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Football Related Concussions

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How Bad Are Football Related Concussions? Do you keep yourself up to date with the news, ESPN, or the National Football League? If so, then you have probably heard of the many problems of the long-term effects of football-related concussions. Even kids in high school who have suffered multiple concussions are immediately put at risk for death related cause of such a severe head injury. As committees create and change the rules to protect players from such a traumatic brain injury, it is up to coaches and officials to enforce these rules to protect players. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff, a concussion is defined as a traumatic brain injury that alters the way your brain functions. There are many different ways to receive a concussion, but …show more content…

Concussions while playing football are becoming more common as the ages progress. Coaches teach their players proper form tackling and not to drop your head while hitting a defender. However, many players use the top of their heads in a spear like form to tackle their opponent, causing a large blow directly to the tacklers head. Helmets cannot protect against all of the impact force from the blow, although it takes away most. The remaining force of the blow is concentrated right toward the individual’s head, which can cause a slight concussion. But as the game goes on, the individual continues to drop their head and take repetitive blows, leaving the player concussed. Sometimes it only takes one hit to become concussed depending on the impact of the …show more content…

He was a star linebacker who played football at Indianola High School here in Iowa. He suffered many concussions while playing. He had written a journal of how he had been living a lie for the past six years of his life, all because he used his head as a weapon on the field. He remembered getting headaches during practice but had gained the reputation from his classmates and coaches for being a tough-nosed kid and a hard hitter. So he took the reputation with pride and kept the headaches he suffered from practices and games to himself. He suffered three concussions his senior year of football. He had post-concussion problems six years from his last diagnosed concussion so he decided to write a journal to get things off his chest. He wrote about how he still suffered from depression, anxiety, and headaches. He kept all of this to himself because he was embarrassed that he couldn’t function on his own. Eventually, he figured it out on his own that he had CTE which stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, meaning there is a certain protein that sits at the top of your brain and starts to deteriorate your brain cells, and many things become impaired such as sight, hearing, and speech. The doctor had said he was having symptoms of CTE, but couldn’t be sure because you can’t diagnose it until after death. After having dealt with these problems, Zac had taken his own life at the age of 26. He shot himself in the heart, making sure not to

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