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Transcript

Football Changes to Reduce Injuries

FINISH

Stephanie Arana

Ms. Kennedy

AP Language and Composition

3 June 2013

Conclusion

  • All in all, the overall game of football has brought many controversies since the creation of the sport.
  • Today’s issue is that the serious injuries the rough sport has caused needs to be decreased for the player’s safety.
  • Even though many oppose the changes done, studies show that in the future the precautions and rules will work effectively to drastically minimize injuries in the sport.
  • Football has come a long way and evolved over time and will continue to do so over time whether many oppose it or not.
  • There is only so much that facts and science can prove to ensure that the future of football players will be safer, but so far the sport is making grand improvements.

Works Cited

“Additional Rules Approved in High School Football Regarding Helmets Coming Off Players.”

NFHS.N.p., 2011. Web. 31 May 2013.

Bradley, Bill. “NFL owners approve crown-of-helmet rule, abolish Tuck Rule.” NFL Evolution –

Health & Safety. National Football League, 20 March 2013. Web. 31 May 2013.

“Concussion- Overview.” WebMD. Healthwise inc. 23 July 2010. Web. 29 May 2013.

Gilmore, Rod. “NCAA should limit contact in the spring.” ESPN.com. N.p., 30 April 2013.

Web. 16 May 2013.

Harris, Paul. “American Football faces high school safety crackdown.” Guardian.com. N.p., 30

October 2010. Web. 15 March 2013.

Ingles, Jo. Trotta, Daniel. “High school football saving brains as game goes on.”

Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 20 September 2012. Web. 31 May 2013.

Myerberg, Paul. “The 10 football rule chnges proposed by an NCAA committee.”

Usatoday.com. N.p., 14 February 2013. Web. 28 May 2013.

“New Rules for the 2012-2013 NFL season.” Wingwire.com. Wright Brothers Communication,

21 September 2012. Web. 31 May 2013.

O’Connor, Anahad. “Trying to Reduce Head Injuries, Youth Football Limits Practices.”

nytimes.com. New York Times Company, 13 June 2012. Web. 15 March 2013.

Park, Alice. “Study Details How Brain Injury from Concussions Progresses.” Time.com. Time

inc., 4 December 2012. Web. 25 February 2013.

“Preventing Football Injuries.” Stopsportsinjuries.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 March 2013.

Schilken, Chuck. “Matt Forte, Emmitt, other RBs oppose proposed rule change.” N.p., 18 March

2013. Web. 18 March 2012.

Smith, Michael David. “Hines Ward: ‘If you want to prevent concussions, take the helmet off.’”

NBC Sports. N.p., 4 December 2012. Web. 31 May 2013.

“Study: NFL rule change reduced concussions.” NFL Evolution. Washington Post, 10 August 2012. Web. 24 May 2013.

NFL

Practices

Rule Changes

  • The NFL offseason practices have set limits to reduce the amount of hits players receive in practice.
  • The league decided that the offseason contact was not good for the long term health of a player’s brain (Gilmore par.1).
  • The size and strength of the players nowadays have created more risks to receiving damaging hits to the body.
  • "Experts have estimated the force of some of their collisions at above 120-g-forces, which is comparable to a car crashing into a concrete wall at 40 miles per hour" (Gilmore par.2).
  • Setting the limit conserves the players with a healthy mentality, body, and energy .
  • The 2012-2013 season started off with making a change to the next season in not being able to crackback block at the head or neck. This means that a player cannot block the opponent from the head or neck, only hits in the chest or shoulders will be allowed (New Rules..par.3).
  • This change was made in the interest of the player's safety when they are in vulnerable positions.
  • A more recent change was made with the illegal move of tackling with the crown of a helmet outside the tackle box(Bradley par.7).
  • Since hitting head first has caused many players concussions, the intention was to reduce the number of concussions in a game.

Pop Warner

Practice Changes

  • Pop Warner has undergone changes to their plays due to research which shows that “players as young as 7 are exposed to collisions as severe as those at the college level.” (O’Connor par.3).
  • The rule changes included setting a limit on how many times the kids are allowed to use full-speed collisions during practice and not allowing contact for two-thirds of each practice (O’Connor par.4).
  • The organization is focusing on mending practices for the children’s safety because most of the hard hits come from the practices.
  • A study done to a team of second-graders demonstrate that during the course of 10 practices and 5 games the average player receives more than 100 hits to the head, some equivalent to hits in college football (O’Connor par.9).
  • Children are more prone to have consequences from constant brain trauma because their brains are still developing causing future or long term problems.
  • The alterations made have made an improvement to the number of injuries during a game.

