Vincent Sementilli

10/20/16
Brackett
Writing

Concussions/CTE In Relation to Football

Concussions are a very serious injury caused by extremely strong collisions to the head.
The brain is surrounded by fluid which is supposed to absorb shock but a strong enough hit can
cause the brain to smash against the inside of the skull. This then sends a shockwave through the
brain and damages the axons, which connect your brain's neurons. CTE is a brain disease that
occurs when a concussion is not treated and the person sustains repeated blows to the head. One
sport where this disease has touched many is football. There are many popular NFL players who
were the first to truly come forward about the disease and it is believed that the NFL did
everything they could to cover it up. Mike Webster center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the
first to seriously go insane due to CTE and his autopsy revealed the damage done. This autopsy
was conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu. Because of this scare, which should still be taken very
seriously, people have begun to fear football and it is known to make people stupid. What
people dont understand that football although dangerous means a lot to many players and the
sport is now heavily regulated with concussion protocol. To get a full in depth background please
watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwVm_9Sfv2I . Football is now a
generally safe sport to play, with proper coaching, and proper prevention, football is a sport that
is a positive influence on so many lives and changes the outlook on millions of people everyday.
My research question is in the regard of those who have children and are uneducated in
the area of concussions. It is ok to be concerned and to not allow your child to play, only until

you educate yourself. To begin I will explain what a concussion and what CTE is. CTE is a
disease that occurs much later in a person's life it is not a short term condition either. thus far,
this pathology has only been found in individuals exposed to brain trauma, typically multiple
episodes. This tells you that numerous concussions in a row, not in separate periods of time,
cause this disease to set its conditions up. The disease put into easier terms is like a brain with
cement in its circulation pipes. This then gives the appearance of a healthy brain but when a
sample is taken the inside is severely damaged. A brain with alzheimers is shriveled and weak, a
brain with CTE has the same functionality but due to its appearance the only way to diagnose
CTE is through brain sample or autopsy. What experts claim is that football is too violent of a
sport and that playing the sport makes people stupid where this is simply not true. New coaching,
regulations, and concussion prevention technology has proven to keep this physical competitive
contact sport a safe and extremely beneficial game that is the most watched sport in the world.
One thing that I wish people would investigate is how many children who are low class people
who live in crime ridden neighborhoods break out and become extremely successful players who
are educated and now wealthy figures whom people look up to.
I asked questions regarding football in relation to concussions or CTE. I posted a survey
on social media and had 9 responses. 100% of the answers were male, 11.1% were parents, 0%
were medical professionals, 44.4% did not participate in high school football, 22.2% suffered
minor concussions, 22.2% suffered major a concussion, the rest did not. 100% knew the side
effects of a concussion and 100% would approve of letting their child play football, and 77.8%
would play themselves. I asked an open ended question asking about what they knew about CTE
and 5 people gave educated responses that were regarding cause and result of CTE. 88.9% of the
people were aware of concussion preventing coaching and concussion prevention penalties.

I believe that knowing that 88.9% of these people knowing about concussion prevention
coaching and penalties is a good thing but I wish this percentage was the same among everyone
because it is not and parents around the world, do not give permission to their child to play
football. This suggests to me also that if more women had taken this survey I believe that result
would be different, football being a primarily male sport, we need to consider the male opinions
to be skewed compared to a womens. I also believe that if more parents had taken the survey
that more people would not approve of their child playing football. I believe that my survey
suggests some trend regarding the education portion football among young men, but gathers little
information from women or parents.
My data I believe proves that concussion preventing coaching and concussion prevention
penalties are common and now a new stage of the sport will be played, a more precise, scientific
but still violent and physical game. Also almost half the people suffered from a concussion and
still 100% approved of their child playing football. This is because people understand that the
sport is different it is no longer a mentally damaging sport and not an extremely physically and
emotionally beneficial sport, that helps people be successful and learn new values which is

overlooked in the scientific world. This game can save the lives of many children who have little
chance to succeed academically and allow their physicality to take them to heights otherwise
unimaginable. If uneducated people understand that the game will never be absolutely safe but
not the destructive game it was many years ago, these kids will once again have a chance to
succeed. Football is a new sport compared the the 70s where people really damaged themselves
playing it, now it is still a physical game but it is taught differently and that is to preserve the
player and the integrity of the sport.