Concussions

Every day, patients are being taken to a hospital after taking a hit to the head. The same question is always asked right away by someone or another: “Is it a concussion?” A concussion can happen at any time, especially in sports. According to the Brain Association of New Jersey, over 300,000 sports and recreation related brain injuries occur in the United States alone. Professional sports need to crack down on the penalties for delivering a hit to the head of an opposing player. I think a suspension of one game should be given to the player initiating the helmet to helmet hit. A second offense should be at least four games. The National Football League is not doing enough. A fine does not teach the players a lesson because the players have plenty of money to pay it off. Along with a fifteen yard penalty, the player should be ejected for the rest of the game. If the NFL has any concern over the safety of their players, then they will act accordingly with suspensions. Concussions need to be taken seriously because of the effects of them. The NFL has already seen multiple concussions and they are only in week five of the regular season. To name a few players to have had concussions this season: quarterback Kevin Kolb and linebacker Stewart Bradley of the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Moore and Giants tight end Kevin Boss just in week one alone. The number of quarterbacks suffering concussions is growing every week with the Chicago Bears, Jay Cutler, and the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, both recently suffering concussions. The recovery time needed is forcing players to miss at least one week if not more, and today’s studies are finding out that players are missing more weeks than from past years.
The NFL has a series of guidelines or tests that a player needs to pass before they are considered cleared to play again. Part of the test includes a computer test in which players are shown several series of shapes and then are later asked to identify which shapes belonged to which series,
as well as another neurological exam administered by an independent doctor before being allowed to practice.
These tests are very necessary because past NFL players who have played with a concussion have admitted to having post concussion syndrome years after they have retired. Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS) is a combination of post concussion symptoms that last for weeks and months after the injury that caused the concussion. Former San Francisco 49ers lineman George Visger’s life has been compared to that of Drew Barrymore’s role in “50 First Dates”. He says that if his day is not written out, then he does not know what he is supposed to do for that day.