Reece Quade Mr. Brooke English 3 Research paper 10 March 2013 NFL Rules The new rules in the National Football League are changing the way the game is being played and the way it affects the players. One of the many ways it affects the players is benefiting their health, and that’s why most of the new rules are added into the NFL. There is an average of 128 concussions per year and about nine concussions per week. There are positive ends and negative ends of the whole situation that can make the game boring for the players and also the spectators.
This also makes the game safer for the players in their long-term life from their kids to their own health. The NFL could be changing for the better, or for the worse of it. First, player safety has always been the number one priority in the NFL since the first day it has came around. In the most recent years of the NFL they have been making more rules to immensely reduce the contact to the neck and shoulder area. This has been a good addition to the NFL to keep the players in the game longer. Concussions are a big cause of Alzheimer's disease.
Another good reason for the new rules to protect the players is that the concussions can give the player’s future kids autism or Down syndrome. One of the main causes of concussions in the NFL is the kick-off. That is because both of the teams are running full speed at each other and are trying to bust open wedges, and other blocks coming their way, with their heads. And because of this reason they moved the spot of the kick-off forward so that the kickers would kick it out of the end zone and cause a touchback so they players aren’t obligated to hit each other.
They have also started to protect the quarterbacks a lot more than they have in the past by paying way more attention to where the defending player is hitting the quarterback. Another way to prevent the concussions causing hits is to start fining the players that are doing the hitting. Depending on the severity of the hit the fines could go from 25,000 dollars to 75,000 dollars. These fines have made the players cut down on their helmet to helmet hitting because of they do not want to be spending money on things they don’t want to spend their money on. All those concussions can have devastating long-term impact on NFL players.
Many former players, still young, report persistent headaches, fatigue, and difficulty paying attention, memory problems, mood swings, and personality changes. This can affect their life that is including their social and family life. The personality changes and mood swings can cause family and friends to not like to be around them very much if at all any more. The headaches can cause physical pain the player and cause them to not be as happy any more and more aggressive. The rate of dementia among retired players is six times higher in players over fifty than the regular population.
The companies that develop the helmets have started to make new helmets that absorb the shock of the hits way more than they have in the past. They are starting to bring down the concussion rate, which is making the game of football more protective and safer than it has ever been. There are four main points that the developers are working on, the outer shell, the inner shell, the chinstrap, and the facemask. These are all the most important areas of the helmet that are protecting the players. On the opposition, the rules are a terrible idea because they are taking away from the fun of the game.
