Oct 18, 2008; State College, PA, USA; A general view of Beaver Stadium during the third quarter between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Michigan Wolverines. Penn State won 46-17. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
“WE ARE ! PENN STATE!”, roars over the crowd and the band blares its musical cheer while we all sit and indulge in the Penn State past time of football. Although, does anyone ever stop and wonder what’s going on through those football player’s heads-literally? I did, and it brought me to the conclusion that football can lead to lethal brain damage.
Football is constant collision. No matter how many pads, helmets, or protectors you wear, you will more than likely have a brain injury over the course of your qtime playing the sport. This could be something as subtle as a concussion; but if you have enough concussions and it could lead to “mild cognitive impairment or even Alzheimer’s”, says doctor’s from the “Neurosurgery”” article, “Association between Recurrent Concussion and Late-Life Cognitive Impairment in Retired Professional Football Players”. A long list of doctors, including Kevin Guskiewicz, Stephen Marshall, Julian Bailes, and more, tested 2,552 retired professional football players with the average age 53.8. The studies shown that “Retired players with 3 or more concussions had a fivefold prevalence of MCI(mild cognitive impairment) diagnosis and a threefold prevalence of reported significant memory problems…”. While there was no specific correlation to Alzheimer’s disease, the data shown that dementia-related syndromes were associated with repetitive concussions in professional football players.
Reading this, one may think that the dementia-related diseases have a lot to do with the age of the subjects, which could be a third factor, but that doesn’t explain why 24-year old Chris Borland chose to retire quite early. In Rachael Rettner’s article, “Chris Borland Leaves the NFL: the Science of Football and Brain Injury”, she writes of Chris Borland’s decision to leave the NFL due to the link between football and degenerative brain disease. Borland was afraid of losing his life to a brain disease caused by playing football. One of the lethal diseases is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). “This disease has been linked to the deaths of Tom McHale who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Dave Duerson, who played for the Chicago Bears”, says Rettner. CTE is caused by repeated blows to the head and is common in football players, boxers, and hockey players. This is one of the many brain injuries that Borland is trying to avoid by throwing in the towel at only 24 years old.
With that being said, playing football and receiving constant concussions over time directly link to degenerative brain diseases. When a person dedicates their life to a sport that could potentially kill them we must understand what that person is risking for not only themselves but the entertainment of fans, love for the sport, and lets say the unity of a university ,like Penn State perhaps. So in the future, think twice before you call a football player a “dumb jock”, because you never know what’s actually going on in their head.
A lot of people argue that someday in our lifetimes, the NFL will no longer exist because of the concussion problem. It doesn’t seem like anything they have tried to do has worked. It is interesting that there are more concussions in a sport like football compared to hockey, where you are moving a lot faster when you collide with another player.
I can relate to this topic because I have had a concussion before. I can say that I am lucky to have only had one because that is not the case for others. My best friend from High school was the quarterback on our team and by the time senior year rolled around he had to quit. He suffered 4 concussions. His doctor immediately made him stop all contact sports and I can’t tell you how much that mentally and physically hurt him. He knew it was for the better because 4 concussions is absolutely horrible, but he had a true passion for the game of football. I loved the incorporation of the Chris Borland article because I thought it was not ordinary for him to quit at such a long age at the time he quit. But the side effects of concussions can be life threatening so I’m glad a professional athlete had the guts to pack it up and quit. It was a role-model move of him to do that, and show the youth that when it comes down to it, your health is the most important factor in your life.