seven or younger, in hopes that their sons will become a professional football player in the near future. Being a football player would generate many incentives, such as having a well-toned physique; garnering good team playing skills; learning to be efficient; putting together a …show more content…
It requires players to be pushed around by other players and occasionally be thrown off their feet, in order to defend their team. While many may argue that being a football player almost always guarantees a fit and healthy lifestyle, this may not always be true. As Chishty shared, being a football player caused him to always feel sore and stiff all over even on his rest day, and that is not what I would deem living a “fit and healthy lifestyle”. In fact, an average kid who exercises regularly could be living a fitter and healthier lifestyle when compared to these injury prone football players. For example, Pam Webster, ex-wife of Steelers legend Mike Webster, mentioned in an interview with Frontline that the former pro football player - who was renowned for his workouts - had suffered “broken bones in his feet” and “his fingers were all broken” too which resulted to him being physically tortured. To further prove the harmful effects of playing football can occur to anyone, here is an incident found in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons website: “A high school senior was injured in a game on Sept. 7, 2012. Two tacklers hit him as he attempted to make a block – one from the front and one from behind. He was unconscious and had two fractured cervical vertebrae. He had initial paralysis but is recovering from the injury, but will not be able to play football again”. Football players not only …show more content…
In the book Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond, he mentions that “a growing body of medical research has confirmed that football can cause traumatic injury to the brain” (38). While some may argue that the concussions that occur do not cause much harm and are treated by a physician before a player is allowed back on the field, I would beg to differ. A couple of concussions a year accumulated over a span of five to ten years have been the recipe for possible brain damage. This is proven true by the growing list of retired stars that have come out and are reporting that they could possibly be suffering from a form of dementia called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE does not only occur to the aged players, as told by Almond, “Doctor Ann McKee showed me her two large color prints that hung in the hallway outside her office. One showed the brain of an eighteen-year-old football player with the brown spotting that signifies the onset of CTE” (56). Many former football players also reported to be suffering from depression, disorientation, loss of cognitive function, and suicidal ideation. That being said, it shows that being a football player could result to a lot of emotional anguish and will effectively disrupt a person’s potential