Football helmets are critical in the sport because they help in preventing players from getting injury on their heads. Prior to the invention of helmets, many players incurred serious injuries that included broken nose, jaws and fractures on the skull. Football has especially been notorious for causing traumatic brain injury. According to Sifferlin (2017) and Football helmet (2019) , NFL players are affected by the repetitive head trauma that results in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Due to the need to protect the players from such head injuries, the football helmets have been transforming frequently to include more safety features. Therefore, the current NFL football helmets are more secure compared to the 1950s football helmets due to increased research and development that have informed the inclusion of more safety features.
The safety and health of football players is important both during their playing and after playing days. While the current football helmets ensure that players do not get serious injuries during their playing days, they still suffer from head traumas since football is a contact game. The effects of repetitive head knocks appear after the players are done with their playing careers (Werts, 2012). The effect is manifested in the form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Various researches have linked the problem with the repetitive head knocks due to the prevalence of the disease amongst most football players (Sifferline, 2017). Some current players and most past players indicate cognitive symptoms that include problems with executive function, memory, and attention.
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To help protect the players from a lifetime penalty of having to endure the symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, I suggest that National Football Association makes it mandatory for all active football players to undergo scanning for the disorder twice in a season. The periodic scanning will ensure that the disorder is identified during its early stages and treated before it becomes worse (Drysdale, 2013). Funding for modern scanning machines will be provided by each team that is in the national league. Football teams continuously invest in health equipment to assist in the identification and management of injuries. Therefore, they would also be able to purchase the scanning machines to ensure that their players are protected from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
References
Drysdale, T. A. (2013). Helmet-to-helmet contact: Avoiding a lifetime penalty by creating a duty to scan active NFL players for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Journal of Legal Medicine , 34 (4), 425-452.
Football helmet. (2019). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_helmet
Sifferline, A. (2017, July 25). Degenerative Brain Disease Found in 87 % of Former Football Players: Study. Time. Retrieved from https://time.com/4871597/degenerative/
Werts, J. (2012). Ringing the Bell on Concussions: The Rise of Head Injuries and Cognitive Decline in Football Players, and the NFL's Obligation to Improve Safety Measures. Cardozo Pub. L. Pol'y & Ethics J. , 11 , 173.
