Concussion Protectors or Concussion Phobics?

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Austin Cope | Sports Writer | @autipopecope5

Are concussions really as prevalent as people are making them seem or are they making a bigger deal out of them than needs be? Football has been constantly changing and evolving ever since the game was created. With the constantly evolving game of football come the constantly evolving rules of the sport. 

The NFL had former players who were going to sue the league for suffering concussions they sustained during their playing careers. Many players claimed that the league withheld information from them about how serious concussions were.

The NFL ended up making some serious rule changes to the game regarding concussions, which prevented people from returning to games, or practices in which they received a concussion.

The NCAA has also opted in on these procedures by making rule changes as well. If a player’s helmet comes off during a play they, they must exit the field of play and sit the next play out. You can also get kicked out of a game for “targeting” another player by intentionally going for a head shot.

Are all of these rules really for the good of the sport or are they killing the nature of football? I think that they are doing the right thing by teaching players what concussions are and educating officials to help prevent them from happening.

When I was playing football in sixth grade I got tackled by a kid and my helmet came off.  When I was hit, my head smacked against the ground. I had a concussion and if I didn’t know what had happened I could have continued playing and risked brain injury.

However, I feel that people are taking this concussion phobia a little too far. If it continues to stir controversy people might end up ruining the game of football. Football is a violent contact sport and injuries can and will occur.

I don’t know why football is the only sport to get this much attention about concussions. Rugby is an even more violent sport and we never hear talk about concussions caused by that sport. Hockey is another sport which is extremely violent and yet we never hear about rule changes in that sport. So while it is nice that they want to protect the players I feel that they should still let the players play the game.