The game of football is one of the most popular sports in America. Kids everywhere have dreams of playing in the NFL. That’s what makes the risk worth it for them. That risk is the dangerous injuries that come along with the game. None are more prevalent than concussions. Is enough being done to prevent them? 

Last year in the NFL, two of the scariest head trauma injuries occurred. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins and wide receiver Chris Olave left viewers at home stunned.  

Former players provide excellent examples of the long term effects of these injuries. Former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown is one of the most prevalent cases. After the hit that Vontez Burfect delivered on him, he started going downhill. The sequence of events that came after it: the frostbite, the sexual assault allegations, then eventually storming off the field during his time with the Buccaneers can all potentially be explained by his injuries. We slowly watched an NFL superstar self-destruct in front of our eyes. He was a top five receiver in the league and was on pace to be one of the best of all time, but no one would touch him.

More recently, Raiders Linebacker Chandler Jones has seemingly been going crazy on Instagram live. A lot of people believe Jones is experiencing effects of concussions and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). He has been seen burning random items at his home as well as saying questionable things to people like “take care of my dad” to a person who doesn’t know his father.

There are efforts being made to decrease the amount of injuries, but is it enough? Plenty of research is put into designing  helmets; rules are being implemented to enforce safer tackling; you can barely even touch the quarterback anymore. There are rules disallowing touching centers and long snappers before they look up after the snap. So what more can be done?

Unfortunately, the nature of the game is violent and physical. Quite honestly, the risk of injury is likely the reason your grandpa used to watch football, as well as part of the reason these athletes are paid so much. The game is moving more towards the air with a lot less running and definitely a lot less physical runners in today’s league. 

I feel that unless the NFL decides to become a flag football league, there are going to be concussions and injuries. There are already an insane amount of preventative measures taken to help, but on any given Sunday, probably six or seven concussions are reported league wide. It’s part of the risk, but for some, the reward is worth it.