Injuries in sports are unavoidable, people risking their health for a sport they love. However, organizations put many rules in place to protect the health of the players. One of the most dangerous injuries are concussions.

Athletic organizations like the NFL, which is where most of the head injuries accrue, set up strict rules to do their best to limit the injuries. Yet the NFL still doesn’t have a good enough policy to prevent them. Many put blame on the helmets being the biggest issue, due to helmet to helmet contact, but these tackles and hits can be avoided without taking away an aspect of football that is equally as iconic as the ball. Others put blame on style of play defenders have when playing and bringing down offensive players, but the NFL already limits the defenders so much and make it more and more impossible to be a defender in today’s league. So if it isn’t the game itself, or helmets, than it is just how the NFL chooses to handle the policy for concussions.

Up until 2009 the NFL had no policy in place for protocols of a concussion after they are initially tested. That means that if a player indeed had a concussion, the NFL had no policy for them to be held to the sideline. If they were well enough to walk and play they would go back in the game. That is someone who is risking brain damage to play football and nobody stopping. Obviously this was an issue the NFL fixed, but it is appalling that it took so long for it to be fixed.

Upgrades have been made to the policy since 2009, now players are always evaluated and monitored in order to keep the players safe. While there is improvement in certain areas, there are still big issues. With 12 players that are unable to play the reminding of the season from head, neck, and concussion injuries, it is clear that players are still suffering from the lack of policy.  

Helmets have been apart of the NFL since its beginning. When they were first introduced they were just cheap leather hats that did their job. They have grown in size, stature, and in appel. At this point, it is one of the most iconic parts of football, who doesn’t love staring at helmets when you are sitting at the game and watching the players run out of the tunnel, and you see all of them run by. Looking at the helmets is like seeing the identity of the players, not just who they play for, but the pride that they take in being the embodiment of the logo they dawn. This is something that players and fans don’t want taken away.

Another area of controversy is how the defense plays. Nowadays a defender can’t look at a offensive player the wrong way without being flagged for something. In an effort to protect its players, the NFL has added rules to keep the defense in check. However, this makes it almost impossible for them to play at the level they want to or that they could before these rule changes. While certain rules have been good ideas, like the unsportsmanlike conduct rule which states that if any player demonstrated unsportsmanlike conduct, such as tackling someone harshly, intent of conflicting pain, starting fights, or offensive gestures, they are removed from the game.

Why is it that people can’t realize that in any touch sport there will be injuries? While the NFL is aware of this they try to steer the blame on aspects of football that they have incorporated. Don’t blame the helmet for trying to give protection. If you are worried about helmet to helmet contact, then there shouldn’t have been helmets, at least that’s what they want you to think. Even if helmets are removed, there is still going to be chances of concussion, or now someone is exposed head to take damage. There are penalties and fines against players who are caught tackling helmet to helmet but, while it could be very costly, that is like a slap on the wrist, while the player is suffering.

Don’t blame the defender for doing his job and doing what the position has been established to do for decades. Players are expected and paid to dish out and take hits, so this isn’t something that should shock anyone. Unless the defender has done something deemed an illegal hit, or has broken the rules and it has been reviewed, then the defenders shouldn’t get their jobs diminished for the idea of the game being ‘unsafe’. If Roger Goodell feels that the NFL is still too unsafe to play, then that is an issue that will come back to him. That is something he and the owners need to solve.

So if you can’t blame the players, can’t blame the helmets, and you can’t blame the rules, well who or what can you put blame on? The answer to that honestly is football. Football is a dangerous pass time, but it is a respected sport that many in America love, it is an American tradition. Officials can do their best to try to make the game as safe as possible but they won’t be able to do that if they are still too busy trying to find what is to blame and not educating the players, people, and coaches of these dilemmas and how they can do their best to avoid them. That is all anyone can really do.

The NFL needs to set a better example for these types of protocols because of how relevant they are. They need to stop beating around the bush and come up with better ways to educate and communicate the importances of safety to the teams, and make sure players are abiding by the rules as closely as they can so they don’t get injured. This is what they need to do a better job at regulating. Especially since other organizations look up to the NFL, like the NCAA, and closer to COD, the NJCAA. That dawns even more questions, if the professional league can’t get the policies right, then how could the N/JCAA?

“The most important thing is we educated players and coaches on how to avoid concussions, make practices safer, and make sure people they understand protocol.” COD trainer Anne Hinley says about the most important way to avoid these injuries. Just like in the pro world, here at COD there is an extensive process for concussions. The trainers here make sure that the players are thoroughly evaluated, from memory, to what their symptoms could be, making sure that everyone understands that it doesn’t matter how highly ranked symptoms might be, a concussion is a concussion end of story. This is the type of mentality that I think even the pro world can learn from.

Sports are a give and take, no matter what you play, there will always be a risk of health. Players commit to the game and should be aware of these dangers. Everyone needs to stop trying to put blame on reasons why they happen, and focus on how we can TRY to prevent them and the best way they can do that. We will never see a world where injuries in sports aren’t a risk, but hopefully we will see the world evolve and have better policies in place to keep them as safe as possible.in sports are unavoidable, people risking their health for a sport they love. However, organizations put many rules in place to protect the health of the players. One of the most dangerous injuries are concussions. That is the number one injury that is attempted to prevent, but like I said earlier, they can’t be.