2. My research topic is...
My research topic this semester is concussions in sports and other sports
related injuries. Personally, I spent the majority of my wrestling career on
the sidelines and I am researching this topic because I believe that more
precaution needs to be taken when it comes to preventing injuries. I want
to make people aware that this is a big issue within sports today because
athletes get sidelined way too often for stuff that would not be
happening if there were more safety precautions within these sports. I
would like to learn ways to make sports more safe for every athlete and
to prevent them from having the same nerve wracking experiences that I
did.
3. History of my topic
The issue at hand here is that there is not enough precaution taken
regarding injuries in sports, especially head injuries. In the beginning
of it all in 1933, the NCAA’s medical handbook warned that
concussions were a big deal and were being treated too lightly. In
2012, 34/35 brains that had research done on them were found to
have CTE. This shows that even over a long period of time, nothing
has changed or improved. This proves that more precaution needs to
be taken regarding traumatic head injuries.
4. Individuals involved in my topic
1. Aaron Hernandez: Aaron Hernandez hung himself in his jail cell and
people believe that the brain disease CTE is what drove him to take his own life
2. Ken Stabler: Stabler was a very successful NFL quarterback who took a lot of
hard hits throughout his career. He suffered from severe headaches, forgetfulness,
and disorientation before finding out he had CTE after research was done on his
brain after he had passed away.
3. Frank Gifford: Gifford was a NFL player who played both offensively and
defensively and took a lot of devastating hits throughout his career. In 2015, a
postmortem diagnosis was released showing that he had CTE.
5. Questions I have about my topic
1. How hard of a hit does it take to get a concussion?
2. Why aren’t the precautions that are currently being taken safe
enough to prevent concussions and other sports related injuries?
3. What sports do athletes get the most injuries in?
4. What can be done to improve this issue?
6. Viewpoint about my topic I disagree with
In an article I found, NFL fans were outraged by a rule change that stated that
the league banned helmet to helmet contact when making a tackle. The fans
were outraged because they think football is getting soft and is making
football less and less of the game they grew to love. This rule change points to
a bigger conflict. This conflict being how much safer we can make football
without not playing it in general. I disagree because I think the safety of the
players is much more important than football “getting soft”. The well being of
these players are at stake and I think that every rule change is absolutely
necessary to these athletes’ overall health.
7. Bibliography
“Everything You Need to Know About Concussions in Sports | Everyday Health.” Stroke Center -
EverydayHealth.com, Ziff Davis, LLC, 22 Mar. 2018, www.everydayhealth.com/concussion/everything-you-
need-know-about-concussions-sports/.
Natale, Nicol. “5 NFL Athletes Who Had CTE.” Stroke Center - EverydayHealth.com, Ziff Davis, LLC, 22 May
2018, www.everydayhealth.com/concussion/symptoms/nfl-athletes-who-cte/.
Petchesky, Barry. “A Timeline Of Concussion Science And NFL Denial.” Deadspin, Deadspin.com, 30 Aug.
2013, deadspin.com/a-timeline-of-concussion-science-and-nfl-denial-1222395754.
Smith, Michael David. “America Wants Safer Football, but Will Fans Support the NFL's Changes?”
ProFootballTalk, ProFootballTalk, 31 Mar. 2018, profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/03/31/america-wants-
safer-football-but-will-fans-support-the-nfls-changes/.
