Being able to listen to both sides of this argument and consider the facts supporting both sides helped me understand the reasons in which people continue to support the game along with the reason people disagree with the NFL and the game as a whole. I think that the debate was able to make my thoughts and opinions on football much more clear.
My Stance on Football :Before doing research and participating in the debate, my stance was that football was not too dangerous. The game was based around rules that encouraged players to be aggressive. Players could choose to hit as hard or tackle, and it was really up to them. I knew that players were hit constantly, yet I was unaware of the danger caused by these constant blows. I has thought that the helmets and padding the players wore was able to soften the blows much more than it actually can. I was not super interested in the topic because I didn't really care about football, but now I know that the problem is extremely large and can affect anyone in any sport.
After doing research and participating in the debate, my stance is that football is in fact too dangerous. My new knowledge of CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, (commonly found in football) has helped me make a clear decision about my opinion on the game. The risk of having a disease such as CTE is far too much. Players suffer from concussions and those concussions can eventually lead to more advanced brain trauma. The NFL tried to conceal the obvious issues with CTE in fear that the players knowledge of the disease would cause them to go against the sport. In my opinion, this is only one sign that the risk of CTE is much to large, because the risk of it being revealed was to large for the NFL. By playing football these people are putting themselves in extreme danger not just long term but short term as well. Overtime the symptoms and disease itself becomes more present, and I do not think that playing the game at any point would be worth risking safety. You are not only putting your body on the line, but you are putting your brain on the line as well. I do believe that the future of football will be very different. Sports change all of the time, along with new studies and understanding of the game and of course understanding the injuries most common in the sport. The NFL will have to continue to make changes to the game in order to decrease the risk and danger of the game. I believe that people will soon be more education on this topic. There are already rules and laws stating that education on this is necessary, yet I feel that people are not taking advantage of the information they have about CTE and the game of football. I also think that players will eventually change the strategies used in professional games that result in extreme injuries. Lastly, I would predict that the equipment used will be different in the future. |