http://www.statnews.com/2016/01/08/concussions-college-football-players/
But where Syracuse officials saw grave risk, other colleges saw opportunity. Coaches from a half-dozen other universities began wooing Long. His case is not unique. College football players with a history of incapacitating concussions are allowed to transfer to colleges that will permit them to play, a STAT investigation has found. This happens even after doctors at one school determine that the risk to a player’s health is so severe that he should be permanently banned from contact sports…
The National Collegiate Athletic Association sets no limits on the number of permissible concussions. There’s no medical consensus on how many concussions pose an intolerable danger to athletes. And colleges, ever on the lookout for talent that will reap their teams wins and ticket sales, decide on their own when, or if, players should be medically disqualified.
In interviews with doctors and college officials, STAT found cases in which some players were permanently sidelined after three or four concussions, while others with as many as 10 concussions were allowed to still play…
Once college athletes are disqualified, they receive little guidance about what to do. Young men like the 19-year-old Long are left on their own to seek additional tests and evaluations by concussion experts — and to choose whether pursuing their dream of playing college football is worth jeopardizing their health…
Knowing what we know about traumatic brain injuries, which is still very little, it’s maddening to read this. The lack of education starts at a very basic level; parents and students in elementary and high school are constantly lied to regarding the impact of the injuries to the brain, so by the time they reach college, they have this ingrained sense of invincibility that is completely misguided. Players think they have another 20 years in the game before their age forces them to retire. They don’t. They don’t have another minute of brain function to spare.
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so sad, horrible…but they were the jocks and bullies in school and did choose to keep banging their heads together.
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I guess because sports injuries caused my chronic pain, I’m at fault, too, having chosen to be a gymnast at 11 years old, then working out in the gym 7 days a week, 3 or 4 hours a day, for the next 5 years. So many injuries, I couldn’t even begin to count them all…
It was my choice — no one forced me to do it. And I didn’t do it because I wanted to be popular (obviously). Just like I’m sure there are plenty of football players who just plain love the game. Some athletes end up being bullies because they’re treated like royalty, allowed to get away with anything, and because some men’s sports are brutal and violent. Just like with veterans, how do football players act aggressive and mean out on the field, then go home and be nice and empathetic?
These players are almost like weapons… Taught to be explosive, paid good money, and then let loose on the public. Football fans created these gladiators, and as long as they keep funding the games, nothing will change. For a lot of people, these are their heroes…
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point well made
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