PROS & CONS

Counterargument

  • In contrast, many former players disagree with the changes made in the NFL believing that some changes will cause more harm than prevent them.
  • The illegal move of tackling with the crown of the helmet has created a controversy for many coaches and players.
  • Many players offered their opinion about the situation; running back Matt Forte stated in a series of tweets. “In order to lower ur shoulder u obviously have to lower ur head. It’s a way of protecting ur self from a tackler and a way to break tackles. U can’t change the instinctive nature of running the football.”(Schilken par.5).
  • Others argue that the changes made to football will just lead on to change the game’s identity as a whole (Harris par.2).
  • The hits and injuries are all part of the game, realistically there is not much one can do before eliminating the sport.
  • Even though the changes made to the game were created for the player's safety many disagree that in the long run they wont change the number of injuries.

Pros in NFL

  • Forte’s statement about it being hard not to hit with the top of the helmet was refuted by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones when he said that this would not have affect the playing style of Forte. “He was never the type to use his head or neck He probably doesn’t understand that we aren't trying to do anything that would have changed the way he played.” (Shilken par.7).
  • Reducing contact will benefit the players in the long run and not alter the game completely, it will simply just become safer so that serious injuries are reduced.
  • According to a study done by Edgeworth Economics, the moving of the kickoffs up to the 35-yard line resulted in a decline in concussions reported across the NFL in the 2011 season. The number of concussions dropped 43% during the season, which meant the rule change did what it was meant to do (Study.. par.1).
  • Making alterations to different rules will set a path to an even more decrease in injuries overall.

Improvements

  • According to Dr. Julian Bailes the chairman of the Pop Warner medical advisory board and co-director of the NorthShore Neurologic Institute, 60-plus percent of the brain impacts or concussions can be eliminated right away due to the new changes made(O’Connor par.5).
  • At the high school level, progress has been noticed due to the rule changes made and the better equipment, making death become increasingly rare.
  • An annual study done by a University of North Carolina researcher supports it by stating that “Of 1.1 million high school football players, two died of brain injury in 2011, when a rate of 0.86 per 100,000 players suffered permanent brain damage” (Trotta, Ingles 1).
  • The new rules set in have definitely shown facts about injuries improving, meaning that as time passes the injuries will decreases significantly.

Introduction

Background

  • Over the years football has caused many injuries and in some serious cases death
  • The NFL, Pop Warner, NFHS, and NCAA have made rule changes to reduce injuries
  • Will those changes work effectively to reduce the amount of injuries ?
  • Studies based on past injury records show that these changes made will help reduce injuries in the future
  • Football is a contact sport that requires players to wear protective gear such as helmets and pads to protect them from hard blows
  • There are many rules set up for their safety
  • However, neither the rules or gear have managed to protect the players from serious injuries
  • The most common injuries are:
  • concussions, traumatic brain injuries caused by hard hits to the head or body that cause the brain to be shook(Concussion Overview..1)
  • Over time players can result in having problems such as memory loss and inability to concentrate (Park par.1).
  • Other common injuries occur in the knees, shoulders, back, and injuries caused by heat (Preventing..par.1).

Start

NFHS & NCAA

Rules Changes

Educating

  • The Board of Directors approved an addition to Rule 9-4-3 stating that it is considered an illegal personal contact foul for a player to begin contact with an opposing player that has his helmet completely off (Addition par.4).
  • Also Rule 9-6-4 discloses that a player who continues to play after his helmet has completely come off during a down is considered illegal participation (Addition par.5).
  • Both these additions to the rules were made with intention to be able to reduce serious head injuries during a game.
  • Many coaches, parents, as well as experts agree that close attention to protective gear on players will help protect them on the field.
  • Many coaches have taken the initiative to educate their players in being able to communicate when they are hurt either to the medical staff or the coaches.
  • According to an investigation the Los Angeles Times made in southern California high schools, there was a “worrying lack of adequate medical attention at many games,” (Harris par.5).
  • Since medical staff is very limited during high school games they require players to help out in alerting the medics.
  • Teaching the players on safety issues would educate them to be aware of what to do in certain situations.

NCAA

  • The NCAA permits 15 practices and 80% of those practices require live contact as well as more than 50% permitting tackling (Gilmore par.2).
  • This has been a concern to medical experts because each hit is much similar to being in a car crash which creates the risk of long-term brain damage (Gilmore par.3).
  • The suggestion that other things should be limited such as scrimmages, contact with inexperienced players, and using the pads to only one-third of practices would also benefit to the player's health in the long run.
  • The NCAA is currently working on making changes, following into the NFL's footsteps, which would mean that the injuries will reduce in the future if changes are made.
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